Chinese Gov't Highlights Lack of Heritage Protection

Chinese authorities singled out eight cities and towns on Monday for their failure to properly preserve historically and culturally significant heritage.

The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and the State Administration of Culture Heritage said in a circular that insufficient efforts by the municipalities to protect their heritage have led to serious damage.

The eight cities and towns are Liaocheng, Handan, Suizhou, Shouxian, Junxian, Yueyang, Liuzhou and Dali.

The eight locales are "Cities and Towns of Historical and Cultural Significance," an honor given to areas with rich and important heritage.

The circular asked heritage supervisors in these regions to work out plans to make up for the damage, as well as asked other locales with historically significant heritage to draw a lesson from the eight cities and towns.