China Intangible Cultural Heritage Park to open
Updated: 2011-11-28 13:47
By Sun Xiaohang (China Daily Anhui Bureau)
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HEFEI?- After the phase-one construction being completed, China Intangible Cultural Heritage Park, which is listed among six major cultural industry parks here in Anhui province, will officially open to the public on Dec 18.
"It will be a feast for the palates, eyes, ears, laughters, muscles and hearts, appealing to both the young and the old," said Yang Daoming, supervisor of the whole construction of the park in east China's Anhui.
"On the opening day, a water-screen film will kick off the grand opening ceremony. Besides the Gourmet Garden, Grand Circus Theater, Mingqing Theatrical House and Hundred-school-craftsmanship House, Zigong lantern show will be available to visitors," Yang added.
According to Yang, the construction of main body in the park began in 2009. More than 400 million yuan ($62.8 million) has been put into the ongoing first phase of the project and a total of 2.5 billion yuan will be planned to invest in the whole three phases during five years.
"In the Gourmet Garden covering an area of 75 mu (5 hectares), tourists will enjoy various Chinese local delicacies and appreciate both extensive and profound Chinese culinary culture. It is also expected to become the park's cash cow with all shops awaiting tender from catering companies," said one of the project directors.
Another attraction is the Grand Circus Theater under construction now. "It is going to be China's biggest steel-framework theater in tensioned membrane structure with 33 meters high and 66 meters diameter," said Zhang Jingui, owner of the Acrobatic Circus from Zhoukou city in Henan province and who is in charge of the theater's building.
"There will be upper-air acrobatics, equestrian events and trained animal shows on the opening day, and we will give more performances in the future since we have signed a five-year contract with the park," he added.
In the Hundred-school-craftsmanship House, folk craftsmen from across the country will get together to show their maneuvers in carvings, paper-cutting, clay sculpture and so on. It is expected to become a multifunctional base - culture preservation, tourism, handicraft designing, marketing and logistics all in one.
The park at that night will be lit up by 110-odd sets of Zigong lanterns and become a riot of colors.
"What is most amazing is a reproduction of the scene in the famous Chinese painting, the Festival of Pure Brightness on the River. As they walk through the 1.5-kilometer-long street, visitors will feast their eyes on life-sized lanterns in the form of bridges, trees, horses and so on and people in ancient costumes, as if in a time travel," said a worker who is shaping lanterns.