Fire broke out at the archaized south gate in Zhending, a county in Shijiazhuang in Hebei Province, on Feb. 18th, and burnt the two-storey wooden attic down. The rebuilding work was launched on early March under the principle of “preserving the old style” with the budget of two million RMB. Special attention has been paid to materials used and features like fire resistance and insulation because of the fire. The installation of the structure is underway now.
On the morning of April 7th, a new wooden structure has been set up where the gateway was burnt down.
Zhang Guoqing, the vice chief of Zhengding Relic and Tourism Bureau, told the press that to recreate the building’s historical style, the restoration was conducted in accordance with design recovered by archeologists in 2001. The attic remains in wood structure but with higher requirement on quality. The Institution of Historical Construction Preservation in Hebei and Hebei Historical Building Construction Company, which built the gateway in 2001, were to rebuild the gateway again. After preparing for more than a month, the restoration was started in early March with a budget of two million RMB.
According to Zhang, on one hand, materials used have been selected carefully; their capacity for fire resistance and insulation were thoroughly checked. On the other, extinguishment device was also under improvement and expulsion pressure of the water-cannon was enforced to make sure the jet length could cover the whole attic.
A director from Hebei Historical Building Construction Company said all the wooden components were made by craftsmen at the scene and the chief designer and many craftsmen were once involved in the construction in 2001.
Zhang also told the press that most of the wooden components in the attic were connected by traditional means such as tenon-and-mortise and bracket, so needles are rarely used.
“Now the main part is under construction, and we expect it to be finished at the end of April. By the end of May, the whole thing will be completed,” said Zhang. Although the South Gate is archaized, it is the landmark of Zhengding; therefore the rebuilding will bring the historical style back. It is expected to be open to visitors in July.
The Zhengding South Gate was first built in Ming Dynasty, called Changlemen in history, and then was destroyed. In the year of 2001, the local government rebuilt it. |
