Pingyao-Ancient-City-Wall.jpg (Photo : www.chinaholidays.com.au)
The relocation of a Cultural Revolution-era building complex in Datong City, Shanxi Province--which was moved to make way for the restoration of an ancient wall--has been completed, according to the contractor in charge of the transfer.
The 18,000-square-meter H-shaped building, built in 1969, was moved 1,400 meters from its original site and rotated 90 degrees using sliding blocks beneath a massive steel plate, said project manager Yuan Fengxiang of the Shanghai Xianwei Civil Engineering Co. Ltd.
The task of moving the building took two-and-a-half years to finish, according to the Global Times.
Nicknamed "mini-great hall of the people" owing to its likeness to the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, the building complex was first called the "Memorial Hall of Long Live Chairman Mao Thought" during the Cultural Revolution.
In 1972, a portion of it was turned into a department store, which lasted until the 1990s.
The building was converted into a complex of Datong's library, museum and exhibition hall in 2009.
Recognizing Datong's disctinction as China's capital for 410 years and being the country's only previous capital located to the Great Wall's north, the local government of the 2,300-year-old city decided in 2012 to renovate the walls around it, hence the need for the relocation of the building.
