Ancient pagoda takes off 'face mask' to breathe spring air

Cherry blossoms beside the Yellow Crane Tower in Wuhan mark the arrival of the long-awaited spring after the long winter.

When lockdown in Wuhan ended Wednesday, Baochu Pagoda, a thousands-year-old pagoda on the northern shore of the West Lake of Hangzhou in East China's Zhejiang province also took off its "face mask" to breathe in the spring air.

Listed as a national cultural relic in 2013, Baochu Pagoda sits on the top of Baoshi Mountain, which means "precious stone" in Chinese.

In 2018, the top of the pagoda's spire was found leaning and needed to be repaired. It was put into restoration last October.

According to Tian Qiang, an engineer from the pagoda's administration office, the leaning of the pagoda might be caused by weathering and external force of kite strings.

Knowing that the pagoda was "sick", experts in the field of cultural relics restoration came to aid the restoration.

To restore the spire without causing any damage to the pagoda, it took around 20 days to build a 46-meter high scaffold around the pagoda.