Rain damages Beijing's cultural heritage

The Beijing Municipal Administration of Cultural Heritage announced on Wednesday the results of a damage assessment conducted on Beijing cultural heritage sites after Saturday's torrential rain.

More than 160 immobile cultural heritage sites were damaged by floodwaters and collapsing parapets. The economic loss at those sites is estimated to be 800 million yuan ($125.3 million).

The damaged sites were mostly in rural places, especially in Beijing's Fangshan, Fengtai and Shijingshan districts.

Beijing's six World Cultural Heritage sites remained intact during the rain, as did the main architectural structures of sites maintained at the city-level or above.

Since 2000, the local government has invested 1.5 billion yuan on maintaining cultural heritage sites, made social investments of more than 5 billion yuan and kept more than 140 city-level cultural heritage sites in good condition.

On June 19, the Beijing Municipal Administration of Cultural Heritage sent a notice to cultural heritage sites, asking them to be vigilant for intense rainfalls.

A work team has been formed to eliminate potential risks and repair the damaged sites.