Volunteer appeals for strengthened measures to safeguard heritage

Innovative measures to enhance public awareness of the need to safeguard cultural relics should be strengthened throughout China, according to a heritage protection volunteer.

Du Jiayuan, 28, who is also a teacher at Xi'an Jiaotong University in Shaanxi province, said some cities lack the "environment or atmosphere" in which residents can appreciate just how precious these cultural resources are and how important it is to protect them.

An intern at the International Council on Monuments and Sites' Xi'an International Conservation Center for a year from May 2019, Du and her teammates introduced ways to interest people in understanding cultural heritage and take part in related activities.

"I think the more we know about the history and value of relics, the more awareness we will have of protection," she said.

In June 2019, the center organized an orienteering contest at the Small Wild Goose Pagoda scenic area in Xi'an to celebrate the fifth anniversary of a successful World Heritage List cultural application titled "The Silk Roads: The Initial Section of the Silk Roads, the Routes Network of Tian-shan Corridor."

On June 22, 2014, China gained a new world heritage site inscription after the 38th session of UNESCO's World Heritage Committee in Doha, capital of Qatar, gave approval for part of the Silk Road to be included on the list.

The application involved China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, and the project featured 33 historical sites, with 22 of them in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and Shaanxi, Henan and Gansu provinces, and 11 in the other two countries.

To help competitors familiarize themselves with relics and heritage on the Silk Road, the contest organizers restored historical sites in the pagoda park. In addition, they arranged games at each site－including imitating historical figures and identifying ancient musical instruments－to make the contest more fun.

Participants also collected postage stamps featuring historical sites in the park.

Du said the contest attracted more than 1,500 entrants and was particularly popular with young people.

Regarding participation in the contest as an educational process, she added that public awareness of the need to cherish cultural relics could also be easily enhanced by such activities.

Du and her teammates are now working to develop a board game focusing on cultural relics protection and are studying ways to promote the 33 historical sites on the Silk Road, such as giving them cartoon images.

"I hope such creativity can be applied in schools and other academic institutions to help enhance awareness of the need to protect cultural relics from childhood," she said.

Du also called for internet enterprises to join such educational efforts and provide online platforms to further promote cultural products.

Zhang Peiqi, 22, who is also a conservation volunteer in Xi'an, said making it easier for the public to understand policies aimed at safeguarding relics, and establishing that everyone is responsible for protecting them, is highly effective in preventing offenses involving such items.

"Some people with scientific or engineering backgrounds think that heritage protection is nothing to do with them. But technology actually plays a big role in cultural relics conservation and can provide solutions for conflicts between urban construction and protection work," said Zhang, a graduate of Xi'an International Studies University.

With the experience gained from a one-year internship at the Xi'an International Conservation Center, she also highlighted the significance of sharing information about the use of technology for heritage protection, calling for more international exchanges in this regard.