Villagers of Xincheng subdistrict's Phoenix community visit their village museum.

The Weifang Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone plans to build more subdistrict and village-level museums to preserve family tree documents and anecdotes that have cultural and historical value, as high-rising buildings replace shantytowns in the region's upgrade plan.

The move will help residents who once lived in shantytowns to remember their ancestors and family history. It will also enrich local people's cultural lives and allow the younger generations to learn more about the city's development history.

"We will collect stories about the culture and famous people of the zone. It will help young people to better understand traditional culture and cherish our city," said Chai Jiankun, a staff member from Xin'gang subdistrict.

Four subdistricts - Xincheng, Xin'gang, Qingchi and Xinchang - each will have a museum to record stories about famous people in the area. Each museum will obtain no more than 1 million yuan ($147,000) in supporting funds from the zone.

Xin'gang subdistrict museum, covering more than 3,000 square meters, will be open to the public soon. The total investment reached 10 million yuan, according to the zone.

There will be 37 village-level museums to collect typical items, such as agricultural tools, to reflect local people's lifestyles. Each museum will be eligible for no more than 300,000 yuan in subsidies to cover construction and operation cost in the community.

"We have a much better life nowadays. We should not forget our history and excellent traditions," said Xu Xizhi, a resident in the Shanhouxu community.

The museums' construction plan gained strong support from local residents. Many residents shared stories about their ancestors and families to expand the collections of the archives.