Cheap fixes to Forbidden City put heritage in peril, grinding massive renovation to halt

A massive heritage project to repair historic buildings in Beijing’s Palace Museum had to be put on hold for a year because of cheap fixes by unskilled workers, according to the museum’s curator. Curator Shan Jixiang said a price-focused government tendering process for the repairs resulted in inexperienced and untrained workers using cheap materials on buildings of irreplaceable historical significance at the museum, also called the Forbidden City, the Beijing Youth Daily reported on Sunday. Because of this, Shan suspended the museum renovations in 2014 until all the projects could be approved and undertaken more professionally, according to the report. In 2002, the centuries-old complex, which was the home of Ming and Qing dynasty emperors, received approval for a renovation due to take until 2020. In a summit on architectural heritage and city development in Shanghai last week, Shan said he had to suspend that plan in 2014, after he saw yet another round of repairs taking place on the roof of the Hall of Supreme Harmony. Forbidden City to knock down all modern buildings at former imperial palace in Beijing He said he was told by engineers that a series of factors contributed to the buildings not receiving high-quality restorations. “Systematic problems make the museum lose generations and generations of skilled construction teams, which contributes to the dilemma today,” Shan said. “If we continued like that, the buildings would be damaged by the repairs, which was a historic responsibility we couldn’t afford to take.” He was told that all contracts to repair the ancient architecture must go through a bid tendering process, but often the companies that won the bids had no construction teams of their own and would find subcontractors after winning the bids. If we continued like that, the buildings would be damaged by the repairs, which was a historic responsibility we couldn’t afford to take Palace Museum curator Shan Jixiang The subcontractor would then hire workers at very low rates, which resulted in unskilled workers such as farmers, who might have been harvesting crops months earlier, being recruited to work on ancient architecture without any background or training in traditional techniques. Government tenders also require that suppliers be compared for price, rather than quality, Shan said. Repairs and restoration of traditional architecture often require multiple and complex procedures and corners cannot be cut without a corresponding loss of quality. “The budget must be higher. [Government bidding] can’t guarantee the highest quality materials,” Shan was quoted as saying. Government oversight of the project also meant the museum was constantly urged to ensure its budget was spent by a certain stage, or the funds would be withdrawn. “The renovation project could not be done scientifically,” he said. The renovation project could not be done scientifically Palace Museum curator Shan Jixiang Another problem Shan identified was a shortage of talent because of strict personnel policies. The artisans in the museum were not considered of a status that allowed them to continue to be hired past retirement age. In addition, few Beijing residents want to study to be tilers or carpenters, so almost all the artisans’ students came from neighbouring provinces. Being unable obtain permanent Beijing residency, most returned home after their three years of training. Shan said he raised his dilemma in a meeting of the China People’s Political Consultative Conference and wrote a report to CPPCC senior officials in November last year. The repair projects were then changed to conservation projects and now operate differently. Great Wall protected China, now China must protect Great Wall Repairs to the Hall of Mental Cultivation, where eight emperors have resided, were approached using the new methodology. Scholars from various departments of the museum took two years to study the project and applied to study 36 research topics, later reduced to 33, and started repairs only after careful study and surveys. The hall previously had only 30 per cent of its area open to the public, which meant visitors could only look at much of the interior behind glass, but could not go inside. The new approach is expected to take four-and-a-half years to complete, rather than the initial one-and-a-half year plan, but at its conclusion, visitors would be able to access 90 per cent of the hall and appreciate it from inside. The treasures of the hall would be loaned to other museums for exhibitions during the renovation process, Shan said.

Cheap fixes to Forbidden City put heritage in peril, grinding massive renovation to halt

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Government tendering process caused more harm than good, says Palace Museum curator

Government tendering process caused more harm than good, says Palace Museum curator