Rebuilt Chinese History

Many ancient sites in China were destroyed during the "Liberation", the Cultural Revolution or other dramatic event, only to be reconstructed in the 1980s or 90s. For this reason, many tourist sites in China claim to be thousands of years old, but upon arrival the site appears to be brand new.

Beijing's Old Summer Palace, or Yuanmingyuan, which was in use during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) is currently being considered as a new candidate for reconstruction. I had the opportunity to visit the Old Summer Palace and see its ruins in November 2004. I disagree with reconstruction. I think it would be acceptable to build a museum on the premises to show visitors what the structures used to look like, but I hope the government does not touch the ruins lying there. It is one of the few (non-Buddhist cave) sites in China where you actually feel you are seeing something from the dynastic periods. Even the Great Wall at Badaling, just outside of Beijing, feels recently reconstructed.