Two-decade renovation of Potala Palace nears completion
The long-awaited renovation of the landmark Potala Palace in Lhasa is scheduled to be completed this summer, just in time to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic.
Champa Kelsang, chief of administration for the ancient palace, said the completion date for the two-decade project was set for August.
'Repairing the old palace, built in the 7th century, took a lot longer than expected because it was far more complicated than expected and there were always new problems popping up,' he told the South China Morning Post yesterday.
The announcement came just days after Beijing unveiled a new development plan for Lhasa over the next decade that stressed the importance of protecting heritage sites and tried to ease mounting concerns about the cultural impact of the city's rapid economic growth.
Renovation at the winter palace of Dalai Lamas, listed by the UN cultural body Unesco as a World Heritage site in 1994, started in 1989, with 55 million yuan (HK$62 million) spent over the next five years.
The government kicked off the second phase of repairs in 2002 after rain damage in the late 1990s.
The 180 million yuan renovation was originally scheduled to be completed in 2007.
'The palace is like an old sick man who needs to go through a major operation,' Champa Kelsang said. 'It's not surprising to see many unprecedented problems when the operation starts.'
The reinforcement of sleeper walls, repairs to precious fresco paintings and unfavourable weather were major challenges to the project.
According to Champa Kelsang, the 13-storey palace was originally thought to have 23 sleeper walls, cylindrical structures used to support the foundations. But workers have found 491 sleeper walls so far, mostly eroded.
'The palace has never been overhauled thoroughly in the past and the loss of the palace's blueprint has made repairs even more difficult,' he said.
At least 90 per cent of the project has been completed, with repairs to the main buildings and paintings scheduled for the next two months.
'The repairs have proved to be a great help already,' he said, adding that the palace suffered little damage in a 6.6-magnitude earthquake last year that struck Damxung county, 82km from Lhasa.
To speed up repairs, the central government earmarked an extra 40 million yuan recently, Champa Kelsang said.
But local officials said uncertainties may further delay the project.
Champa Kelsang said the palace attracted more than 6,000 tourists a day after the opening of the Qinghai-Tibet rail link in 2006. But it has received only 100 to 450 people a day in the past month due to sensitive anniversaries - of the failed uprising 50 years ago and of last year's riots.
