TAIYUAN, July 1 -- A government-funded massive renovation of wooden buildings dating back at least 650 years have been completed in Shanxi province in North China.
A total of 157 wooden buildings from the Tang (618-907) to Yuan (1271-1368) dynasties were restored in four cities: Yuncheng, Jincheng, Linfen and Changzhi.
Shanxi is home to more than 70 percent of China's pre-Yuan wooden architecture, but many buildings have been damaged by natural or human causes. More than 900 million yuan (around 135 million U.S. dollars) has been spent by central and local governments on restoring the buildings since 2008.
The project also protected murals and painted sculptures inside the wooden buildings.
Chongqing Temple in Zhangzi county is home to 47 human statues standing more than 1.5 meters tall and more than 200 shorter statues. Twenty-four of them are relics of the Song Dynasty (960-1279).
"Before the renovation, the sculptures were in terrible condition due to rain leaking into the house," said Zhang Yufei, head of the temple's heritage office. "The heads and shoulders of some statues were damaged."
The temple and painted sculptures were restored between 2009 and 2013. Nearby roads were repaired and monitoring cameras installed.
