Cheng Ho statue to complement Sam Poo Kong temple tourism

Semarang, NU Online
The giant statue of Admiral Cheng Ho will complement a religious tourist attraction of Sam Poo Kong temple in Semarang, Central Java Governor Bibit Waluyo said here on Wednesday (13/4).

"Admiral Cheng Ho has a history of ancient civilization closely with this country," the governor said when reviewing the installation of 10.7meter-tall bronze statue at Sam Poo Kong Temple, Semarang.<<>br />
According to him, on the foundation of the statue will be completed with the arrival of Cheng Ho`s brief history, written in four languages ​namely Indonesian, English, Chinese, and Japanese.

"I ask that Cheng Ho`s history written in three-four languages​​, so that tourists from China and Japan can understand about the history of his arrival," the governor said.

Besides the installation of a bronze statue of Rp1 billion, the management of Sam Poo Kong temple also asked for immediate improvement of infrastructure supporting of the tourism attraction, like the arrangement of pages, parking areas and access paths, he added.

He said, these improvements would be gradual and continuously done, as it required a big amount of funding.

Governor Bibit explained, with the completion of restructuring of the religious tourism, the one part of Visit Indonesia Year 2013 preparation had been done.

Meanwhile, the head of Central Java Culture and Tourism office, Prasetyo Aribowo added, after revamping Sam Poo Kong temple, they will proceed to the other tourism excursion locations.

According to him, there are about ten tourist destinations in Central Java, which will be addressed. (ant/dar)