Thousands of builders on 44 sites in Fangshan district, Beijing, have been working round-the-clock over the past 10 days, racing against time to make sure residents who need temporary homes can have better places to live as soon as possible.

Duo Yuehua, 58, a group leader of one of hundreds of construction teams on the Yancun township site, witnessed 560 houses being finished in 10 days.

"It was the toughest task in my 38 years of working," he said.

Duo has had coronary heart disease for years and always carries pills with him.

"My family persuaded me to quit because my body could not handle the intensity," he said. He added that in the past 10 days, the longest sleep he had was four hours on Sunday night, after the construction was finished.

"It has been normal for all of us to work for 24 hours and take a short break, maybe for three or four hours," he said. "There have been more than 5,000 people working on this site, especially after the rains last weekend."

The weather jeopardized the process somewhat, he added.

This site is one of 20 constructed by Beijing Construction Engineering Group, which began the project on July 27.

It rained on and off during the construction period, so the mud on the site was very deep, making it difficult for vehicles transporting concrete to enter, he said. They had to transfer the concrete with excavators, which have a higher chassis and can operate in deep mud.

"In addition, there was no place for us to sleep," Duo said. Pointing to several large tents outside the construction site, he said: "They are for temporary workers. On most occasions, we (the team leaders and workers from the construction company) slept under a tree or any place that was dry."

Many workers received minor injuries, such as cuts on their fingers, he said. He admitted that he felt heart pain during the intense construction period.

"I know the task was hard for me, as a man in my 50s. But I could not resist the call, you know. People needed our help," he said.

Guo Haigang, an official from the construction company, said many workers were gathered in a very short time. Some had no time to collect more clothes or phone chargers, making it difficult for their families to reach them.

"Some of their families came to the site after hearing about it on the news, bringing clothes and other items," he said. "Most of the workers didn't have time to go back home. We all made some sacrifices, but you see, many residents came to thank us after they moved in on Sunday night."

When the construction was finished, Duo and his team took photos of themselves smiling in front of the temporary housing site.

"We will build permanent houses for these residents just across the road," he said. "Then people can move out of the makeshift houses and into their new homes."

Contact the writer at zhengjinran@chinadaily.com.cn