China teams up with ancient town in Germany to protect heritage

FRANKFURT — Bamberg in Germany and Shexian county in China show how towns with a remarkable history can thrive today.

They answered the 2025 World Heritage Day's call to protect heritage under threat from disasters and conflicts, blending conservation with daily life.

China now manages 59 UNESCO World Heritage sites, the second-highest total worldwide, just behind Italy, which has 60.

Bamberg, a UNESCO World Heritage site in the southern German state of Bavaria, still follows its medieval street grid and Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque facades after steady restoration since the 1950s.

"There are some of the earliest city plans for the city. You can still use them in the edition from the 17th century," says Simona von Eyb, director of the World Heritage Center Bamberg.

"If you have that map and walk through the town, you can still find your way and find the same place and same structure."

The town hopes to market its centuries-old smoky beer under a new tag, "Made in World Heritage Bamberg", to link preservation with local crafting.

Shexian county in East China's Anhui province started construction in the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC). Famed for Hui-style horse-head walls (Hui means Huizhou, the ancient geographic notion of parts of today's Anhui and Jiangxi provinces), it pursues a parallel path of repair and revival.

"We have successfully restored some buildings with a history of over 100 years according to ancient plans in a bid to make the county look like what it was in the old days," says Zhou Hu, deputy director of the Cultural Relics Conservation Center in Shexian.

A 2016 ordinance backs the effort while visitors taste the local specialty, Huangshan Maofeng tea, and learn Chinese traditional calligraphy.

"The combination of culture and tourism has brought tourists closer to traditional culture," says Yu Xuewu, deputy chief of the county's culture, sports and tourism bureau.

Shexian's ancient walls, together with 13 other ancient walls in China, have been placed under a project of application for the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Nationally, China's 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) channels more funds, digital monitoring, and specialist training to every heritage site.

A revised Law on the Protection of Cultural Relics, adopted in November 2024 and effective this March, increases fines and opens new channels for public reporting of damage.

Since 2017, China's annual Cultural and Natural Heritage Day each June has staged drills and virtual tours; the 2024 edition highlighted disaster risk-reduction.

Shexian hopes closer links with Bamberg, which has launched a World Heritage Festival to trade ideas worldwide, will sharpen its skills.

"One day, China's World Heritage sites will again be in focus — and that would be truly wonderful," says Von Eyb.