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World Bank Provides Loans for China's Relics Protection
The World Bank has decided to loan one million US dollars to help China restore a group of 300-year-old buildings in Chongqing City, southwest China.
With the money, a total of 16,000 sq m of buildings including old guild halls, traditional streets and blocks, and more than 400 meters of ancient city walls will be repaired and restored, said Wu Tao, a relics protection expert in the Chongqing Municipal Culture Bureau.
Guild halls are a kind of trade association that sprung up in China during the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. Such halls usually consisted of guest houses, opera towers and other facilities. Chongqing used to be a gathering place of businesspeople in the Ming and Qing dynasties.
The Huguang Guild Halls in Chongqing cover more than 8,460 sq m in area, the largest in the country.
Wu Tao said these wooden building with fine carvings feature architectural styles of the Ming and Qing dynasties in southern China.
Wen Rujun, an official with the Chongqing Municipal Development Planning Commission, said that the World Bank is highly concerned with the project and entrusted the Italian Government to fund China in drafting the plan for protecting the guild halls.
She said, the World Bank has the intention to add five million more US dollars to the project.
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