New gate in Henan dubbed giant ’trouser belt’  

河南裤腰带大门建成 遭调侃可与“秋裤”媲美(图)

河南省伊川县，洛伊快速通道伊川界的伊川北大门。大门外形是巨大的U形钢架结构拱门，外观为红色。因设计“雷人”，既像是一条红腰带，又酷似一个圈套，遭到网友虐称：进出城要钻裤腰带！可以和央视的‘大裤衩’、苏州的‘秋裤’媲美。[查看全文]

The photo taken on May 11, 2014 shows the newly designed North Gate entrance of Yichuan county in central China's Henan. [Photo: IC]

 

(ECNS) -- Yichuan county in Central China's Henan province became the latest county known for its bizarre architecture, when photos of its newly designed North Gate entrance surfaced on the Internet.

The pictures show a red U-shaped iron arch leaning forward above a multilane highway, with two poles supporting the main structure.

The gate, whose construction began in 2012, has been dubbed by Chinese netizens the "giant trouser belt." Local citizens complained that they have to go through a belt when going into and out of town.

Some netizens said the new structure cost 10 million yuan ($1.6 million), while another said that the local government wasted 20 million yuan on it.

However, Yichuan county government defended the design as being simple, yet powerful and beautiful, signifying a belt connecting the past and future.

As for the cost, a government staffer said it was "maybe 5 million to 6 million yuan, no more than 10 million yuan," as the money was donated by an enterprise.