Beijing municipal government will provide relief to the homeless in some areas as a way to create a favorable environment for the upcoming National Day  on October 1 and the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

But government staff admitted it may be an uphill battle to persuade homeless people to go to the shelters Thursday. 

The city government announced Wednesday that 100 key areas in Beijing, including Wangfujing and Beijing Railway Station, where the environment is usually in a mess, will be straightened up, the Beijing Evening News reported.

Areas near Guomao Bridge and Sihui Subway Station, where the homeless tend to congregate, will see staff members from the city management authority, Beijing Civil Affairs Bureau as well as medical personnel coming to provide relief, said the report.

The relief program will continue until October, according to a press release from Beijing Municipal Bureau of City Administration and Law Enforcement.

Yang Yang, the deputy director from the relief office of the civil affairs bureau, said they will try to persuade homeless people to go to relief centers, where they can be accommodated and fed for 10 days, but it will be on a voluntary basis. 

"We'll help them contact their families to take them home and provide medical aid if necessary," said Yang.

There is enough space in relief centers to accommodate increased numbers of homeless people, said Yang, but she admitted some would refuse to come, as they many prefer their "freedom-oriented lifestyle."

Under Guomao Bridge, Chaoyang district, two homeless men were lying on the ground on top of thin posters.

Both said they earned money by collecting and selling empty drink bottles.

Guo Shewei, from Weinan, Shaanxi Province, said he was cheated by a man at the railway station in his hometown, and walked for 20 days from Luanping county, Hebei Province to Beijing.

"In those 20 days, I haven't been disturbed by police or city management officials," he said.

"But I'd like to go to the relief center if they ask me because I want to go home," he said.

A homeless man from Liaoning Province, sitting beside a garbage bin at Beijing Railway Station, who refused to give his name, said he came to Beijing several days ago and stayed near the station.

He said that by selling empty drink bottles, he could earn three to five yuan ($0.47-0.78) in one day.

The man looked worried after hearing about the upcoming relief project, saying that he hopes the officials will not take away his temporary "home."

"You can't stay in the relief center for long and I can't earn a penny there," he said.