Beijing has around 3,500 historical
buildings, 1,000 of which are under protection at district, city
and state level. However, 60 percent of them may be in danger from
their current occupants' lack of understanding or care.
Hao Dongchen, head of the capital's Preservation of Cultural and
Historical Relics Inspection and Enforcement Team, said they can
often be damaged through the use of electrical appliances and
wiring.
The vulnerable sites include six around the Summer Place, covering
40,000 sq m. The Temple of Heaven fares even worse with as much as
3.74 square kilometers occupied by schools, shops, factories and
even a radio station.
Vice Director of the Summer
Palace, Gao Dawei, said buildings like the Infantry
Commander-in-Chief's Office and the Archive Office are being
damaged through their use as Central Party Schools
dormitories.
Station 582, affiliated to the Ministry of Radio, Film and
Television, is based in one corner of the Temple of
Heaven's outer enclosure.
Yao An, deputy head of the park said, "The Temple of Heaven was a
place used to communicate between people and the Heaven in the old
days." Now the view is marred by thirteen clusters of antennae.
"Some foreign travelers take pictures when they see them because
they think it's a military base!" he said.
The radio station has recently built new rooms to be let or used as
dormitories, and 25 new places of residence there have even been
registered with local authorities.
Station 582 located to the site in 1970 with permission from the
Beijing Construction Bureau. Since the 1990s the park has
approached them on numerous occasions to ask them to move, but to
no avail.
Yao submitted a report to Beijing Municipal Bureau of Park in 1993
when the station sought the park's approval for new antennas. The
bureau wrote to the Beijing Municipal Administration Commission,
who agreed to ask the station to move away. But after several
negotiations with the station their efforts are still to bear
fruit.
The park again urged the station to relocate in 1998 when it
applied for World Cultural Heritage site status, yet they refused
on the grounds that the radio station was still in operation.
Dagaoxuan Palace has had similar problems and Jia Kailin, vice
director of the Culture and History Commission of Beijing's
People's Political Consultative Conference, said extensive damage
can be seen throughout.
The palace was built in 1542 and according to Jin Hongkui, Deputy
Director of the Palace
Museum, before 1949 it was administered by the Forbidden City,
to which it is connected. In 1956 the Forbidden City registered its
right to run the palace again, gaining certification from Beijing's
Real Estate Administration Bureau.
Liu Binsen, member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative
Conference, submitted motions in 1998 and 2000 asking for the
palace to be given back. Zheng Xiaoxie and Luo Zhewen, both
renowned experts, also submitted a proposal for its return in
November 2000.
The occupiers have agreed but have negotiated to receive a 5,000 sq
m site within the Second Ring Road in return plus a sizeable sum
for relocation costs. As city center realty is highly desirable,
Luo says the overall price of moving them will be sky-high.
The occupation of these sites is a legacy of the early days of the
People's Republic, when many offices were set up in culturally
significant locations. Since most moved in with the express
approval of the authorities it is especially hard to get them to
relocate now.
Xie Ninggao, director of World Cultural Relics Research at Peking
University, and He Zhuoxin, director of the Culture and History
Commission of Beijing People's Political Consultative Conference,
suggest that the General Office of the Central Committee of the
Communist Party of China should take responsibility to work with
the general offices of the State Council and the Central Military
Commission as well as Beijing municipality to find solutions to
these problems.
(China.org.cn by Unisumoon October 25, 2004)