NANTOU Ancient Town in Nanshan District, also called Xin’an Ancient Town, is a renowned cultural relic with a history of 1,730 years. The site may be given a facelift following constant complaints about its messy streets, poor management and rampant illegal construction.

    Covering about 70,000 square meters, the town now has 1,294 buildings — 91 percent of which were illegally built — and houses more than 30,000 residents, mostly migrants.

    Urban villages have been built alongside the town, threatening the few remaining relics. The town also is seeing a declining number of tourists as many ancient buildings have been closed to visitors.

    Nanshan District Government is mulling plans to refurbish the cultural site and dismantle some of the illegal structures.(Anna Zhao)