Rundown downtown Hefei regenerated with shops and bars

Businesspeople have high hopes for the previously derelict part of provincial capital

Karolina Caban spent Christmas Day in a "village" in downtown Hefei, its narrow alleys bedecked with lanterns and packed with dozens of bars, inns, cafes and other small shops.

Caban described the distinctive neighborhood, known as zhongyinyushi in Chinese, or "Hidden in the City", as a place that "has its own soul".