From virtual tours to relics' rescue

Care for aging pages

The State Council released the expanded edition of the national list of precious ancient books, including 752 new entries, on Nov 2.

New entries include the world's second-oldest known printed work, The Bodhisattva Maitreya's Previous Life in Tusita Heaven (AD 927), and Libu Yunlyu (The Concise Rhymes from the Ministry of Rites), which was published by the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) government and is widely hailed by academia as "one of the biggest discoveries of ancient Chinese books in recent years".

In September, the National Library of China also hosted one of the largest-scale exhibitions ever on the country's restoration of ancient books. Twelve national-level ancient-book restoration centers have been set up.

Rescuing items from floods

This summer, many southern provinces experienced the biggest floods in decades.

Over 500 cultural heritage sites, such as ancient monuments, buildings and bridges, were destroyed or damaged by floodwater. Seventy-six were national-level structures, like the 500-year-old Zhenhai Bridge in Huangshan, Anhui province.

Nationwide, local governments took emergency measures to look for lost architectural components in the deluge for future restoration. Special funds were provided for their retrieval.

The National Cultural Heritage Administration announced a plan to research flood-proofing technologies tailored for historical sites in different places.

Cultural relics' safety will also be included in the natural-disaster prevention and mitigation system, in which relics will be treated as key items.