Historic structures and imperial gardens in the 299-year-old summer resort of Chengde city in north China's Hebei Province, are to be renovated as part of an effort to mark the resort's upcoming 300th anniversary in 2003.

Chengde will allocate approximately 3.5 billion yuan (US$420 million) to renew buildings on the resort site, which is listed on UNESCO'S World Heritage list, making it the largest sum of money ever devoted to the tourist sector in the city, said a municipal government official.

Workers have torn down illegal makeshift buildings on 100,000 square meters (119,602 sq yd) adjacent to the magnificent imperial palace, built gardens with a total area of 200,000 square meters (239,206 sq yd) and add splendors to 11 scenic spots.

An official in charge of the renovation project said that the city planned to complete 20 key projects including refurbishing two temples, and constructing highways and gardens in 2002 and 2003.

Occupying an area of 5.6 million sq m (6.69 million sq yd) and consisting mainly of the palace area and gardens, the world-renowned Summer Mountain Villas in Chengde, Hebei Province, was Emperor Kangxi's and Emperor Qianlong's temporary imperial palace resort in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). With numerous unique, classical architectural structures, it is the largest remaining-intact classical imperial garden architecture in China.

Emperor Kangxi (1662-1722) came to the place almost every summer during his reign. Here he and successive emperors hosted feasts in honor of Mongolian nobles and chiefs of the ethnic groups from Xinjiang and Tibet, practiced archery on horseback and went hunting, reviewed military drills and on occasions received foreign envoys.

When the summer mountain resort reaches its 300th founding anniversary in 2003, it would restore the imperial garden to its original magnificence with the distinctive styles of the Qing Dynasty, the official said.

(Xinhua News Agency May 10, 2002)