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Beijing will revamp the Temple of Successive Emperors,
one of Beijing's three imperial temples that was built in 1531 with
an area of 21,000 square metres, the Beijing Bureau of Cultural
Relics announced Saturday.
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A key State-level protected cultural relic, the temple was used
in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)
to offer sacrifices to the gods, ancient heroes and forefathers
of the Chinese such as Fuxi, Yan and Huang, and outstanding emperors.
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The temple has been used as a school since 1929.
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With the support of the bureau, Xicheng District, which is where
the temple is situated, will restore it to its original appearance,
according to Li Yaqing, an official with the district government.
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The school will be moved out of the temple and it will open to the
public in 2003, according to Li.
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The district has spent 8 million yuan (US$965,000) on restoration
work on the temple since 1994, said Li.
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The project is an important part of the bureau's plan to spruce
the area up for the new millennium, according to a spokesman for
the bureau.
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The Beijing municipal government will invest 330 million yuan (US$40
million) in the city's projects to restore protected cultural relics
from 2000 to 2002.
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The government requires the restoration work in some way help improve
the capital's tourism industry, cultural life, housing and environment.
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The bureau's plan includes the restoration of the street leading
to the Taimiao Temple, Tian'anmen Gate, Yongding Gate, the street
leading to the Temple of the White Pagoda and Guangji Temple.
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Many other historic sites in Beijing will also be repaired by the
bureau.
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The municipal government will draw up an overall plan in 2001 for
the protection of the Chinese capital, one of China's 99 famous
historic and cultural sites.
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The 62.5-square-kilometre area within Beijing's Second Ring Road
(which is where the city wall and moat used to be), the original
city area, will be the main focus of the protection plan.
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A total of 210 historical and cultural sites, including the Forbidden
City and the Temple of Heaven, are to be kept as they were in the
past, according to Wen Zongyong, an official
from the Beijing City Planning Administration Bureau.
(Beijing-2008 12/25/2000)
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