A heavily-invested project broke ground Monday to build a park in Beijing downtown, according to sources.

The park, named Huangchenggen Site Park, will be located between the Forbidden City, or the Imperial Palace, and the Wangfujing Street, the busiest commercial street in Beijing.

About 2.8 kilometers long and 29 meters wide, the park will cross Beijing's most prosperous downtown area from north to south, sources said.

The project will cost an enormous investment of 850 million yuan (about US$102 million), a large proportion of which will be used to compensate the 900 households of residents and 270 units that have to remove to other places.

Myriad trees, flowers, and a large area of grass will be grown in the park, where many special scenes will also be created, according to local officials.

Beijing used to be composed of three cities, namely the Forbidden City, then the Imperial City and the Outer City. The park will just lie along the site of the eastern walls of the Imperial City, which have long since been toppled.

The park will make people reminiscent of the Imperial city and help the cultural heritage to pass on, said Chenping, director of the Eastern District of Beijing.

The project is expected to conclude before this October, according to sources.

(People’s Daily 04/03/2001)