A large-scale renovation of the mausoleum of Genghis Khan, a proud son of Heaven for his time and founder of the Mongol empire of the Middle Ages, is underway in north China's Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region.

So far, the renovation project on its proximity area at a cost of 180 million yuan (approximately 22 million US dollars) has been completed, and it has received the arrivals of some 50,000 tourists, said Mengkeduren, head of the mausoleum's administrative bureau.

Genghis Khan (1162-1227) died at age 66 in what is today's northwestern Gansu province, when he battled against the Xixia Kingdom (or Western Xia Dynasty 1038-1227) in an attempt to unify the country. His remains were taken to the Ejin Horo Banner on the Ordos Highlands and buried there. Five hundred nomadic families of his clan were picked to stand guard at the mausoleum, who subsequently became the special group to defend the mausoleum of the great warrior from generation after generation and were renamed as Dalhut people, which mean "guards of the sacred mausoleum" in Mongolian.

When the Japanese troops intruded into China in 1937, the Dalhuts moved Genghis Khan's remains to northwestern Qinghai Province and the mausoleum was left behind. The remains did not return there until 1954 when the central government of new China rebuilt the mausoleum with a huge investment.

Since then, the Dalhuts, who had performed praying services to Genghis Khan separately by themselves had a formal site for making grand ceremonies.

The existing mausoleum covers only an area of 0.5 sq km. Despite a number of repairs and renovations, it remains in an old,shabby state owing to its limited investment, and it therefore cannot match the historic status of Genghis Khan. So for years, local ethical Mongolians and personalities from all walks of life in Inner Mongolia have repeatedly appealed for renovating and enlarging his mausoleum and, from 2001, some noted architecture departments and archeologists worked out a blueprint for the mausoleum's renovation and expansion, which is to be submitted to the State Bureau of Cultural Relics for approval shortly.

So far, some repairs have been done only to its surroundings areas. The inside mausoleum remained intact, whereas numerous hotels, shops and residential quarters of local people outside its red tiled walls have been displaced to a new designated area about three kilometers away from the mausoleum and rows of new constructions in tune with the style of the mausoleum have sprung up, which include, among others, a four km-long Genghis Khan Road,a 15 km-long scenery road, a magnificent square named after Genghis Khan and a museum on the history and culture of ethnic Mongolia group.

When the whole renovation and expansion project is completed, the Dalhut People will continue to take charge of guarding the mausoleum, which remains listed under the top state administration and protection, said Chageder, former head of the mausoleum's Administrative Bureau who is from the Dalhut People.

The mausoleum of Genghis Khan is a culture relics preservation unit listed under the top state protection, and how is it possible for our government to sell it to any individual, and this is nothing but a sheer nonsense." he said.

"The renovation work of the Mausoleum is a very good thing as it will be beneficial not only to the protection of the sites of historical interest but to locals, who will benefit from the development of local tourism industry," said Enkebayin, a herdsmen of the Dalhut People.

As a proof to his words, more than 400 local Mongolian herders pitched in to demolish some 10,000 square meters of housing around the mausoleum in five days from Nov. 26 to 30.

Source: Xinhua