Written by: Xinhuanet
Posted on: June 11, 2018 | 
| 中文
The Forbidden City Palace Museum
A video titled, “Model of the Palace Museum Withstood 10 Degree Earthquake,” won worldwide attention among micro-bloggers, with the viewers praising the smartness of ancient Chinese technology.
The video was taken from the feature film, “Secrets of the Forbidden City” produced by Channel 4 of UK, in which the features of the Royal Palace, such as its history, scale, decorations, etc. were discussed in detail, as well as how it has withstood natural disasters for centuries, as the world’s largest example of wooden architecture.
It was explained in the film that the ancient Chinese craftsmen had adopted several earthquake-resistive measures, during the construction of the buildings in the royal city. Therefore, it withstood more than 200 destructive earthquakes in the 600 years since its establishment, including the 7.8 degree Tang Shan Earthquake that took place in the 1970s, close to Beijing.
But how exactly has the Forbidden City survived these disasters? In the film, Richard Weberger, a British carpentry expert came to Beijing especially for a real earthquake experiment.
Chinese experimental staff had managed to build up a model of the Palace of the Forbidden City at the ratio of 1:5, based on the construction structure of the original, with exactly the same traditional tools and methods, and placed it on an experimental platform with devices for earthquake shaking stimulation.
After the experiment, Richard stated in the film that the secret to the longevity of the Palace lies in its flexible structure: the interspersed and well-arranged cross-brackets serve as a shock absorber, and buffer down the forces from different directions. The wooden supporting pillars are not buried into the ground, so they do not get broken during the shaking.
Richard expressed his admiration, “This is an excellent example, indicating the skill involved in traditional Chinese architecture.”
Understandably, Chinese architecture has gained attention overseas after the documentary was broadcasted.
In addition to its traditional buildings, modern Chinese architecture has often been praised for being miraculous by foreign media in recent years. For example, the HK-Macau-Zhuhai Bridge was completed and was rated as one of the Seven New World Wonders by the Guardian.
The 55-kilometer bridge goes across the inner sea Ling Dingyang near Zhuhai City, Guandong Province and links Hong Kong, Macau and mainland China together, with driving distance shortened from 3.5 hours to an hour now, after it has become operational.
As the longest, most expensive and difficult sea-cross bridge, several miracles have been achieved during the construction of this super project. It is the bridge with the longest span, steel structure bridge body, and undersea tunnel in the world.
On the other side of the vast Chinese land, the world’s longest desert-cross expressway, the Beijing-Xinjiang Expressway was put into operation in July 2017.
“When the sandstorms come, people can barely stand. Once the roofs of our dormitories were blown away,” Sun Yuguo, the general manager of Beijing-Xinjing Expressway Project of China Railway, recalls with some fear. Chinese engineers eventually made the Expressway through the desert and successfully lined the remote western border area of the country with its capital. They did this despite of natural hardships and engineering difficulties, and after years of arduous work. Like a beautiful black silk ribbon, this railway has shortened 1300 kilometers of the driving distance between the two cities.
This report about the Expressway also aroused extensive attention among the netizens at home and abroad, with praises shared via various social media platforms. There were comments such as “brilliant”, “excellent “or “super efficient” and so on.
The master engineers of China have created these super projects with their dedication and persistence, and through the unremitting pursuit of professional excellence.
Buildings that can withstand the earthquakes and railways which can go through water and sand are what define China. The Forbidden City, built 600 years ago, still impresses the world. Present day construction projects, being implemented by Chinese engineers, have been considered as important indicators of its comprehensive power, with not only the equipment and machinery made in China, but also the engineering technology, methods, and industrial standards that the country has invented and adopted consistently.
Translated by Wu Jinying
You may also like:
