Beijing saves old sites
By Li Jing (China Daily)
Updated: 2004-08-18 01:14

Historically and culturally significant buildings will escape Beijing's persistent bulldozers, the director of Beijing's Cultural Heritage Bureau has promised.

Mei Ninghua acknowledged that the 3,000-year-old city is facing a dilemma between safeguarding its cultural heritage and urban development.

Mei was rejecting remarks made Tuesday in a local newspaper that claimed several heritage sites will or have already been demolished to make way for modern buildings and wider roads.

One of the heritage sites mentioned in the report is an ancestral temple commemorating Yu Qian, a famous general and politician during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

"The complex is still in its original place and will not be removed," said Mei, adding that his bureau has never approved any project in the past decade to remove cultural buildings to other places.

The report also mentions threats to a traditional Chinese courtyard house and the residence of a nobleman of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), but they are still on their original sites, said Mei.

Other old buildings have been demolished in these areas and modern houses are being built.

In 1990, the city undertook a massive project to reconstruct ramshackle courtyards in the old city -- a 62.5-square-kilometre area within the Second Ring Road -- which is where the city wall, moat and gates used to be.

Relics guardians said about 40 per cent of the old city area had undergone nearly wholesale destruction by 2002. They worried that urban renovation would break up the traditional fabric of the city, making it difficult for younger generations to understand the life of old Beijing.

"We tried in many ways during the past decade, but still have not found a proper way to rehabilitate the old city where most of the traditional alleys and courtyards are," said Mei.

"The old houses have not been repaired for several decades and are very dangerous to live in. Besides, there is no running water, heating or natural gas.

"If we rehabilitate the courtyards and introduce modern facilities, the cost will be as high as 40,000 yuan (US$4,800) per square metre. It is a prohibitive expense," said Mei.

He said demolishing the old houses and building new ones are more economical, but there are concerns of destroying the original landscape of the old city.

"It is hard to reach a balance of improving residents' living conditions and safeguarding cultural heritage. Improper planning of urban construction and development will have a bad influence on heritage protection. So we are now trying our best to reduce the negative influences as much as possible," said Mei.

"We have listed 30 areas as Historical and Cultural Protection Zones in the old city. No construction should be done in the protection area unless it gets the nod from cultural relics administrations," he added.

In another development, a renovation project on a dozen ancient buildings on the Yaji Mountain in the northeastern outskirts of Beijing was started Tuesday.

The buildings, most of which are Taoist temples, were built between the Ming and Qing dynasties.

The project, costing more than 10 million yuan (US$1.2 million), is scheduled to be completed in November next year, said Ding Baohua, an official with the cultural committee of Pinggu District.

The project is part of the city's epic plan to rehabilitate more than 100 places of historical interest between 2003 and 2007, said Ding.

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