Heritage concerns stall treatment of foul water in Shaanxi

Inspectors have found three bodies of water in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, that are black and smelly - including one traversing the ruins of an ancient capital - even though the city said it had eliminated such problems.

The Fengsanganqu channel crosses the ruins of the 2,200-year-old Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 24) capital of Chang'an, which covers 36 square kilometers in the city's Weiyang district. Inspectors found about 70 percent of the 6.2-kilometer channel to be black and odorous.

Local authorities said the problem arises from a ban on construction in the protected area though they had drafted plans for water treatment more than a decade ago.