Snow Breweries preserves China's history

The first session of the Chinese Historical Architecture Photographic Contest successfully closed in Beijing recently. And China Resources Snow Breweries (China) Ltd, sponsor of the event, is confident its Chinese historical architecture protection program will be positively received.

The contest is part of Snow Breweries' five-year, 10 million yuan social program to promote knowledge and appreciation of traditional Chinese architecture.

The project began last month and is in partnership with the School of Architecture at Tsinghua University.

Under the program, Snow Breweries invites senior Chinese historical architects from the university to write articles about the history of Chinese architecture in a simple and interesting way, including professional research and a historical perspective.

Within five years, five series of related books are scheduled for publication. Each one will be accompanied by a photography contest. Some books will be donated to universities and professional research institutes.

The first phrase of the project focused on ancient Chinese architectural styles of Beijing.

Five books were published in mid-May as part of the Historical Architecture of Beijing series. The titles of the five books are: Beijing Quadrangle, The Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace and Map of Beijing.

The photography contest panel of judges was composed of architecture and photography professionals. The judges received more than 20,000 works from nearly 8,000 photography fans nationwide. Twenty-eight people received awards.

The company said that the books and photography contest attracted widespread public attention, especially at universities.

The company also reported that Snow Breweries has accumulated more information and lessons learned from the first session that will allow Snow Breweries to improve the next phases and invite the participation of more people.

The next series will focus on folk houses and rural dwellings of China, with associated book donations and photography competitions to follow.

Snow Breweries, established in 1994, is a joint venture of China Resources Enterprise Ltd and SABMiller Plc, the world's second-largest brewer.

Snow Breweries was the world's largest beer brand by sales last year, with 7 million tons of beer on the market, according to Plato Logic, a UK-based global beer and beverage market research firm.

(China Daily 11/02/2009 page10)