Cultural relics damaged under repair

Restoration work has been launched on 77 cultural relics affected by the torrential rains that hit Beijing on July 21, the municipal cultural relics protection authority said.

More than 160 cultural relics such as temples and tombs, covering an area as large as 210,000 square meters, were damaged after the heaviest rainfall in three decades hit Beijing.

Walls around some temples and tombs collapsed during the rainfall, but didn't cause any deaths. In addition, high humidity in a tomb thousands of years old can spur the growth of mold on the protected bones.

Some of the sites with light damage, such as the major part of the famous Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian, have already reopened.

To prevent further damage from large rainfall, all of the relics sites have bought more equipment including water pumps, generators and sandbags.

"Officials from each relic site should give a report on damage and protection work every day," an official from the municipal cultural relics protection authority said.