China’s historic Forbidden City to lead landmark action on climate change for Earth Hour

Beijing, China - China’s most important historic landmark, the Forbidden City, will turn off its lights for WWF’s Earth Hour at 8.30pm on Saturday March 27th in the country’s capital of Beijing. The Forbidden City will be going dark along with other international landmarks including the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Empire State Building in New York, Table Mountain in Cape Town, the London Eye, Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Sydney Opera House, the Grand Palace in Bangkok and the Burj Khalifa (the world’s tallest building) in Dubai.

“Last year we turned off the Bird Nest in the Olympic park. This year, the Forbidden City. We are extremely impressed with the level of support the city of Beijing has shown for Earth Hour,” says Dermot O’Gorman, WWF China’s Country Representative.

The Forbidden City is a six hundred year old imperial palace and is named by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

Along with the Forbidden City, other Beijing landmarks to switch off include The Place, Yintai Center, China World Trade Center, National Theater, New World Center and more. The Beijing National Stadium, also known as theBird’s Nest , will turn off its lights with a special public event.

Citizens of more than 2000 cities and towns in 115 countries and regions across every continent have till now confirmed to switch off their lights for Earth Hour, in what is anticipated to be the greatest display of action on climate change the world has ever witnessed. Many cities and towns in China have committed to Earth Hour so far, including Baoding, Beihai, Changsha, Changzhou, Chengdu, Dalian, Guiyang, Hong Kong, Lanzhou, Ma Anzhan, Nanjing, Shijiazhuang, Shunde, Xi’an, Xiamen and more.

With less than one week to go, WWF calls on the Chinese public to join Earth Hour’s “Low Carbon Lifestyle Week”. Each day from Monday March 22 to Friday March 26, WWF encourages people to adopt one low-carbon action to save energy and resource.

• Monday’s action is “Save 1 Liter of Water” by efficiently reusing water in your home.
• Tuesday’s action is “Save 10 Pieces of Paper” by printing less at the office.
• Wednesday’s action is "Cut 1 Day of Driving Per Week” by taking public transportation.
• Thursday’s action is "Cut Out Plastic Bags" by bringing your own reusable bag when shopping.
• Friday’s action is "Save 1 Kilowatt of Electricity" by turning off unnecessary lights and unplugging unused appliances in your home.
For more information, please contact

Chris Chaplin, Communications Officer, WWF-China
+86 10 6511 6237, +86 138 103 73 244, cchaplin@wwfchina.org