Commercialization endangers living fossils
Updated: 2015-01-06 08:19
By Wu Yixue(China Daily)
|
||||||||
According to media reports, out of economic interests, some local governments have chosen to rent the ancient towns and buildings under their jurisdiction to individuals for commercial development, ignoring the necessary fire-fighting precautions. Given the fact that most of the country's ancient buildings are made of wood, it is very dangerous for any of them to have an excessively commercialized operation if no effective precautionary measures are put in place to deal with the possibility of a fire.
It still remains unclear whether the latest fire in Gongchenlou in Yunnan is related to its commercialized development, but past experiences indicate that excessive commercialization will not only sabotage the historical appearance of an ancient town or architectural structure, it will also raise safety concerns. According to the public security and relics preservation authorities, nearly 40 percent of the more than 1,300 fires that broke out to China's cultural relics or ancient architectures from 2009 to the early of 2014 were related to inappropriate human factors, which proved inseparable from their commercialized operation.
As living "fossils" of its human activities in the past, most of China's ancient villages, towns or architecture can be regarded as the crystallization of its glorious historical and cultural civilization. It is time to consider the necessity of putting an immediate stop to any commercialization of its precious ancient architectures and putting in place more effective measures for their protection.
The author is a senior writer with China Daily. wuyixue@chinadaily.com.cn
- Inspection teams to cover all of military in anti-corruption drive
- Tornado, heavy rain batters Central China's Hunan
- Beijing's five-year plan: Cut population, boost infrastructure
- Palace Museum discovers relics buried for over 600 years
- Disney promises ‘safe, pleasing service of high quality’
- Couple detained for selling their two sons
- Rousseff: Accusations against her 'untruthful'
- Almost one-sixth of Brazil's confirmed microcephaly cases linked to Zika
- Impeachment trial against Rousseff recommended to senate
- With nomination secured, Trump to aim all guns at Hillary Clinton
- Obama sips Flint water, urges children be tested for lead
- Massive protests against Abe mark Japan's Constitution Memorial Day
- Raging wildfire spreads to more areas in west Canada
- World's first rose museum to open in Beijing
- Teapot craftsman makes innovation, passes down techniques
- Top 8 iOS apps recommend for mothers
- Five things you may not know about the Start of Summer
- Art imagines celebrities as seniors
- Japanese animator Miyazaki's shop a big hit in Shanghai
- Star Wars Day celebrated around world
Most Viewed
Editor's Picks
Anti-graft campaign targets poverty relief |
Cherry blossom signal arrival of spring |
In pictures: Destroying fake and shoddy products |
China's southernmost city to plant 500,000 trees |
Cavers make rare finds in Guangxi expedition |
Cutting hair for Longtaitou Festival |
Today's Top News
Liang avoids jail in shooting death
China's finance minister addresses ratings downgrade
Duke alumni visit Chinese Embassy
Marriott unlikely to top Anbang offer for Starwood: Observers
Chinese biopharma debuts on Nasdaq
What ends Jeb Bush's White House hopes
Investigation for Nicolas's campaign
Will US-ASEAN meeting be good for region?
US Weekly
Geared to go |
The place to be |