Macao's Handover Ceremony Hall Is DismantledBecause of the costly maintenance expenses, the handover ceremony hall in the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) is being dismantled.Construction of the hall started in May last year and it had been designed to be a temporary structure for the Chinese and Portuguese governments to hold the ceremony marking Macao's power transfer in last December. From January 28 to March 28, the hall accommodated the presents given to the Macao SAR by China's provincial governments and the Hong Kong SAR government to mark Macao's return to the motherland. With the conclusion of the exhibition, the SAR government invited some architectural specialists to study the feasibility of hall's permanent preservation. The conclusion is negative. Many residents and tourists said it is a great regret the historic site cannot be preserved. However, official sources said that a commemorative park featuring the theme of handover might be built at the same site. Over the past several months, streams of tourists and local residents have flocked to the site to relish the atmosphere of that solemn historic event which became a turning point for Macao. |
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