The Temple of Heaven is under renovation. Chinanews, Beijing, Jan. 21 – 80% of the projects built for the culture-enriched Olympics will be completed this year, which will include some of the well-known historic sites in Beijing, such as the Imperial Ancestral Temple, Fayuan Temple, the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, and the Temple of Heaven, Beijing Stardaily reported.
The remarks were made by Kong Fanzhi, head of the Beijing Municipal Cultural Bureau when he chaired a work meeting on Wednesday.
In addition to the cultural relic sites projects mentioned above, Kong said that in 2007, Beijing municipal government will allocate some 16 million yuan to improve the fire prevention systems for 28 cultural sites in Beijing, including the "Peking Man" Ruins relic site and the Ancient Observatory Station. Related investigation on safety issue will also be made to the immovable cultural relic sites located inside the city's old downtown area. In addition, Beijing municipal government will kick off the restoration work for the Hall of Abstinence and its surrounding ancient architectural buildings inside the Temple of Heaven, the Zhongshan State Society, Fayuan Temple, the ancient architectural buildings in the east street of Wanshousi, the stone carved characters, Tianyi Graveyard, and Jinling relic site.
As part of the whole city restoration program, repairing work will also be done to some of the cultural preservation sites in Qianmen Commercial Street, to the walls in the Temple of Heaven, and to the old streets and quadrangle houses near Jingshan East Gate area this year. Earlier, the Beijing Municipal Cultural Bureau listed 16 key cultural relic sites in Beijing for restoration. In future, it will include some provincial-level cultural relic sites for restoration.