Controversial chimney stokes industrial heritage debate

Experts discuss the reconstruction of the Beijing No 2 thermal power plant. WEI TONG/FOR CHINA DAILY

Cultural eyesore

Supporters of the project argue that the chimney is in the "wrong place" and a blot on the surrounding cityscape and other iconic buildings.

The smokestack is just 92 meters from the Tianning Pagoda, Beijing's oldest surviving religious edifice, built 898 years ago during the Liao Dynasty (916-1125).

The 58-meter-high pagoda is located in the Tianning Temple, which was destroyed during a war about 700 years ago, but rebuilt during the late Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

Known for its beautiful chrysanthemum garden, the temple attracted crowds of worshippers and visitors before the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949.

"The chimney does not respect nearby cultural relics," said Huo Chunlong, chief designer of the renovation plan.

"The law that protects cultural relics prohibits taller facilities within 1 kilometer of historic sites, let alone within 100 meters."

To preserve the city's skyline, the Beijing government implemented height restrictions of 30 meters in the 1980s.

"The factory was built during the 'cultural Revolution' (1966-76), when people had little awareness of cultural heritage," said Yang Zhenhua, a former city planning adviser.

The power plant was built in 1976 to supply heat and electricity to an area of 520,000 square meters in the city center - including Zhongnanhai (the headquarters of the Communist Party of China), the Great Hall of the People and the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse. It is just 5 kilometers from Tian'anmen Square.

"In the 1970s, there were no homes around the temple, just cornfields. So, maybe the pagoda was the only thing that was not considered," said Shen Lanhai, 60, a senior engineer who was involved in the construction of the power plant.

A forest of chimneys was then regarded as a symbol of modernization. Chairman Mao Zedong once said, "Looking out from Tian'anmen, I should see chimneys everywhere."

In the 1980s, more than 14,000 industrial smokestacks were visible in Beijing. At the time, industrial output accounted for 63.7 percent of the capital's GDP and air pollution was severe.