Protectors give relics 'eyes and ears'

Safeguarding more than 50,000 immovable treasures — including 531 national-level sites and three UNESCO World Heritage entries — Shanxi province faces a Herculean task: preserving millennia of history against time, nature and human damage. Now, a groundbreaking blend of technology and grit is turning the tide.

While cultural relics' inspectors trek mountain trails in Xinzhou, Shanxi, the Shanxi Cultural Relics Safety Command Center, hundreds of kilometers away, monitors real-time data. Giant screens map more than 1,300 sites via 1,211 cameras and 595 sensors. This is described as "giving relics eyes and ears" by Yang Haijun, a retired expert from the Shanxi Cultural Heritage Protection Institute that develops the monitoring platform.

With more than 20 years' frontline relic preservation experience, Yang knows how technology is helping in the battle against time and neglect, due to lack of hands. For decades, understaffing has plagued Shanxi's relics' conservation efforts.

"Watching ancient structures decay felt like seeing elders tremble in the wind," Yang says.

The solution now gleams across giant screens at the bristling command center. Using artificial intelligence, it scans for threats like illegal construction, fires or intrusions, while building-mounted sensors track environmental risks like humidity or smoke.

Operating since December 2024, the platform has flagged 115 anomalies — from wildfires to illegal digging — with 97 percent resolved swiftly via automated alerts to local authorities, according to Liu Yubo, a staff member of the platform.

One of the cases occurred in September 2024, when Liu received an alert: Surveillance equipment detected construction activity near the Jijiazhuang site in Datong, Shanxi.

"Upon receiving the alert, frontline protection staff promptly responded. They informed the construction company about the cultural heritage protection policies and required them to adjust the routes of their construction vehicles to avoid the protected area of the site. Ultimately, the issue was resolved," Liu says.

"Before, accidents went unnoticed. Now, AI detects risks early, while they can still be fixed," Yang says with a smile.

In a 24/7 operation, the platform also connects to a mobile app installed in the phones of local cultural heritage protection staff members, who can report any issues online, Liu says.