Repairing the past, restoring our future

"Some data have to be acquired by our inspectors," says Feng Xuemei, an officer who has been working with the center for five years.

All of the previous data have been collected and moved to the new system, which has now amassed more than 7 million data entries.

"One of our responsibilities is to compare new data with the past to ensure everything is all right," Feng says.

Caps have been set on tourist numbers and the environment, ranging from humidity, temperature to air quality.

"When any anomaly comes up, we will assign personnel to the site and conduct an intervention," Feng says.

One of the most prominent restoration projects involves an eight-year restoration of the Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara, the goddess of mercy (known as Guanyin in Mandarin), in Baodingshan, one of the five major rock carvings sites in Dazu.

The statue, a stone carving with gold plating and color elements, had suffered damage, ranging from broken fingers and peeled-off gold foil, after it stood the test of time for more than 800 years.

"Observed at close quarters, it looked pocked with scars," recalls Chen Huili, director of the academy's conservation center, who led the restoration project.

She and her team did a good deal of research and experiment before settling on the repair materials and methods.