AFTER five months of construction, most of the cultural town in Longtian Subdistrict, Pingshan District was opened to the public Dec. 1, except for one of its key tourist spots, Panlong House, which has a history of more than 100 years, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported Monday.

The reporter visited the site and found that the house had been closed up tight. From its outer appearance, the house seemed badly damaged with many cracks evident on the exterior of the building. Heritage experts told the reporter that they have been focused on the repair of the house for many years, but had yet to receive an update from the relevant departments.

The house, built in 1864 during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), is a typical enclosed building in Hakka culture and a national immovable cultural relic covering an area of 1,800 square meters. Heritage experts said that it is rare that a house with such a scale is still standing on an earth foundation. However, without human intervention, this invaluable cultural relic would be on the brink of collapse.

Although many experts have called for the immediate renovation of the old building, there is no sign of a real start. Actually, the issue has been reported by many media outlets over the past few years, with no practical result. Last year, a proposal was finally made regarding the house.

Presently, the town’s road and an old well at the front of the house named Panlong Furui have been renovated and an introduction board to the well has also been built. However, the house remains untouched.

Additionally, some experts told the reporter that the design of the cultural town has nothing to do with Hakka culture, but one can find other cultural elements, such as post-colonial buildings and building overhangs from traditional Guangzhou culture. Many of them complained that the mix of these different buildings looked very weird.

The reporter later contacted a staffer in Longtian Subdistrict who said that the tender for the renovation project had been finished. “As the renovation work is very complicated and requires a lot of preparation, the process has been slow. The work will start in January,” the staffer said.

The procuratorate in Pingshan District checked the site immediately after receiving a report from the public. The authority confirmed that certain construction works were unlawful and required relevant departments to tackle the problems within two months. If no improvements are completed before the deadline, the procuratorate will file public interest litigation in court.

(Wang Jingli)