Beijing's iconic Qianmen street to promote intangible cultural heritage

Beijing plans to make its 600-year-old Qianmen Street into a showcase for intangible cultural heritages. [File photo]

Beijing plans to make its 600-year-old Qianmen Street into a showcase for intangible cultural heritages, a move that will push some popular brands out of the area, the Beijing News reported on Tuesday.

According to authorities, the intangible cultural heritage expo park will be approximately 400,000 square meters, with a total investment of 24 billion yuan ($3.8 billion). About 200,000 square meters will be put into use by this October.

The pedestrian street is located in the central axis of Beijing. In the process of urbanization, many time-honored brands have been forced to leave the area, often because of skyrocketing rents.

The Qianmen street will retain its Ming and Qing dynasty styles, authorities said. But in order to better display world intangible cultural heritages, some famous commercial brands will have to move out.

More than 200 world intangible cultural heritage items, including copper sculptures, cloisonné and Suzhou embroidery will be displayed at the expo park, said Ma Wenhui, vice chairman of the Chinese Intangible Cultural Heritages Protection Association.

It's also expected that more than 3,000 folk artists will show off intangible cultural heritages once the project finishes.