Concerted effort to preserve genes of traditional culture

With three counties housing hundreds of traditional villages starting renovation projects in March, officials and experts say China is now ushering in a new era for protection of its traditional villages.

Jinxi county in Jiangxi province has 101 ancient villages. It began a project to renovate its old houses on March 18. In February, another two counties in Yunnan province launched similar projects.

"It is the best time for protection of ancient villages, " says Li Xiaojie, former director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage and director of China Foundation for Cultural Heritage Conservation, which set up its Saving Traditional Houses initiative two years ago to help renovate traditional houses in urgent need of repair. Each of the three counties mentioned above receives a sum of 20 million yuan ($31.82 million) from the foundation.