It was the summer of 2014, we were returning to Stockholm after a holiday in Dalarna. We were heading home on the European route E4. It was then that I noticed a giant statue near Älvkarleby. And after some distance, a tall Chinese-style building with the statue also came into view.
The Statue of the Buddhist saint Guanyin
How could I have missed this place despite passing by the same route for so long? Well! We made a quick decision and took the Gävle exit and reached the spot where this fort-like building was located.
We entered through the large gate of this fortress-like building. There was no ticket counter and no one was there to welcome you.
A huge statue stood in the middle of it. After searching on the internet, I found that it is the Statue of the Buddhist saint Guanyin.
In front of this statue there were some rooms and windows along the wall and behind it was a tall Chinese style building. We first went to the front of the statue.
It was a museum. An overview of China's history, development, geography, culture, and architecture was being presented by the Dragon Museum. The museum's larger photography exhibition includes the world's longest wooden relief, which is shown in a 150-meter arcade.
No one was there except our family. Due to which I was feeling a little scared. We saw many statues standing in a line and it looked like an army. Thankfully we have Google today, my internet search revealed that it was the Terracotta Army.
The Terracotta Army
The Terracotta Army is a collection of terracotta statues that show the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China. It is a type of funerary art that was interred with the emperor between 210 and 209 BC with the intention of safeguarding him in the afterlife.
After leaving the museum, we went to the construction behind the giant statue. It was a restaurant. The children took full advantage of this place.
But we could not visit this Chinese-style hotel because it was closed.
The location was formerly a hotel and then served as a refugee centre until being purchased by a Chinese businessman in 2004 with plans to transform it into a Chinese-Swedish commercial hub. Later, it was decided to transform Dragon Gate into a tourist destination with a hotel, museum, restaurant, and gift store.
The museum is home to 200 replica terracotta warriors, and the proprietors have previously mentioned aspirations to erect the biggest Buddha in the whole globe as well as bring a live panda to the location.
The worst building of the year
The site has experienced several issues, and things haven't quite gone as planned. According to media reports, there have been significant fines for unfavourable working conditions, the firms who operated Dragon Gate at one point went bankrupt, and in 2008 an architecture journal dubbed the structure "the worst building of the year."
For many years, the only public spaces were the museum, the cafeteria, and the gift shop. But we stopped at Dragon Gate yesterday and it is now completely closed. There is a sign saying it’s under renovation.
Disclaimer
As I mentioned in my intro, from the last 2 decades I have been active on social media, google mapping and reviews, youtube and thatsup. I will share my own past interesting content from these channels, but all my upcoming content I will share on hive.blog first.