Guangzhou widens protection list

Jinan University's aging office building was included in the new list of historical buildings as a representation of the city's educational buildings during the period from 1912 to 1949.[Photo provided to China Daily]

But the protection of historical buildings is more than just about maintaining the architecture, said Professor Wang Yuanlin from the Guangzhou-based Jinan University's history department.

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"It is equally important to preserve and revive the traditional customs inherent within the historical buildings," Wang said on Wednesday.

"Many ancestral halls, where worship ceremonies and villagers' group meetings took place, are now empty shells because young people have left their homes to live in urban areas and did not inherit the traditions."

Wang said the country's rapid urbanization has caused ancient villages to disappear every day in China. But he also said that the old can coexist with the new, citing the remodeled Liede Village to the south of the city's new CBD Zhujiang New Town as an example.

Although the area's shabby, crowded houses were torn down to make way for modern apartment buildings, the developers kept the Longmu Temple and rebuilt around the ancestral halls and representative traditional houses. A museum was also built to display the village's history and filled with historical items such as an old dragon boat's bow.

Jinan University's aging office building was included in the new list of historical buildings as a representation of the city's educational buildings during the period from 1912 to 1949. The building has been given a new lease on life as home to the university's art faculty.

"Graduates from Jinan University love taking photos in front of the old office building when they revisit the campus. So we are preserving students' precious memories in preserving the building," Wang said.

"Similarly, it is important to protect Guangzhou's historical buildings as a way to preserve local people's precious memories. It is wise for the government to protect these buildings with laws and regulations."