Wuhan has been one big construction site for the past three years.
With city planners seeing the centenary of the 1911 revolution as a rare opportunity to promote the city to a wider world, the Hubei capital undertook an unprecedented facelift of historical sites.
The city has been so aggressive in promoting itself as the 'Capital of the First Uprising' because the revolt on October 10, 1911 in Wuchang- one of the three cities that merged to become Wuhan- was the first of a number of bloody revolts against the Qing dynasty to succeed, and soon led to the collapse of imperial rule.
A two-storey building, commonly known as the 'red chamber' that was a memorial hall for the 1911 Wuchang uprising, reopened in early September after six months of renovation. It is one of 28 sites renovated.
'What has made the restorations unprecedented this time is that we've been trying to incorporate restoration work into an overall upgrade of the city's landscape,' said Zhu Jin , a deputy director of the cultural bureau.
Zhu said his bureau spent 43 million yuan (HK$52 million) on the restoration of three 1911 revolution heritage sites, including Li Yuanhong's tomb near the east gate of Central China Normal University.
