Rebuilding and restoration in Xi’an’s ancient Han capital of Chang’an

Xi’an plans to rebuild identically the ancient capital of the Han, Chang’an, a city of 75 km² built more than 2000 years ago. One of the flagship projects is the reconstruction of the “park of cultural relics” in Weiyang Palace, which covers an area equivalent to seven times that of the Forbidden City.

Started last year and due for completion in 2020, the work, with an estimated cost of 60 billion yuan, will be presented to UNESCO in the summer of 2013. The project involves the displacement of 100,000 village dwellers located on the site. In Xi’an, which received 78.64 million visitors last year, tourism seems to dictate the decisions.