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Countdown clock winds up on Wall

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The massive clock that counted down to Hong Kong's return is to be permanently displayed at the foot of the Great Wall.

Beijing Youth Daily said the 26-metre high clock would be taken from the entrance to the Revolutionary History Museum and moved to the Badaling Great Wall sometime next week.

The clock was turned off 2.5 hours after midnight on June 30, and is now considered a precious reminder of the historic event.

'We have considered several options. One was to move it to the Yuanmingyuan ruins in Beijing and another was to send it to the Jinghai Temple in Nanjing, where the Treaty of Nanjing was negotiated,' Xie Guojin, who designed the clock, was quoted as saying.

'I heard of plans to build a culture park near the Great Wall and I thought it would be the perfect place to display the clock, as both symbolise the unity of the motherland,' said Mr Xie.

The clock will be placed beside a sculpture of Lin Zexu, the imperial official who tried to stop the opium trade by English merchants in 1839. It is hoped the two displays will serve to enlighten future generations.

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