Beijing - Residents have been posting articles online to honor the memory of some of the capital's districts after hearing of the city's plan to merge Chongwen and Xuanwu districts with Dongcheng and Xicheng.

In an online poll launched by a student, 86 percent of the 220 people who expressed an opinion said they didn't want the districts to be consolidated. Ten percent said they didn't care about this issue.

Most of those who objected said the merger amounted to a demolition of the city's traditional culture.

"The south of the core areas in Beijing, where Chongwen and Xuanwu districts are located, are the only example of the city's cultural street life, which I think will be destroyed soon," said Yang Nan, a man in his 20s who spent his childhood there.

He said he was afraid that, in a few years' time, office buildings and fancy apartments will replace the traditional street life of Chongwen and Xuanwu.

Zhang Zichi, a resident of Dongcheng district, said Beijing has been sacrificing the city's thousands of years of culture in its quest to be a "world city".

"I have no objection to developing Beijing because it is the capital city; I just hope we won't be left only with a 'capital' but no 'real Beijing," Zhang said in his online memorial.

Another online site was started on Thursday dedicated to memorializing Chongwen and Xuanwu. It will last for one month and attracted 500 people in its first 24 hours.

But not all were in opposition.

"The consolidation might not be a bad idea," said a netizen nicknamed "washing", who was born in Xuanwu and who now lives in Chongwen.

"This move could at least help cut administrative costs by trimming the number of government institutions," he said, adding that it might also be good news for school-age children in Chongwen district, where education is relatively weak.

His thoughts received support from netizens who believe objections to the consolation came from people being naive, rather than from genuine dissatisfaction with the move.

In ancient times, Chongwen and Xuanwu were located outside the imperial inner city and were predominantly reserved for people from the lower classes, according to Wang Zuoji, a 71-year-old expert on the city's culture and folk arts. The areas are now well known for being home to a large number of intangible cultural relics and reflect the historic flavor of Beijing folk life.

For those residents who were born, grew up and worked there, it is understandable that they may feel melancholic about the merger plan and the fact that the two districts may soon change, said Wang.

But he noted, that, while the names may be lost, the culture need not disappear and might be better protected with the efforts of one large district.

"All of these current four areas are small, compared with Beijing's other 14 districts and suburban counties, and development among the four has been unbalanced," he told China Daily.

"The merger will help these districts better allocate and share resources, both in cultural and economic terms," he said.

"Besides, the city's unique culture is known collectively. It should be preserved as a whole, rather than being protected separately."