Old Summer Palace replica a business stunt

The newly built replica of Yuanmingyuan, or the Old Summer Palace, ruined by British and French forces during the Second Opium War in 1860, was partly opened to the public on Sunday in Hengdian, East China's Zhejiang province, some 1,400 kilometers south of Beijing, the original site of the palace.

The operator of the replica said the complex, spread over 6,200 mu (413 hectares), is expected to be completed by the end of next year. Ninety-five percent of the replica, to be built to the scale of the original Yuangmingyuan for 30 billion yuan ($4.84billion), will follow the original architecture.

The ruins of Yuanmingyuan, built in 1707 during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and well known for its architectural diversity, are widely seen as a sign of the fall of the Chinese nation under the impact of Western invasions. They also remind Chinese people not to forget the humiliating experience and warn them that backwardness could lead toward such sufferings and humiliation again.