Statue of a Statue

I spotted this a few days ago and thought about taking a picture to put here. At the time, the workmen were still installing it, so I decided to wait.

Yesterday, the local rag had an article explaining what it is and why it's there.

According to the article, it is in Wuxing (Five Star) Street. No. it isn't. It's outside McDonalds on the junction of Jiefang Nanlu (Liberation South Road) and Zhongshan East Road (Zhongshan is the Mandarin for Yat-sen, as in Sun Yat-sen. Every city in China has a Zhongshan Road except Beijing). It is outside Wuxing Department store which is behind the photographer's back.

Wuxing Street, named after the store, which has given its name to the area, was built as a pedestrain shopping area by a local man who had made his fortune in Wood Green, London where he had an estate agency. When he sold up, he returned to Liuzhou and built this short shopping street. Unfortunately, for him the local governement turned the whole area into a pedestrian zone and his street became a bit of a backwater, Today, it is somewhat deserted. There some fashion shops, but there are also many empty shop units. The only successful parts seem to be the Chinese fast food restaurant and the disreputable night club on the second floor.

Anyway, back to the statue. In fact it's not a statue, but a model for a statue. This one is made from plywood and is propped up using two random sticks. The real thing, designed by Professor Zhao Qiankun of Guilin Institute of Technology, will be made from two materials: stone to represents Liuzhou's history and culture and an unspecified metal to represent the future. It will be 6 metres high. It is meant to be five stars.

This will be the third statue on this spot in as many years. First was this idiotic disgrace. Click here for an explanation.

Happily, this didn't last long and was replaced by what I can only describe as a large cardboard box covered in aluminium foil.

We are promised the new statue will be in situ by October 1st, China's National Day.

Today, I walked past and took this picture from roughly the same place as the first.

Yes, the thing has disappeared already!

tags: liuzhou  statue  sun yatsen  wood green  london  guilin  

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