Centuries-old bridge collapses in Huangshan

For example, in Xuancheng, a city next to Huangshan in Anhui, Lecheng Bridge－a heritage site under provincial-level key protection－which was also first built during the Ming Dynasty and was rebuilt during the Qing Dynasty, collapsed on Monday.

In the UNESCO World Heritage site Wudangshan Mountains, an ancient architectural complex for Taoism in Shiyan, Hubei province, a temple from the Qing Dynasty was severely damaged by flooding as well.

The administration released a statement on Tuesday night urging local governments to keep an eye on the effect of flooding on cultural heritage sites and make sure any damage is immediately reported to local cultural heritage administrations.

"Cultural heritage administrators should cooperate closely with emergency management, environment and meteorological departments to screen for possible dangers and minimize loss," the statement said.

"And the construction materials (torn apart by the flood) should be carefully searched for and preserved."

"Good preparation is crucial to counter such natural disasters, particularly for smaller architectural structures," said Liu Qingzhu, a researcher with the Institute of Archaeology at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. "If abundant information was surveyed and recorded in detail beforehand, future restoration would be much easier."

An expert panel organized by the Anhui Provincial Cultural Heritage Administration arrived at the site of the Zhenhai Bridge on Tuesday afternoon.

Due to the abundant mapping and surveying done previously, rebuilding "would not be too difficult", according to a report from Anhui TV.

Liu emphasized that new technology should be adopted when restoring cultural heritage sites. For example, after the devastating 8.0-magnitude earthquake that hit Sichuan province in 2008, many restored ancient structures added modern earthquake-proof facilities.

"Though sticking to original materials and craftsmanship is widely hailed as a fundamental principle in restoring cultural relics, to better serve today's people, modern technology has to play a key role as well," Liu said.