Elderly people sit on benches chatting and enjoying the bright sunshine while carefree, energetic children run about here and there.

The Changpu River, stretching from the front of the Palace Museum (best-known as the Forbidden City), was an important branch of the river system in the Imperial City starting from the early years of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

However, the river, in the heart of Beijing, remained buried under stone slabs and warehouses storing decorations for national parades for more than four decades.

In those years more than 600 households had been crammed into the four hectare area.

The restoration of the Changpu River and the opening of the Changpu River Park, now surrounded by red walls extending from the Forbidden City, is just one of the ambitious efforts Beijing -- the country's capital city for about 800 years - is undertaking to preserve its heartland, where numerous cultural and historic relics are located.

For many years, leading scholars and experts have made repeated calls for urgent measures to safeguard the original Imperial City.

Over the past two decades they have been saddened and frustrated by the loss of the ancient hutongs and siheyuan (Chinese alleys and quadrangles) as roads were widened and skyscrapers sprawled in downtown Beijing.

They worry that further urban renovation will break the traditional fabric of the city, making it difficult for younger generations to comprehend the life of old Beijing.

Their prolonged plea has not been fruitless. In December, the municipal government completed a protection plan for the Imperial City.

The draft, jointly made by the Beijing Administrative Bureau of Cultural Heritage and Beijing Urban Planning Commission, is now under deliberation by higher authorities.

Mei Ninghua, director of the municipal cultural heritage bureau, said the "Protection Plan for Beijing Imperial City" would be instrumental in the conservation of Beijing as an historic cultural city.

According to the plan, a downtown area covering 6.8 square kilometres will be placed under full protection.

The Imperial City under the safeguard encompasses the zone stretching from Chang'an Avenue in the south to Ping'an Avenue in the north, and from East Huangchenggen Road in the east to West Huangchenggen Road in the west.

The major cultural relics in this Imperial City include the current Palace Museum (the Forbidden City), the Zhongshan Park, the Beijing Workers' Cultural Palace, Beihai Park, Jingshan Park and Zhongnanhai. The last is the headquarters of the central government.

The detailed measures include conserving key cultural heritage building groups and improving -- on a trial basis -- the living conditions in some residential compounds of historic importance.

Buildings which do not correspond to the overall style of the Imperial City will be demolished.

The Imperial City zone is arguably the most important part of Beijing's historical legacy.

During the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911), the Forbidden City was the centre of the urban area and was encircled by the Imperial City.

Inside the Imperial City area, many ancient buildings and facilities were symmetrically placed, including palaces, imperial gardens, temples and altars, ancient government offices and residences.

Outside the Imperial City is the old city, which is a general term for the square-shaped inner city and rectangle-shaped outer city.

The old city of Beijing is a 62.5-square-kilometre area within the Second Ring Road, which is where the city wall, moat and gates used to be.

The Imperial City, first built in 1417 during the Ming Dynasty, is now the largest and the most intact one in China, which reflects the bygone days of feudal China and is of great historic importance, said Li Zhun, a senior relics expert, who now works for a protection panel under the municipal government.

He pointed out that with its unique layout, ingenious architecture and advanced construction techniques, the Imperial City is of great value to the research of ancient Chinese history, culture and technology.

Protection measures

The protection project would be a massive undertaking, said Liao Zhengxin, an engineer with the Beijing Urban Designing Institute, who participated in drawing up of the plan.

Under the proposed scheme, the number of permanent residents -- about 70,000 -- will be gradually reduced to about 40,000.

The city will also work out measures to further protect the buildings and cultural sites within the area.

Meanwhile, the plan has a strict architectural guide for any new buildings in the area. The new buildings must follow the classical style highlighting reclining roofs and gray bricks. No new buildings should rise over nine metres.

Modern cement box styled multistoried apartment buildings and other construction, which is incongruous to the traditional architectural style in the area, would be torn down.

For instance, a chimney in the courtyard of the Jinghua Print House, the administrative building of the Beijing Municipal Housing Management Bureau on Nanchizi Street and the office building of the Beijing Badge Manufacturing Factory, which all surround the Forbidden City, would be pulled down, according to Ma Liangwei, vice-president of the Beijing City Planning Institute.

The plan also lists a total of 137 typical hutongs to be preserved, such as the Guangming hutong, Nanhongmen hutong and Caolanzi hutong.

About 80 per cent of the hutongs are less than seven metres wide, and the protection plan states that all hutongs and another 15 main streets within the Imperial City will not be widened.

More than 60 historic and cultural relics under State, municipal or district protection, which cover more than half of the total area of the Imperial City, are the core areas listed in the protection plan.

They include the Palace Museum, Zhongshan Park, the Workers' Cultural Palace, Jingshan Park, Beihai Park and Zhongnanhai.

There are also 204 ancient buildings and quadrangles that have some historic and cultural value and should be better preserved, although they have not been filed as protected units under State or lower levels, Liao explained.

The proposed plan, however, has received criticism from conservationists.

Some experts argue that the protected areas include too much royal architecture and not enough common residential buildings, said Zheng Xiaoxie, a renowned architect and ancient construction consultant to the Ministry of Construction.

But even the items listed by the plan would not be totally safe.

For example, most of the 240 traditional courtyards in Nanchizi, a protected historical community located next to the east wall of the Forbidden City, were demolished last year and will be replaced with two-storey buildings in quasi-classical style.

Li Mingtao, chief architect of the Beijing Institute of Architecture and Design, said: "I hope the bulldozers will not demolish the history of Beijing." Experts suggested that the municipal government should channel more funds into projects that protect the traditional architecture and culture of Beijing.

It should not forgo its decision-making power to developers whose sole priority is to make profits, they said.

They also suggested that a supervision mechanism is necessary to prevent local governments and developers from reckless action in historical zones.

(China Daily April 18, 2003)