The replica of the 18th Century Golden Temple is being sent to Sweden to honor Swedish explorer Sven Hedin who first laid eyes on the original almost 80 years ago, The Local reports.

Hedin was on an expedition financed by Swedish-American inventor Vincent Bendix who wanted him to find a genuine Chinese temple that could be relocated to the United States.

The Chinese refused to sell him the Golden Temple at Chengde but offered instead to provide an exact replica that could be shipped to the United States and reassembled there.

The temple debuted at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair and was later displayed at the New York World's Fair.

It remained in a box until 1985 when a Swedish architect began renovating the parts that had decayed.