Shanghai is restoring its last cluster of dormitories built in the early 1950s, transforming them into a compound commemorating the city's history and changing urban environment.

The project in Yangpu district's Changbai new village will restore 12 buildings built in 1952 in response to Mao Zedong's call to provide living spaces to workers. Each two-story building housed 10 families, with five rooms, a shared kitchen and two toilets on each floor.

Shanghai built around 2,000 such buildings, mostly in its Yangpu and Putuo districts, and they became known as the liangwanhu－the 20,000 households.

Living conditions in the liangwanhu were far from desirable after decades of use, with bulging households sharing kitchens and toilets and potential hazards from illegal extensions and other modifications.

Most of the buildings have been demolished since the early 2000s, when residents started to be relocated.

The relocation of the residents of the 12 buildings in Changbai started in 2016.