Her house is situated in one of Beijing's oldest hutong, or alleyway, districts, and is only steps away from Nanluoguxiang, a street lined with trendy restaurants, bars and boutiques that is one of the capital's latest hotspots.

"I surely don't want to see my home demolished and I don't want to move," Li, an ethnic Manchu woman in her 60s, told AFP while sitting next to her garden plot as ripe red dates fell from the tree.

"My grandfather's grandfather lived here -- I grew up here as did my children. If they are going to destroy our home and kick us out they had better have a good reason."

Li's predicament is one that crops up frequently here, as families are forced to move from their homes by a government eager to push real estate and other development projects to help drive the nation's fast-paced economy.

In late July, her world was turned upside down when the Dongcheng district government posted a notice outside her door that said a row of homes in her neighbourhood would be demolished and the occupants evicted.

Li, who descends from a family of Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) military elite known as the Manchurian Bannermen, was shocked as the area around Nanluoguxiang was designated a special "cultural protection zone" in 1999.

The large poster pasted on the grey hutong wall said the demolition was part of an "infrastructure reform project" in the district, which dates to the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) and boasts some of Beijing's most well-preserved homes.

Officials have told her the project has to do with widening the alleyway to make way for a parking lot.

Li and her neighbours think the eviction has more to do with valuable real estate around Nanluoguxiang, which has become a major tourist draw and a cash cow for property developers working in the area.

"Of course, most people here think that corruption is involved, but in China when they order you to move out, there is little that you can do," said a woman named Zhang who was being evicted from her small 18 square metre (60 square foot) home not far from Li's residence.

Both Li and Zhang refused to allow AFP to use their full names out of fear of official retribution.

Since China embarked on economic reforms 30 years ago, many of central Beijing's traditional hutongs have been forcibly demolished to make way for apartment blocks, office buildings and roads.

Government-backed demolitions and evictions have become one of China's most pressing social issues, largely due to the perception that officials are colluding with real estate developers in corrupt and shady deals.

Such accusations have resulted in a flurry of new regulations on forced evictions and increased compensation for those whose homes are destroyed.

Locals in the Nanluoguxiang area are expecting compensation of between 100,000 and 300,000 yuan (14,650-43,900 dollars) per square metre -- but the official People's Daily reported that such sums would not be paid.

"No one has formally come to talk to us about compensation, but what we have been hearing from the government is that the lowest payment will be about 30,000 yuan per square metre," Li said.

"But each homeowner must negotiate the compensation package individually... the process is complicated and there is a lot of red tape and unknown factors."

For Li, whose family owns about 600 square metres of housing, any compensation will have to be divided between her eight other brothers and sisters and their families.

For her neighbour Zhang, compensation for her small home will not likely be enough to buy a new apartment in Beijing where real estate prices have sky-rocketed.

At the makeshift Office of Demolition and Eviction in Nanluoguxiang, officials refused to discuss with AFP the destruction of houses, the eviction of locals, compensation or the "infrastructure reform project."

"I can say nothing to you," one official said, quickly showing an AFP journalist the door.

"We will only talk with those whose homes will be demolished and those who will be evicted."

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