Great Hall of the People to be renovated (Xinhua) Updated: 2006-06-18 14:23
The
Great Hall of the People is one of the best known buildings in
Chinese capital Beijing. [Newsphoto/file] | The Great Hall of the People, one of the best known buildings in Chinese
capital will be renovated to make it more energy-efficient, the Beijing Daily
said Saturday.
Kong Xiangyi, the deputy director of the Administration of the Great Hall of
the People, said experts are currently examining the mammoth building in
preparation for the renovation work.
The renovation work may take three or five year and could reduce its energy
consumption by 20 percent, he said.
The renovation of the Great Hall of the People is part of an ambitious
program that will see the reconstruction of existing private and public
buildings to make them more energy efficient.
By 2010, the government plans to reconstruct 25 percent of the buildings in
big cities, 15 percent in medium-sized cities and 10 percent in small cities for
energy saving.
As the first step, the reconstruction of buildings involving major
departments of the central government has already begun.
With half of the world's new buildings built in China every year, the
government is attaching greater importance to energy efficiency of buildings.
Located in the Tian'anmen Square in central Beijing, the Great Hall of the
People is the place where Chinese leaders meet foreign leaders and the National
People's Congress holds its annual sessions.
The construction of the Hall began in October 1958 and was completed in
August 1959. It was hailed as a miracle at that time. Several rounds of
refurbishment have been done to it since then.
The Hall has a total floor area of over 170,000 square meters. The biggest
chamber in the Hall has around 10,000 seats.
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