Nation salutes best heritage restorations

Tashilunpo Monastery in Tibet is among the Best 10 Cultural Heritage Restoration Projects. [Photo/Xinhua]

China's cultural-relics authorities announced the first annual list of The Best 10 Cultural Heritage Restoration and Protection Projects of Cultural Heritage on Wednesday in Beijing.

The list was co-released by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, its affiliated China Cultural Relics News, and the Chinese Commission for the International Council on Monuments. The top 10 projects of 2013 vary from ancient temples to large-scale frescoes and grottoes.

"We want the event to build up the public and urban planners' consciousness on protection of cultural relics," says Tong Mingkang, deputy director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage. "The good examples can be followed by cultural-heritage protectors all over the country as they apply new technologies during the projects."

Tong acknowledges that many historical structures in the country were in poor repair when ranked on the national key protection list. For example, there are many precious old buildings older than the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) in Shanxi province, but their status is not promising. The administration has launched a project to save the diminishing treasures.

"Though we focus on rescuing the endangered structures at this moment, we will have more initiatives to solidify the buildings with long history."

The top 10 restoration projects:

Erlang Temple, Gaoping, Shanxi province.

Beizhen Temple construction complex, Beining, Liaoning province.

The building at 2 Beijing East Road, Shanghai.

Main hall of Tianhou Palace, Quanzhou, Fujian province.

Nishan Hill Confucius Temple, Qufu, Shandong province.

Zumiao Temple, Foshan, Guangdong province.

Tashilhunpo Monastery, Xigaze, Tibet autonomous region.

Frescos in Guild Hall of Five Northern Provinces, Ziyang county.