Program bridges preservation and rural heritage

On March 18, officials and heritage experts gathered in Tongdao Dong autonomous county, Hunan province, to review the results of a three-year effort to document and preserve the country's covered bridges.

Since the program began in 2023, authorities have identified 2,193 covered bridges nationwide, a 61 percent increase from earlier counts. Detailed surveys have been completed for 767 bridges, all of which have been documented with images, according to data released at the meeting.

The campaign has also funded 177 repair projects and 107 fire-prevention upgrades, reflecting long-standing concerns about structural deterioration and fire risks on these mostly wooden bridges. In some regions, local governments have set up small exhibition spaces and introduced themed travel routes to attract visitors to rural areas where many of the bridges are located.

Nine local regulations related to bridge protection were also introduced during the program, part of a broader push to formalize preservation efforts at the regional level.

"Traditional Wooden Arch Bridge Construction Techniques," a centuries-old method used in many of these structures, was recently transferred from UNESCO's list of Heritage in Urgent Need of Safeguarding to its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Representatives from Zhejiang and Fujian provinces and the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region shared updates on local preservation. Attendees also visited sites in Tongdao and neighboring Sanjiang county to observe restoration and management practices firsthand.

Bai Shuhao contributed to this story.