Standoff in the sand

Suoyang City ruins stand in the desert as a witness to the ups and downs of the Silk Road over the centuries. Provided to China Daily

Ancient city ruins in China's western deserts battle time as officials and conservators seek to protect and preserve the heritage of the old Silk Road

Editor's Note: The Silk Roads: The initial Section of the Silk Roads, the Routes Network of Tian-shan Corridor was added to UNESCO's World Heritage list on June 22. The result of this year's international application involving China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan was made public during the 38th session of the World Heritage Committee held in Doha, Qatar. The application included 33 historical sites, which includes 22 in four of China's provincial-level administrative regions: Shaanxi, Henan and Gansu provinces, and the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region (with exclusion of two sites on the route, the Mogao Caves and Longmen Grottoes which have already been listed as World Heritage sites) plus eight in Kazakhstan and three in Kyrgyzstan.

The air smells of sand. The sky has turned a murky, reddish color. The wind has become so violent that it is impossible to keep our eyes open or our feet firmly on the ground. The sand, whipped up by the wind, strikes the window sharply. The administration office of the Suoyang City ruins in Gansu province in Northwest China has become a little desert in itself. The only peaceful creature is the white puppy that the staff members have adopted, one of the few distractions they have in the desert.

Scattered through the Gobi Desert, the Suoyang City ruins, along with other sites on a network of routes of Eurasian trade and cultural exchanges, has survived sandstorms like this for more than 1,000 years. Once the center of ancient civilization, the Silk Road waystations have been neglected, discovered, excavated and now await rediscovery.

Chinese officials and conservators have been taking all kinds of measures to resurrect the route's former glory, in a joint initiative with Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. They have just gained the UNESCO World Heritage status for the Silk Road.

Not only have the relics been preserved, but the site has also been revamped to be more tourist-friendly. China has also launched ambitious efforts to turn the desert into an oasis that will better nurture the relics.

"The change is vast," says Cai Chao, executive director of the Gansu section of the Silk Road and architect at the Institute of Architectural History, a major planner for the project. "This area has always been a hot spot for experts and archaeologists. Now it has also become a place for ordinary people to look back at history."

The work started from within. In the Yumen Pass, a frontier pass leading to the north from the ancient Chinese territory, the missing parts are mended with adobe made from original material and ramming craftsmanship.

The surface of the relics is sprayed with anti-weathering material developed by the Conservation Institute of Dunhuang Academy, which has been responsible for the conservation of major sites on the Silk Road, while the cracks are filled with grouting materials.

A total of 5 million yuan ($803,000) has been invested in the monitoring system that records the temperature and humidity of the relics.

"The dry climate in the area makes it easier to preserve earthen ruins. It would have been impossible in the south," says Guo Qinglin, deputy director of the Conservation Institute of Dunhuang Academy.

To allow people to better understand the value of the relics, a large-scale renovation of the sites was launched in 2006.

Until the early 1980s, the Big Fangpan Castle in the Yumen Pass was used as a sheepfold for the local farmers, says He Guowu, head of the administration office of the Yumen Pass.

In 2012, Cai and his team started restoration work on the site. Mines near the site were shut down. Now people can follow the wooden trestle that leads into the castle, where a glass-clad platform has been built so visitors can see the interior of the castle without causing damage.

The high steel fence around the castle has been replaced with knee-high steel posts, allowing a better view. "The substitute is rather simple and cheap, but it has been proved very effective," says Cai.

The administration house has been painted with brown earth, which blends with its surroundings.

While severe sandstorms are rare, the fact they can be a threat has led to calls to provide a better environment for the relics. In the Suo-yang City ruins in Guazhou county, the biggest threat is sandstorms.

Next year, the county will invest 2.8 million yuan to develop a sand-blocking dam, put down grass grids and plant more than 50,000 trees near the Suoyang City ruins to conserve water and reduce wind abrasion.

Cai's team has designed a whole defense system specifically for the site, which surrounds the ruins with three layers of plants of ascending heights to slow down the wind approaching the site.

But they need more technicians who can work onsite on a daily basis, says Xie Yanming, head of the management office of the Suoyang City ruins.

"People come and go. Few of them will stay in the desert," he says.

Twenty-eight people were hired in the past six months. Most of them work two or more jobs. The bookkeeper also works as cashier while the tour guides work as receptionists.

"There are too few technicians at the site. If the small problems can be solved in time, the big ones will be avoided," says Guo from the Conservation Institute of Dunhuang Academy.

sunyuanqing@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily Africa Weekly 06/27/2014 page24)