--- SEARCH ---
WEATHER
CHINA
INTERNATIONAL
BUSINESS
GOVERNMENT
EDUCATION
ENVIRONMENT
CULTURE
WOMEN
BOOKS
SPORTS
HEALTH
ENTERTAINMENT
Living in China
Archaeology
Film
Learning Chinese
China Town
Chinese Suppliers
Exchange Rates
Hotel Service
China Calendar
Telephone and
Postal Codes


Hot Links
China Development Gateway
Chinese Embassies
Info
FedEx
China Post
China Air Express
Hospitals in China
Chinese Embassies
Foreign Embassies
China
Construction Bank
People's
Bank of China
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China
Travel Agencies
China Travel Service
China International Travel Service
Beijing Youth Travel Service
Beijing Xinhua Tours
Links
China Tibet Tour
China Tours
Ctrip
China National Tourism Administration

Manufacturers, Exporters, Wholesalers - Global trade starts here.
Ancient City Plans Massive Relocation

Chinese cities are often accused of ignoring their cultural and architectural heritage in the blind pursuit of modernization but Xi'an is taking a radical step to protect its historic relics.

 

The capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi Province an ancient city renowned for its terracotta warriors and splendid buildings plans to relocate its administrative centre from the downtown area to the northern suburbs.

 

Xi'an, with a 3,000-year history of urban construction, was the capital of 13 dynasties. The downtown area, inside the 13.7-kilometre-perimetre city wall built some 600 yeas ago, used to house the imperial palace and the commercial centre in the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907).

 

"The relocation will start later this year, together with a project to rebuild ancient palaces and commercial areas," Mayor Sun Qingyun said yesterday at the ongoing session of Xi'an Municipal People's Congress, the local legislature.

 

The restoration plan will better preserve ancient buildings, ruins and relics considered non-renewable cultural heritage and improve urban planning, Sun said.

 

The relocation, costing about 50 billion yuan (US$6.17 billion), will be completed in 30 years.

 

Currently almost all official organs including the municipal government, the municipal Party committee and the local people's congress are located downtown, which also has commercial centres and residential buildings, said Guo Zhifeng of the municipal urban planning bureau.

 

"The present layout of the downtown area is suitable neither for the development of the city nor the preservation of ancient relics. Also, there are traffic jams every day inside the city walls," the urban planning official told China Daily.

 

According to Zhang Baotong, an expert on socio-economic development who took part in Xi'an's revival plan, cars will be banned in the downtown area inside the city walls, and the population will decrease to less than 250,000 from 450,000.

 

The local government will build a satellite town in the eastern suburbs for residents to be relocated from the downtown area, said Wang Jun, director of the new town's construction committee.

 

"It will cover 129 square kilometers and will be purely residential. Factories will be banned in the new town area," Wang said.

 

Wu Deyuan, a downtown resident, told China Daily after hearing the relocation plan: "I have been living inside the city walls for 71 years and I am really reluctant to say goodbye to the place. But I understand it is necessary for Xi'an's development."

 

(China Daily February 17, 2006)

 

Ancient Capital Remeasures World's Longest City Wall
Peking University Resettlement
Ancient Imperial Tombs Inscribed on Heritage List
Ancient Banpo Ruins Better Protected
Treaty Aims to Stop Illicit Art Trading Across Border
New Project to Protect Xi'an Old Buildings
Print This Page
|
Email This Page
About Us SiteMap Feedback
Copyright © China Internet Information Center. All Rights Reserved
E-mail: webmaster@china.org.cn Tel: 86-10-88828000