This kicked off a shift in the development concept for the historical area from demolition to restoration.

After about three decades of protection, the neatly paved slate walkways lined with ancestral houses are studded with towering leafy banyan trees, each delicately pruned.

"There's not a hair out of place and everything is so clean and in order," says Chen Yongjian, who was born in the neighborhood and has lived here for more than seven decades.

About six years ago, he was relocated to a newly restored historical home tucked away in the alleys a few hundred meters from his former house.