The landscape in Dongyang, Zhejiang province, is the replica of the Old Summer Palace, or Yuanmingyuan. [Photo/IC].

"About a decade ago, I found some French scholars had suggested rebuilding the Old Summer Palace as atonement," Xu Wenrong, founder of Hengdian World Studios and the initiator of the reconstruction project, said.

"Each page of history matters for today's people. I want to present the old days' glory to nurture patriotism among the young generation by letting them better know our ancestors' creativity, and turn people's sorrow to eagerness for peace."