Major sites of the world famous Summer Palace in Beijing, a splendid resort
for imperial families of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), reopened to tourists on
Saturday after comprehensive restoration.
The reparation work of the Summer
Palace in Beijing was completed and reopened to the public on September
23, 2006. The new look of the Summer Palace attracts a great number of
tourists [cnsphoto] |
The restoration
project, which started in April 2004 and cost more than 60 million yuan
(U.S.$7.5 million), included the landmark architectures of the Fragrant Buddha
Pavilion, Long Corridor and Cloud Fairyland Hall.
More than 9,300 square meters of ancient buildings were repaired, according
to administration officials of the resort, which is on the list of China's
state-level protected historical sites and the list of UNESCO World Cultural
Heritage.
With a length of 728 meters, the Long Corridor is the longest ancient garden
aisle. It zigzags around the Kunming Lake and connects four pavilions and 273
halls, on which colorful brushworks featuring animals, flowers, landscapes,
tales and ancient stories were painted.
The Fragrant Buddha Pavilion served as a place for religious worships and the
Cloud Fairyland Hall was a place for recreational activities of the imperial
family during the Qing Dynasty.
New guarding monitors, fire control facilities and water-electricity supply
systems were also installed in the maintenance.
Along with the Summer Palace on Beijing's western outskirts, the Chinese
capital has decided to spend more than 400 million yuan (U.S.$50 million) for
repairing or maintaining its heritage sites and cultural relics.
Of the total amount, 100 million yuan (some U.S.$12.5 million) will be used
for repairs on the Forbidden City, the imperial court complexes of China's last
two dynasties, the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911).
The remaining approximately 300 million yuan (U.S.$37.5 million), offered
partially by the municipal government and partially by district governments,
will be used to restore 20 cultural sites.
Mei Ninghua, head for Beijing's cultural relics affairs, said the city
government will also carry out maintenance work on all of the city's
approximately 300 cultural relic sites before 2008.
According to Mei, Beijing's citywide restoration project in preparation for
the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games has caught the eyes of foreign governments and
companies.