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Major maintenance on Summer Palace in Beijing ends

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-09-26 10:50

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.

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