Thousands get first view of palace replica
Print Edition
Part of a full-size replica of the Old Summer Palace opened amid controversy in east China’s Zhejiang Province yesterday, some 1,000 kilometers from the real Beijing landmark.
Thousands of tourists crowded the site in Hengdian Township to see the “brand-new palace” yesterday morning.
A visitor named Xiang said he was “amazed” by the replica, calling it “magnificent” and “solemn.”
Others, however, were disappointed. Another visitor, Xu, said the compound was “just a place full of empty rooms,” and that it lacked cultural elements such as antiques.
“I cannot sense history here, something is missing,” Xu said.
The replica stoked excitement among Chinese, with many people commenting online that they would visit.
Covering more than 400 hectares, the replica is due to be completed next year, Xu Wenrong, the retired chairman of Hengdian Group, the project’s major investor, told Xinhua news agency.
Consisting of four parts, 95 percent of the architecture of the Old Summer Palace will be replicated.
The project is costing about 30 billion yuan (US$4.83 billion), 10 billion yuan over the initial budget. Domestic and foreign investors have put in more than 1 billion yuan, while the Hengdian Group will meet the remaining expenditure.
The project courted huge controversy when it was announced in 2008, with many accusing it of bastardizing a site associated with patriotism.
The management of the real Old Summer Palace said that “a full-size replica is neither possible nor tolerable.”
Last month, they threatened legal action if the replica infringed intellectual property rights.
“(The original complex) is unique and cannot be replicated. The construction and development of the site should be planned by national organizations, and any replication of it should reach certain standards,” the Old Summer Palace’s administrative office said in a statement.
However, Xu Wenrong, who is in charge of the construction, said the project “bears no conflict of interests with the one in Beijing.”
He said the replica recreated classic architecture to share history with the younger generation.
Li Min, deputy secretary-general of Yuanmingyuan (Old Summer Palace) Society of China, said the replica was “a good experiment” because it is impossible to recreate the palace on its original site.
Destruction of the Old Summer Palace, a complex of pavilions and gardens built for Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) emperors, is regarded as a symbol of China’s historical humiliation at the hands of foreign powers. It was ransacked by British and French troops in 1860, and again by an allied force including troops from the United States, Russia and Britain in 1900.
It is now frequently referenced in patriotic education.
Hengdian Township is being developed into a giant film set and tourist attraction by the Hengdian Group.
The group has already found economic success from building replicas of the Forbidden City and the Tian’anmen Gate Tower.
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