History's future crumbling to ruins(2)

THE PRICE OF FAILURE

A major reason for this indifferent protection is lack of money, especially when it comes to local matters.

Peng Pengcheng of Guangxi's Department of Culture believes that while the regional government of Guangxi spends more than 10 million yuan (about 1.65 million U.S. dollars) on the matter annually, the money goes to big, popular sites and smaller ones go largely untended.

"The biggest difficulty in protection lies with city and county governments with tight budgets. The lack of money has led to the complete collapse of many sites," Peng said.

Urbanization also has a negative influence, damaging ancient mausoleums and other old sites. Many governments are simply ambivalent about cultural preservation, especially county governments with very limited staff, according to Peng.

PRESERVATION NOW

Peng Pengcheng suggested that the key to preservation is for the whole of society to support protection. Government should increase the number of professional staff in the field, providing training, etc.

Yang Xinping, who has been looking after historical items for years, believes that cultural heritage needs a better press, with the media working to help spread the word among the general public.

Protecting cultural heritage should be part of the school curriculum, to give people a basic idea of preservation while they are still young.

"The government should work the expenses of preservation into the budget, while soliciting non-governmental funds to improve the situation," Yang added.

12

12