Palatial centerpiece for new Xi'an park

By Ma Lie (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-08-26 08:43

XI'AN: A heritage park being developed on the site of the ancient Daming Palace will create jobs and provide a boost to local tourism, officials here have said.

Zheng Yulin, director of Xi'an heritage administration bureau, said Monday the 10.3 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) project will focus mostly on the renovation of the palace - built in the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) - but also include the construction of a museum, shops and apartments.

About 25,000 families will be relocated to make way for the scheme, he said.

Those affected are currently being moved into alternative accommodation, and construction of the park is set to start in October, the Xinhua News Agency quoted Xi'an Mayor Chen Baogen as saying.

Once completed, the project will cover about 19 sq km in the northern part of the city, with the ancient palace as its centerpiece, Zheng said.

Sun Qingyun, Party secretary of Xi'an, said the development is designed to highlight the city's rich heritage, as well providing a boost for the local economy.

"It is important we don't lose the wealth of heritage we have in and around Xi'an," he said.

The new tourist attraction will provide many long-term benefits, including creating new jobs for local people, he said.

Resident Li Chunxing, a 57-year-old cigarette seller, is among those forced to move out of his family home.

"I love my old house because I was born there. But if it wasn't for this project, I might never have been able to afford to move into a new one," he said.

Li said he will not be returning to the site once it is completed, as he instead took the option to buy a low-cost home from the government in a different part of the city.

Su Jiwen, head of the project's demolition and resettlement headquarters, said authorities were using the project as a way to "kill two birds with one stone".

Most of the houses on the site were built in the 1960s and were in a dilapidated state, he said.

All of the families that were forced to relocate were given the option to buy an affordable new home, complete with modern facilities, in a different part of the city, he said.