An "interactive digital center" will be built in Beijing and one of the highlights will be a virtual recreation of the former imperial garden Yuanmingyuan.

The project will cost a total of 120 million yuan (US$17.5 million), Beijing Times reported today.

The park administrative office introduced the project at the 2008 Beijing Tourism Project Promotion Meeting yesterday.

Yuanmingyuan is often referred to as the "Versailles of the East."

The digital center project will include two cinemas with one main building and 10 sub-centers.

Yuanmingyuan is now being restored and the whole park will reopen to the public by 2010.

Yuanmingyuan was burned down by British and French troops in 1860. It was sacked and burned again after partial restoration in 1900 when troops sent by eight countries including the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, France and Italy occupied Beijing.

A separate project by US-based IBM, "The Forbidden City: Beyond Space and Time" was finished recently to create an interactive experience with the historic Chinese landmark and advance cultural understanding.

(Shanghai Daily December 4, 2008)