1.5 bln to be used to repair N. China's ancient buildings

Buddha statues lie among the wreckage after a fire destroyed hundreds of buildings in Dukezong, Yunnan province, on Jan 10, 2015. The town is known for its well-preserved Tibetan buildings. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY

North China's Shanxi Province will raise funds to renovate and protect its ancient wooden architecture between 2015 and 2020, local authorities said Monday.

A total of 1.5 billion yuan (about 240 million U.S. dollars) in state and provincial funds will be raised, said Wang Jianwu, head of Shanxi's cultural relics department.

The money will be used to repair 235 wooden buildings under state and provincial protection. It may also benefit other buildings built before the Yuan Dynasty (A.D. 1271-1368), which are currently under municipal and county-level protection.

Shanxi is home to more than 28,000 excavated ancient structures -- more than any other province -- but has been squeezed by money shortages and urgent building maintenance.

The new preservation project will help Shanxi protect its ancient buildings, many of which have been severely damaged due to natural or human causes, Wang added

In 2008, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage started protecting sites in southern Shanxi at a cost of 400 million yuan, but little-known sites at the city or county level were not covered under the budget.