![]() The entire relocation project costs 155 million yuan, according to the online approval and supervision platform of investment projects in Hubei Province.Īn official from the local natural resources and planning bureau in Jingzhou told the media that relevant procedures of the relocation address are still being processed. The relocation project of a giant bronze statue of ancient Chinese general Guan Gong (or Guan Yu) from the Han Dynasty (206BC-AD220), which had drawn criticism for its obtrusive size and incompatible appearance, has been launched despite the approval procedures of the relocation site has not yet been completed.Ĭhina's Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development (MOHURD) issued a notice last October, pointing out that the 57.3-meter-high Guan Gong statue cost 170 million yuan ($26.33 million) to build, and located in Jingzhou, Central China's Hubei Province, damaged the style and historical context of the ancient city, ordering the local government to rectify the project.Īccording to media reports, the head of the Guan Gong statue has been removed as of September 1 and the dismantling work had been launched. “Just think how much good they could have done if they’d spent that amount of money on solving real problems faced by ordinary people.Relocation project of the controversial giant bronze statue of Guan Gong (or Guan Yu) in Jingzhou, Central China's Hubei Province, has been launched in September 2021. “This is all taxpayers’ money,” one incensed Jingzhou resident told Radio Free Asia of the funds spent on constructing, relocating, and reconstructing the mammoth tourist magnet, which was reportedly only brought in $2 million since first opening. “We thought there should be a limit on the height of buildings, but there was no specific rule on statues,” the Post reported Qin Jun, deputy head of the Jingzhou Municipal Bureau of Natural Resources and Planning, as telling state broadcaster CCTV. However, construction was allowed to proceed back in 2013 during a period of confusion as to whether or not statues perched atop height-compliant buildings were subject to the rules. Per the Post, the statue, which was constructed for Guinness World Records inclusion in mind as the world’s tallest bronze likeness of Guan Yu, might be technically illegal as local regulations forbid the construction of buildings over 24 meters (just shy of 79 feet). It’s unclear what will become of the pedestal-museum/shrine at the site and if a new, similar base will be constructed at the new site in Dianjiangtai. (“Demolition Gang Beheads Giant War Deity in China’s Hubei,” declared Radio Free Asia.)Īs detailed by the South China Morning Post, the demolition and reconstruction effort, which is being led by the state-owned Jingzhou Tourism Investment and Development Group, will ultimately cost almost as much-just under $24 million- as it did to erect the offending statue. And so, as demanded by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the 1,200-metric-ton “waste of money” is now being carefully dismantled-the warrior-god’s ginormous head was the first to go-and relocated to a less conspicuous, more tourist-friendly location several miles away in the suburban city of Dianjiangtai. Neither was the central Chinese government, which declared that the monolithic Lord Yu had “ruined Jingzhou’s historical appearance and culture” after complaints from residents continued to roll in. ![]() Locals in Jingzhou, an ancient city in the south of the Hubei province, however, were apparently never taken with the majestic epic-ness of the skyline-dominating monument within Guanyi Park. ![]() “Incredibly Epic Statue of Ancient Chinese Warrior God Unveiled,” read a Popular Mechanics headline published at the time. Costing an estimated $26 million and taking three years to construct, Jingzhou’s colossal Guan Yu statue, which until very recently, stood atop a 30-foot-tall base that doubled as a museum and shrine, rendered many (Western) internet users completely smitten when it was completed in 2016.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |