The 2008 Beijing Olympics caused traditional Hutong neighborhoods to be cleared for the construction of modern Olympic stadiums. In an effort to ensure success for the games, the government invested billions in building new infrastructure, although clearance to tiny, outdated neighborhoods in Beijing called hutongs resulted (Petrun). Jim Yardley, a New York Times reporter interviews Pan Jinyu, a 64-year-old local resident: "They government don't want foreigners to see this scarred old face". Feng Shuqin and her husband, Zheng Zhanlin have lived in their house for 50 years and the family has owned the property before the Communists took control in 1949. The government, trying to clear the area, has offered them to move with a compensatory sum of US$175,000, but the family insists the land is worth US$1.4 million (Yardley). Michael Meyer, an American who lives in the hutongs reported that a total of 500,000 residents were relocated from their homes before the Olympics began (Meyer).