The municipally protected Cha House on Weihai Road in Shanghai will open to the public for free. Liu Renzhi peels back the years to see how it has changed over time.

Cha House was moved 60 meters in 2010. At one time, the four-story building was a businessman's home. Later, it belonged to Minli High School.

ZHANG MING ARCHITECT "The south facade is in the baroque style, but some of the interior features southern Yangtze River Delta region style. We must protect historical buildings because each one has its own character. Our children see the buildings and then understand the culture at that time."

People can visit the house for free if they make a reservation through Wechat. Art exhibitions will be held in the building in the future.

VICTOR CHA DEPUTY CHAIRMAN & MANAGING DIRECTOR, HKR INT'L LIMITED "So we're working together with the local arts people, cultural people, and Jing'an District to further all of those activity styles related to cultural improvement and cultural scope."

Cha House is one example of how the city tries to protect historical buildings. There are more than 7 million square meters of protected buildings in downtown Shanghai, with most of it being used as residential space. One urban planner who has lived in a protected building for more than 15 years said it's not enough to beautify the facade and improve residents' quality of life. He said having uniform property and usage rights will lead to better conservation, but added it will take time to reach a consensus.

ZHANG JIAJING ARCHITECT, URBAN PLANNER "Too many people live in very small spaces. For example, four groups of people may live in a building built in the 1930s. In most cases, the property rights and usage rights in a building belong to different people. It then becomes tricky to evaluate the building's market value."

The Shanghai government is considering setting up regulations on how property rights to historical buildings can be transferred.