Northwest China's Shaanxi Province will invest 1 billion yuan (US$120 million) to convert its capital, Xi'an, into a cultural center of western China.

The effort signals the start of a new round of cultural investment in a number of cities in Northwest China.

"We have planned to build a concert hall, which is the first of its kind in the west, and a digital library," said Wang Zhixi, an official of the provincial government.

The concert hall, currently in the planning stage, is expected to match the quality of the Beijing Concert Hall.

According to the provincial government's plan, about half of the planned investment will be put into an art museum and a film center, which are to be built within five years.

The museum will be one of the first in the west that focuses on local folk art.

The unique folk culture of western China, especially in rural areas, has impressed millions of visitors from home and aboard.

"The museum will be home to works by rural painters and folk artists," said Wang.

Renowned Chinese architects, such as Zhang Jingqiu, have been invited to design the museum.

"Our film center, designed to be one of the best in the country, is open to foreign investment," said Wang.

The cultural plan is the biggest investment a local government in West China has ever made in this field, said Zhu Baotong, an economist from the Shaanxi Provincial Academy of Social Sciences.

"We hope that the cities in the west are able to maintain their unique characteristics in this period of regional development," said Zhang.

A number of leading cities in the west have recently been working to maintain their cultural identity despite significant construction activity.

Fan Shaoyan, an expert of city planning, said that Xining, capital of Northwest China's Qinghai Province, is currently developing a new city plan for the next decade.

The new city plan aims to introduce art galleries and museums to the city, he said.

Fan, in cooperation with a group of city planning experts, is currently trying to establish an institute to research the unique urban culture that has emerged in western cities.

(China Daily 04/02/2001)