The restoration project, with an investment of 50 million yuan (about US$6 million), will begin next year and should be completed in 2005, sources with the city's cultural bureau said.

Pu Yi lived in the Jingyuan Garden, built in 1921, on Anshan Road in Heping District between 1929 and 1931, after being evicted from Beijing's Forbidden City in 1924.

Pu Yi ascended the imperial throne as the 10th ruler of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) in 1908 when he was nearly three years old. Before three years were out, the 1911 Revolution against the Qing Dynasty broke out and Pu Yi was forced to abdicate.

After being expelled from Beijing's imperial palace in November 1924, Pu Yi and his family members and eunuchs fled to Tianjin. Pu Yi died of illness in Beijing in 1967.

The Jingyuan Garden consists of three courtyards including a residential area, a work area and a recreational area. It was designated a relics site under key protection in Tianjin in 1982.

Approximately 90 percent of the garden's buildings will undergo repair and restoration, and former relics will be collected and added to the last emperor's work office and living room.

The garden will open to visitors upon completion of the restoration project.

Forty families now living in the Jingyuan Garden will be moved out to make way for the restoration project, said an official with the city's cultural bureau.

"All people involved will be well taken care of," the official said.

A senior citizen surnamed Dong has lived in the garden for more than 30 years since 1968. He said he is reluctant to leave the garden, but "I will move out for the sake of relics protection."

Tianjin plans to renovate and restore more than 300 historical buildings within the next five years.

(Xinhua News Agency December 7, 2002)