Admiral Cheng Ho in Sam Poo Kong Temple Semarang, Indonesia

"Admiral Cheng Ho has a history of ancient civilization closely with this country," Central Java Governor Bibit Waluyo said on Antara when reviewing the installation of 10.7 meter-tall bronze statue at Sam Poo Kong Temple, Semarang.

According to him, the giant statue of Admiral Cheng Ho will complement a religious tourist attraction of Sam Poo Kong temple. 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 Rp.1 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. These improvements would be gradual and continuously done, as it required a big amount of funding, he added.

Governor Bibit explained, with the completion of restructuring of the religious tourism, the one part of Visit Wonderful 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.

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