Mayor Jozias van Aartsen of The Hague and Ambassador Zhuang Jun of the People’s Republic of China officially opened the Chinese gates on the Wagenstraat on 28 January accompanied by Chinese drummers, lion dancers, fireworks and music. The gates mark the entrance to The Hague’s Chinatown district.
Before the mayor and ambassador unveiled the traditional Chinese plaque at the gates, Minister of Foreign Trade Frank Heemskerk, Deputy Mayor Frits Huffnagel (City Centre and City Marketing), Deputy Mayor Henk Kool (Economy) and the prominent Chinese businessman Zhang Chunze took the opportunity to emphasise the strong cultural and economic ties between The Hague and Chinatown as well as between The Hague and China.
The two Hague aldermen attending the ceremony said they were proud of the Chinese gates. Henk Kool explained, ‘These gates serve to emphasise the fact that The Hague and China have maintained trade relations for 100 years. And they are an incentive for even more intensive relations in the future. The Hague has now literally become the Gateway to Business in Europe for Chinese companies.’
Frits Huffnagel says the Chinese gates provide great value to the city. ‘They make The Hague’s city centre even more attractive to residents and business people,’ he said. ‘And it goes to show once again what a versatile and international city The Hague is – although of course we’ve long been aware of this.’
The Chinese gates were created in close cooperation with Chinese businesses which are members of the Chinatown Foundation. The Municipality of The Hague commissioned Chinese architect Momoko Cai and the Shanghai Tayjuan construction company to design and construct the gates.
Chinatown almost completed
Over the past few years, the municipality has been working hard to upgrade the Chinatown neighbourhood in a number of ways, including a complete overhaul of the Rabbijn Maarsenplein, while at the same time accentuating its distinct Chinese character. In addition to building the Chinese gates, the municipality has embellished the pavements with Chinese proverbs and put up bilingual street signs in Dutch and Chinese.
Chinatown’s new look will be completed in February 2010 with the installation of traditional Chinese street lamps. Plaques will also be placed in the paving by the gates, providing bilingual information about the history of their creation.