Society

Elite members sought for luxury club in ancient palace

By Zheng Jinran (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-05-20 08:04

BEIJING - Another plan to convert an ancient palace site into a luxury club has reportedly been uncovered, this time in the Chengde Mountain Resort, a royal complex of palaces and temples from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) in Hebei province. The exposure comes hot on the heels of several such discoveries of commercial ventures within cultural heritage sites.

The club, which was reportedly set for the yurt-shaped palaces in the northern part of the Chengde Mountain Resort, was to have started operations in June and is currently recruiting members, according to an advertisement. Registered members, the ad says, will be able to enjoy imperial banquets and other superior services.

The first 100 members would need to deposit 200,000 yuan ($30,700) for their future spending at the club in order to join. Latecomers may have to pay an extra 100,000 yuan in membership fees, a service clerk was quoted by Yanzhao Metropolis Daily as saying on Thursday.

When China Daily tried to confirm the fees, a staff member said the club could not give more information because detailed rules will not be published until June.

An official in charge of investment at the Chengde Commission of Development and Reform confirmed on Thursday that the "building of such a private club on a cultural site must get construction approval first".

"But we haven't received any application related to commercial operations in that royal garden up to now," the official said.

He declined to comment on whether the club would be legal or not.

The project was started in the name of renovating the holiday village in May 2010 and is co-conducted by the Chengde Administration of Cultural Heritage and the Chengde Urban Construction and Investment Group.

An official announcement from the administration on Thursday afternoon declared that the advertising of the private club was made by the cooperation company without the administration's authorization and said there will not be a luxurious private club at the site.

According to the administration, the holiday village inside the resort was authorized by the Ministry of Culture in 1984. The administration said the site was being renovated and the repaired yurt-shaped palaces are set to be used by the public as they were in the past.

The administration said it will take steps to prevent the spread of false information and guarantee the proper use of the venues.

An official from the Chengde Urban Construction and Investment Group, who refused to be named, said the company will accept the announcement made by the administration and other government explanations. He refused to further express the group's views.