Yuanmingyuan, once a showpiece of ancient Chinese architecture and gardens also known as the Old Summer Palace, will be rebuilt after years of debate.
After its construction, the park will be divided into six areas: Western-style buildings, a cultural relics exhibition, outdoor relics, a leisure and entertainment area and a service and administration area. These features are in the plans made by the Beijing Urban Planning and Designing Institution.
The institution has not set a date for reconstruction.
"It depends on when the renovation plan passes an examination by the city government," said Guo Lili, an official with the institution.
Yuanmingyuan, an imperial garden larger than the present Summer Palace west of it, was built during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). British and French troops looted and burned it in 1860.
Today visitors may tour the broken walls and posts and reconstruct the park in their minds.
The exhibition hall will show cultural relics from the park and its history.
Architects first raised the idea of reconstruction in 1983, said He Fang, a park administrator.
"But it evoked fierce debate about whether the park should be rebuilt or not," He said.
Some experts suggested that the park be restored completely according to its original design to exhibit the imperial culture.
Those opposed, including architects and National People's Congress members, said the park could never be exquisite again after the 1860 war. They said the park's main value is that the remains serve to teach about the country's humiliating past.
"We are not going to rebuild a new park according to its original pattern," said Guo, "The renovation aims to keep the relics and preserve them in a better way but not to build a new park."
New construction, he added, will make up less than 10 per cent of the total showpieces.
"Most of it are functional construction such as bridges and pavilions."
After the project is done, shops inside the park that are not in keeping with the park's style will be closed.
And more than 600 families living in the park, plus 10 institutions that call it home, will move out by December.
"But the park won’t be closed during the renovation,” said He. Visitors will see the construction as well as the imperial remains.
The park was first built in 1709 and underwent 150 years of construction under five emperors.
After Yuanmingyuan was looted and burned, many of the relics were removed in the following decades.
(China Daily)
