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Shanxi city working hard to protect cultural heritage

By Zhou Yuanyuan ( chinadaily.com.cn )

Updated: 2014-04-17

The city of Xiaoyi, Shanxi province has been trying harder to reveal the charm of its cultural heritage in a more dynamic way than in the past. And it is famous for its mineral resources, its opera, and its shadow puppets which were added to the cultural heritage list in 2006.

Shanxi city working hard to protect cultural heritage

Things did not look so good for these traditions in the past. Now, however, Ma Minggao, head of the municipal culture and broadcasting bureau, has explained that their cultural heritage protection has borrowed from the old proverb "Use fresh water to breed fish", and that, for too long little attention has been given to protecting it. Now, "dynamic inheritance" is method for protecting and restoring cultural heritage, which involves adding it to the list, and making young people more familiar with their inheritance.

The head of the city's cultural heritage protection center, Liang Zhizhu, says that cultural heritage is a precious thing and becoming familiar with it is the best way to protect it, so, the city has turned to publicity and certain activities. For example, Xiaoyi now has 28 young people studying shadow plays, who are gradually cultivating of the work passed down by older artists. And they have shown great improvement in their shadow puppet skills, as well as singing, and can perform independently.

The town of Jiajiazhuang, near Xiaoxi, also has its own folk culture exhibition hall, shadow puppet industry, and a film base, integrating cultural and economic development and establishing a culture industry mode.

Guo Ziqiang, secretary of Jiajiazhuang Party committee, said that Jiajiazhuang has hit its employment targets and now its economic development depends on its cultural heritage protection, but that government annual revenues continue to exceeded 100 million yuan ($16 million) and annual net income per capita has been above 10,000 yuan since 2010, and Jiajiazhuang can continue to work on developing a cultural brand that is famous both in China and abroad.

Edited by Roger Bradshaw

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