Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
While the pace of demolition has slowed, it still continues. In January 2012, the courtyard
home of Liang Sicheng, known as the father of modern Chinese architecture, was pulled
down despite being listed as a 'cultural relic'. Ironically, Liang had campaigned in the 1950s
for the preservation of ancient Běijīng.
In with the New
Since 1949, replacing what has gone and integrating new architecture seem to have been
done without much thought. The vast Legendale Hotel on Jinbao Lu is a kitsch interpreta-
tion of a Parisian apartment block curiously plonked in central Běijīng, while the glass
grill exterior of the hip Hotel Kapok on Donghuamen Dajie is a jab in the eye of the staid
Jade Garden Hotel next door. But it is the futuristic domelike National Centre for the Per-
forming Arts that is perhaps Běijīng's most controversial building, thanks to its location
so close to the Forbidden City.
The eventual consequences of this great urban reshaping cannot be estimated. The
growing self-respect and self-belief among ordinary Chinese has initiated a movement to
reinstate traditional Chinese architectural aesthetics. The rebuilding of Yǒngdìng Mén
(Yǒngdìng Gate) and the decorative arches of Qiánmén and Xīdān indicate this process is
under way.
