Although experts have not reached agreement on the renovation scheme, the repair work kicked off again in Yuanmingyuan, or the Old Summer Palace.

Chinanews, Beijing, Nov. 6 – Although experts have not reached agreement on the renovation scheme, the repair work kicked off again in Yuanmingyuan, or the Old Summer Palace. Recently, Beijing municipal government said they would restore the Changchunyuan Gate next year, the Beijing Times reported. Seven years ago, Beijing municipal government decided that they would renovate 10% of the old buildings in Yuanmingyuan. The renovation project would cost 90 million yuan in total and the project would be completed before the 2008 Olympic Games. However, the project has not started until now. The major reason for the delay is that experts held different views towards the renovation work. On October 18, this year, an international forum was held in Yuanmingyuan to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the imperial garden of Yuanmingyuan. Wang Zhili, the event organizer, who was also deputy director of the Yuanmingyuan Institute, originally planned that he would only be present at the opening ceremony. However, on October 20, when the forum was about to end, Wang appeared at the forum again. He wanted to stress his point: the 10% repairing part should not include the walls. The day before he made this statement, the Beijing Daily reported a piece of news saying that the Beijing Cultural Heritage Bureau had decided that most of the parts that “are be repaired will be walls and gates.” The report said related government would repair the Changchunyuan Gate next year. For a long time, Wang has actively supported the renovation work in Yuanmingyuan. The reason he cares so much about the walls and gates is that the Beijing municipal government has decided that only 10% of the relics in Yuanmingyuan would be renovated. If all those walls and gates are included in the renovation, it will mean that many other relic sites in Yuanmingyuan will have little chance of being repaired. In 2000, Wang and other archeologists felt excited about the decision the government made in that year. At that time, the government accepted all the proposals made by Wang and his fellow scientists. It agreed that it would restore all the scenic spots, the plants arrangement and some relic sites in Yuanmingyuan. However, it is quite clear now that such plan can not be realized according to schedule. So far, only 30% of the scenic spots in Yuanmingyuan have been repaired and no renovation work have been started on the ancient buildings. In addition, the plants arrangement has not been restored to its original feature, either.