More protection for China’s historical sites
Contributors are not employed, compensated or governed by TD, opinions and statements are from the contributor directly
China Daily said the list includes ruins of the ancient capitals of Xi’an and Luoyang, key sites along the Xinjiang section of the Silk Road, the Great Wall and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal.
“The preservation of historical sites is the most challenging part of cultural heritage protection. The next few years will be a critical time for these sites because of the ongoing urbanisation,” Shan Jixiang, director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, told China Daily.
He said in recent years, the rapid changes in China’s cities meant that many of their older quarters have been completely reshaped, often to the detriment of their cultural heritage.
One of the first steps would be to rescue relics buried beneath cities, with heritage protection zones set up on the basis of archaeological finds and historical documents, so that relics within them have a better chance of survival, he said.
“It is absolutely essential that archaeological investigations and excavations are made before any construction project gets under way.
“But archaeologists are all too often ignored,” he said.
An archaeologist, who had asked not to be named, told the paper that over the past two years, he and his colleagues had found more than 700 ancient tombs on the sites where Olympic stadiums are being built.
“Archaeologists in Beijing are following bulldozers,” he was quoted saying.
Comments are closed.