Grabbing history by the roots

When 19-year-old Li Shujin was a child, she often played near a pagoda close to her home, although she could never enter as it was closed. Anyi Pagoda earned its name due to its location in Anyi subdistrict of Yuncheng, Shanxi province.

This year, she had the chance to reconnect with her old "friend" and discovered its official name is Taiping Xingguo Temple Pagoda, which dates back to the Song Dynasty (960-1279).

Li entered the pagoda for the first time, not as a child, but as a census taker responsible for documenting various details about this cultural heritage site.

"When I stared at the exquisite statues and carvings in the pagoda, I was overwhelmed with an eagerness to protect them well in the future," says Li.

That was one of her experiences during the summer vacation when she was engaged with the fourth national census of cultural relics in China. She was a member of the census team visiting heritage sites in her hometown in Yanhu district of Yuncheng and recording their details.

This was no accident. Li's opportunity was arranged by Shanxi University, along with 200 of her schoolmates. They were enrolled in the major of cultural relics, designed to cultivate students as grassroots heritage custodians for their local communities.