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Southern Song City to be 'gold name card' of Hangzhou
December 28, 2009, Monday
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HANGZHOU is building a spectacular Southern Song Dynasty Imperial Grand Heritage Park, and officials hope one day it will rival Shanghai's Disneyland as a world tourist attraction.
Hangzhou, formerly Lin'an, was the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279), with art and culture flourishing in the landscape city.
At the foot of the Fenghuang Mountain lie most of the ruins. What is left of the main palaces are buried 1.5-3 meters deep. After 1949, warehouses, schools and residences were built one after another on the site. But the ruins were not further damaged.
The preservation site covers around 14 square kilometers, including archeological sites.
In the next five years, the Hangzhou government plans to protect the remains of the Southern Song Dynasty Imperial City and build the area into a world-class scenic spot and heritage park.
"Even the ruins have an infinite charm," says Wang Guoping, Party secretary of Hangzhou.
"History has given us the mission of completely preserving the ruins and relics. At the same time we have a more demanding mission to share this precious heritage with local residents and realize its greatest social value," Wang says.
Shanghai Disneyland costing more than 24 billion yuan (US$3.6 billion) is expected to open in 2014 and attract more than 10 million visitors annually.
"If Hangzhou can provide heavyweight tourism products, it will absolutely attract these tourists, and the Shanghai-Hangzhou high-speed rail can take the tourists to Hangzhou in just 38 minutes," he says. "We will make great efforts to build the park into an attractive tourism venue.
"The Southern Song Dynasty Imperial City is not the biggest imperial city in China, but it must be the most beautiful landscape and garden-style city in China," Wang says.
"It will be a demonstration of China's brilliant civilization. It is the city's key cultural scenery. It can drive the sustainable development of the city," he predicts.
The park will also feature a Southern Song Dynasty Museum that goes beyond walls and exhibition halls: It will include local residences at the foot of the Fenghuang Mountain.
"Many cities and countries are known for historical heritage, such as the pyramids of Egypt, the Acropolis of Greece and the Machu Picchu of Peru," says Wang.
"The remains of the Southern Song Dynasty Imperial City will become a golden name card of Hangzhou and become the city's symbol," he adds.
The city government plans to launch a worldwide campaign to promote the project, collecting Song Dynasty relics from overseas Chinese.
In the area visitors also can take in Leifeng Pagoda, Jingci Temple, Wansong College, Yuhuangshan Mountain and farmland designed in the Eight Diagrams pattern.
Other projects
Jiangtai Hill Southern Song Dynasty Buddhism Cultural and Ecological Park
The park will be completed by the end of 2010. Ever since the Wuyue Kingdom (AD 895-978), Buddha statues were produced in great number. The largest in the park is more than 80 meters high.
Jiangyangfan Ecological Park
The park is expected to open in October next year. It is on the southern slope of Yuhuang Mountain and north of the Qiantang River. Nearby are many relics of the Southern Song Dynasty.
Construction begins next month on a museum about Hangzhou local cuisine; it is expected to open in October 2011.
Southern Song Dynasty Guan Kiln Museum
The third phase of museum expansion is underway. It will be built into a Chinese porcelain cultural village.
China Music Museum
Hangzhou Normal University's Yuhuangshan Campus has one of the country's most beautiful music colleges. After it moves to the university's Cangqian Campus, it will be replaced by the China Music Museum, integrating exhibition, research, training and performance. Music culture of Southern Song Dynasty will be represented, along with imperial food culture.
Hangzhou, formerly Lin'an, was the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279), with art and culture flourishing in the landscape city.
At the foot of the Fenghuang Mountain lie most of the ruins. What is left of the main palaces are buried 1.5-3 meters deep. After 1949, warehouses, schools and residences were built one after another on the site. But the ruins were not further damaged.
The preservation site covers around 14 square kilometers, including archeological sites.
In the next five years, the Hangzhou government plans to protect the remains of the Southern Song Dynasty Imperial City and build the area into a world-class scenic spot and heritage park.
"Even the ruins have an infinite charm," says Wang Guoping, Party secretary of Hangzhou.
"History has given us the mission of completely preserving the ruins and relics. At the same time we have a more demanding mission to share this precious heritage with local residents and realize its greatest social value," Wang says.
Shanghai Disneyland costing more than 24 billion yuan (US$3.6 billion) is expected to open in 2014 and attract more than 10 million visitors annually.
"If Hangzhou can provide heavyweight tourism products, it will absolutely attract these tourists, and the Shanghai-Hangzhou high-speed rail can take the tourists to Hangzhou in just 38 minutes," he says. "We will make great efforts to build the park into an attractive tourism venue.
"The Southern Song Dynasty Imperial City is not the biggest imperial city in China, but it must be the most beautiful landscape and garden-style city in China," Wang says.
"It will be a demonstration of China's brilliant civilization. It is the city's key cultural scenery. It can drive the sustainable development of the city," he predicts.
The park will also feature a Southern Song Dynasty Museum that goes beyond walls and exhibition halls: It will include local residences at the foot of the Fenghuang Mountain.
"Many cities and countries are known for historical heritage, such as the pyramids of Egypt, the Acropolis of Greece and the Machu Picchu of Peru," says Wang.
"The remains of the Southern Song Dynasty Imperial City will become a golden name card of Hangzhou and become the city's symbol," he adds.
The city government plans to launch a worldwide campaign to promote the project, collecting Song Dynasty relics from overseas Chinese.
In the area visitors also can take in Leifeng Pagoda, Jingci Temple, Wansong College, Yuhuangshan Mountain and farmland designed in the Eight Diagrams pattern.
Other projects
Jiangtai Hill Southern Song Dynasty Buddhism Cultural and Ecological Park
The park will be completed by the end of 2010. Ever since the Wuyue Kingdom (AD 895-978), Buddha statues were produced in great number. The largest in the park is more than 80 meters high.
Jiangyangfan Ecological Park
The park is expected to open in October next year. It is on the southern slope of Yuhuang Mountain and north of the Qiantang River. Nearby are many relics of the Southern Song Dynasty.
Construction begins next month on a museum about Hangzhou local cuisine; it is expected to open in October 2011.
Southern Song Dynasty Guan Kiln Museum
The third phase of museum expansion is underway. It will be built into a Chinese porcelain cultural village.
China Music Museum
Hangzhou Normal University's Yuhuangshan Campus has one of the country's most beautiful music colleges. After it moves to the university's Cangqian Campus, it will be replaced by the China Music Museum, integrating exhibition, research, training and performance. Music culture of Southern Song Dynasty will be represented, along with imperial food culture.
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