Shaolin Temple to build new complex in Australia
Print Edition
CHINA’S Shaolin Temple, known for its martial arts traditions but which recently has gained a reputation for aggressive commercialization, is planning to build a US$297 million complex in Australia.
Shoalhaven City Council in New South Wales said last month that Shaolin Temple Foundation Australia had finalized a land purchase at Comberton Grange for what will be known as Shaolin Village.
Mayor Joanna Gash said yesterday that the city council and state government have approved the concept plan for the project, which is to include a temple sanctuary with resident monks, a live-in kung fu academy, a 500-bed four-star hotel and a 27-hole golf course.
Planning officials have rejected a residential component, but the developer hopes to restore it, media reports said.
“We would like to see it happen ... Shaolin Temple is well regarded. It will be phenomenal for us. There’s a lot of interest in it,” Gash said.
“It’s more than a temple. It’s a spiritual thing. It’s also tourism. And it’s employment,” she said.
The temple, built in the fifth century and located in central China’s Henan Province, has rapidly commercialized itself under Abbot Shi Yongxin over the past decade. Shi has defended it as a means to preserve the temple and its Buddhist cultures.
He made a personal trip to Shoalhaven last month to present a check for more than US$3 million to finalize the land deal. The gesture was seen as a commitment to the project, according to a public notice by the city council.
The proposal was first filed with the state government in 2008, but the lengthy planning process has had Shaolin Temple considering walking away from the project.
But Shi said it was “destiny” that Shaolin would go to Australia.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
