Beijing Unveils Centuries-Old Temples

A man walks past antiquities uncovered during the construction of venues for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, Friday, Jan. 26, 2007. Amid its frenzied city-wide makeover for the 2008 Olympics, Beijing unveiled two centuries-old temples Friday that were salvaged from decades of neglect and saved from the current construction boom.(AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) (Ng Han Guan - AP)

The reclamation of the two temples stands as an example of what a determined government can do, relics protection officials said.

"The protection of these temples was done very rapidly," said Wang Youquan, a Beijing cultural relics protection official. "I've been doing this work for 20 years and this was the best done job in my experience because the government stressed its importance."

Preservation makes for difficult choices in a city with hundreds of historic landmarks, strapping Beijing's modest $15 million relics-protection budget, Wang said.

Aiding the salvage effort were special regulations requiring archaeological surveys, and fast action to protect relics and keep venue construction on schedule, officials said.

Unlike the emperor's Forbidden City palace, the Temple of Heaven and other grand monuments that Beijing is famous for, the Niang Niang and Dragon King temples catered to ordinary Chinese living in what was mostly farmland outside the high-walled city.

Archaeologists unearthed more than 500 graves at construction sites scattered along the Olympic Green, finding mostly simple coffins, lots of coins and other goods. A few ceramic vats for burying Buddhist monks were found.

Traditionally, living on or near a graveyard holding the bodies' of strangers would have been thought unlucky. Kong, the relics protection official, agreed, but scoffed that the tradition ever held back development.

"Beijing has over 3,000 years of history, and there are graves everywhere," Kong said. "The city has been expanding and covering over graves throughout history."