Storms take their toll on heritage in Shanxi

Flood crest

Some cultural relics survived the torrential rain in Shanxi, thanks to quick action by protection workers and villagers.

During the five days of heavy rain in Xinjiang county, Yuncheng, the Fenhe River, a major tributary of the Yellow River, experienced its biggest flood crest for 40 years.

Yang Yingjie, director of the county's cultural relics protection center, said protection measures had been taken since late September, when it began to rain more heavily in the area than in past years.

The rain penetrated the roof and reached the walls of the main hall at the Longxing Temple late that month, Yang said. The temple was built during the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368).

"Workers guarding the temple called me during the night, and we decided to put up a large amount of plastic sheeting to cover the entire hall to ensure the safety of the statues," Yang said.

Six large sections of plastic sheeting were lifted by crane to cover the temple rooftop. Small pieces of waterproof cloth were also used to cover the Buddhist statues.

"I wish we could have used some other way to better protect the ancient building and its statues, but as it was an emergency, I thought this was the best solution," Yang said.

Bai, from the Shanxi Cultural Relics Bureau, said a team was formed last year to safeguard those relics not included on government protection lists. This year, a project was launched to list all buildings constructed before the Yuan Dynasty as cultural relics protected at county level. The project is expected to be completed by 2025.

Ren, the research institute dean, said that in addition to government funding, Shanxi encourages the public, organizations, institutions and enterprises capable of maintaining ancient buildings to "claim" those not included on protection lists.

"Those who 'claim' such buildings have to protect them, but also have the right to use them for a period of time as long as they meet the requirements for cultural relics protection," he said.

To date, 238 ancient buildings have been "claimed" in Shanxi, which boasts about 28,000 such structures.