An aerial view of Ancient Pingyao City in Jinzhong, Shanxi Province, June 2, 2023. /CGTN
Pingyao Ancient City in northern China is a UNESCO World Heritage site, dating back more than 2,800 years and is one of the best-preserved ancient cities in China. In 2021, due to heavy rainfall, the ancient wall collapsed at sixty-one sites, drawing concern from the public. It took a year to complete the restoration work.
Shao Shuai, an ancient architecture engineer working as a project manager in Shanxi Chaojie Ancient Architecture Engineering Company, took part in the restoration of the collapsed walls in Pingyao Ancient City.
"The National Cultural Heritage Administration initiated an emergency response immediately and required us to submit plans and start restoration right away," he said, recalling the accident. "And we followed the basic principle, which is to maintain its original shape and structure and use the original materials and techniques."
Shao Shuai (right) walks in front of a restored wall in Ancient Pingyao City, Jinzhong, Shanxi Province, on June 2, 2023. /CGTN
Shao revealed they tried something new at four of the collapsed sites – building a 1.5-meter-high brick structure at the foot of the wall. "It's an experimental method approved by the National Cultural Heritage Administration. We'll see if this brick wall part can reduce weathering and rain erosion and better protect the whole wall," he said.
Shao has been working in the field in Pingyao for more than a decade. He witnessed how the heritage protection work has improved. He said the workflow has become more standard, while working at the work site, the requirements and norms have become more explicit, and the work team has also become more professional.
Workers restore a collapsed wall in Ancient Pingyao City, Jinzhong, Shanxi Province, on September 5, 2022. /CGTN
In January 2022, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Pingyao Ancient City and spoke about the comprehensive protection of historical and cultural heritage and encouraged the promotion of traditional Chinese culture to the world.
President Xi said historic and cultural heritage sites embody the history of the Chinese nation, and they not only belong to our generation but also the next generations.
Lei Yaxian, head of the Pingyao Cultural Relic Office, has been working in the office for decades. She summed up their latest work to better protect the ancient city. "We've been reinforcing the basic protection of cultural relics. Besides the restoration of the collapsed walls, local officials have also invested more in the restoration of relics under lower-level protection. We've also been encouraging private capital to engage in helping protect cultural relics," she said.