Beichuan quake museum sparks public debate

The plan for constructing a national museum featuring the destruction of Beichuan county in Sichuan province in the 8.0-magnitude earthquake on May 12 last year has resulted in a public opinion row.

The College of Architecture and Urban Planning of the Shanghai-based Tongji University recently drafted the plan on the basis of fieldwork done by experts from 16 different disciplines at the university.

Exhibits in the museum, spread over 27 sq km, will include ruins of the Beichuan High School where more than 1,000 students died, the Beichuan county seat where more than 80 percent of the buildings were destroyed, and the Tangjiashan Earthquake Lake, the largest of the 34 lakes formed by the quake.