Hell of a controversy

It was miraculous for Italian poet Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) and Chinese novelist Pu Songling (1645-1715) to create their imaginary hells for later generations. But when Fengdu, a county in Chongqing municipality, came up with the idea of building one with an investment of 700 million yuan ($101 million), it stirred a hell of a controversy.

In Chinese mythology, Fengdu is exactly the name of the capital of the hell. And there used to be legends about the hell in this place and there are ancient structures built according to the legends. For such reasons, the county has been well known as the city of the hell.

For the ancestors of locals, superstition could be the best explanation for their construction of such structures as the palace of court judge in the hell and the dwellings of ghosts. But today it would be ridiculous to cite the same reasons for such a huge investment in building a hell.