China to invest 600 million yuan to restore Imperial Summer Resort in north China

China's central government will invest 600 million yuan to restore and protect the Imperial Summer Resort, one of China's best-known imperial resorts, in Chengde City in north China's Hebei Province, a government spokesman said Tuesday.

In the resort's largest protection project, ancient relics in the Imperial Summer Resort (Summer Mountain Villa) and its surrounding temples will be renovated in a way that keeps their authenticity and integrity, said the spokesman.

More than 30 experts will be involved in the five-year project.

"The government and experts will do their best to reproduce the flourishing age of Chengde, which has a large number of imperial gardens and many examples of classical Chinese architecture," said Zhang Lifang, director of the Bureau of Cultural Relics of Chengde.

Covering an area of 5.6 million square meters, the Summer Mountain Resort was a temporary imperial palace for Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) emperors Kangxi and Qianlong.

The mountain villa and its surrounding temples were placed on the World Heritage list in 1994.