Miyun county announced on Saturday that it had quashed plans to build a 780,000-square-meter English speaking only town.

The proposed project, nicknamed "English Town" had intended to create an English learning environment for visitors.

Wang Haichen, head of Miyun county said at a press conference Wednesday that a large European-style town was to be built in Caijiawa village to promote the county's tourism.

"The town plans to attract English lovers and visitors nationwide who want to improve their English," Wang was quoted by the Beijing Times. "This is different from other European-style tourist attractions in China," he added.

Under the proposal, the area would be walled off from the rest of the county and visitors would be given a souvenir passport upon entry. Visitors would also be penalized for not speaking English within its boundaries.

Wang's remarks about the new town triggered a heated discussion online, with hundreds of Web users criticizing the plan as a waste of money.

"The project was meaningless, the investing company was probably trying to create land speculation by making the announcement," said Chu Zhaohui, a researcher with the Central Institute for Educational Research under the Ministry of Education.

An English-only policy would shut out many earnest English lovers because of their low level, Chu told the Global Times. "The town wouldn't see much profit. People can learn English using other methods anyway," he said, "a plan, which seemed so eccentric was always doomed to fail."

Plans for the town first emerged in October, when the Linda International Investment Group, a Chinese real-estate and property company, signed a contract with Miyun county, offering a 10 billion yuan investment during the 15th Beijing-Hong Kong Economic Cooperation Symposium.

"The town will include commercial establishments such as bars and shopping centers, hospitals and schools," said Li Xiaolin, president of the Group, during an interview with Sina News on November 24. "It's a very creative idea to offer an English environment where people can live and get an educational and cultural experience while sight-seeing," he added.

Despite online criticism, some English learners mourned the loss of a potential education resource in the city.

"I would have been happy to see such a town in Beijing, many English learners like us don't have much of an opportunity to practice in a completely English environment," said 74-year-old Xia Fengzhi, President of the Tuanjiehu Foreign Languages Association, an English-learning organization whose members are mostly senior residents.

"But Miyun is too far from the city center, which is not convenient for seniors," he added.

The Linda International Investment Group's Beijing office was not available yesterday, and Miyun government refused to comment on why the plan was not officially approved.