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Construction will begin this year on a replica of Yuanmingyuan, a former imperial garden in Beijing's western suburbs, in Hengdian City, Zhejiang Province, the chief operator of the project announced today in Beijing, China News Service reported.
Privately-owned Hengdian Group, owner of Asia's biggest film-production base, plans to collect 20 billion yuan (US$2.8billion) for the more than 6,000-hectare replica garden, the report cited Xu Wenrong, the 72-year-old founder of the group and "chief commander" of the project, as saying.
It will be built near Hengdian World Studio, the company's rural headquarters.
The studio is famous for providing sets for Chinese films and television dramas.
The new garden will open to the public in 2013, said Xu.
The group will collect funds from donations and investments, which will be used for both construction and to buy back national treasures from overseas, Xu said.
The group has been permitted to receive donations both on the mainland and Hong Kong. More donations will be raised in Britain, France and other nations among the Eight-Power Allied Forces troops, which burnt and looted Yuanmingyuan Garden in 1900, according to the report.
The project has received 1.5 billion yuan in investments and 124 million yuan in donations, the report said.
We are also preparing for the listing of the replica to collect funds, said Xu.
Construction on Yuanmingyuan, known as the "Versailles of the East," began in 1709 and was finished in 1744.
It continued for 150 years under five Qing Dynasty emperors and consisted of three interconnected gardens over 350 hectares.
The garden was burned down by British and French troops in 1860, then sacked and burned down again after partial restoration in 1900 when the Eight-Power Allied Forces troops sent by Britain, the United States, Germany, France, Tsarist Russia, Japan, Italy and Austria, occupied Beijing.
The replica will be a 1:1 imitation before it was destroyed in 1860, featuring the three interconnected gardens of Yuanming, Changchun and Qichun gardens, according to Xu.
More than two million tourists are expected when the reconstructed garden opens. Revenue is expected to reach 10 billion yuan annually within seven years, the report said, citing the evaluation of the province's planning and research institution.
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