Ten cultural treasures, once stolen from their home in Beijing's Yuanmingyuan Park (Old Summer Palace), will return to their rightful place today, a day ahead of World Cultural Heritage Day, which falls at the second Saturday of June.

The treasures comprise a pair of fish sculptures and eight white marble carvings, which are hundreds of years old.

The ornaments were removed from the imperial garden during the period of the "cultural revolution" (1966-76), and were given back to the park's authority by institutes and individuals.

A ceremony will be held at the park today to mark their return.

"The first returned batch will be put back in their original places and will go on show to visitors free of charge," Zong Tianliang, a park spokesperson, said.

The pair of fish sculptures, made in 1759, was an important ornament in Dashuifa - a group of fountains considered among the grandest architectures in the Xiyanglou (European Palaces).

Yuanmingyuan Park statistics show there are still about 1.5 million relics missing, possibly scattered around the world, after they were looted by invading foreign troops: the British and French in October 1860, and later in 1900, by the allied forces of eight countries.

Better known as the Old Summer Palace, the park was an imperial palace during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

What remains is a vast, sprawling and almost empty park.

There have been several plans to rebuild Yuanmingyuan, but the task would be "impossibly expensive", Zhang Yongnian, chief of the China special fund for scattered relics, said.

(China Daily June 8, 2007)