31 Dec 2011

Heritage sites disappearing

7:42 am on 31 December 2011

China says about 44,000 ancient ruins, temples and other cultural sites have disappeared.

A heritage census, the first for more than 20 years, also found that a quarter of the sites that remain are in a poor state of repair.

The census by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage recorded the registration of 700,000 heritage sites.

Deputy director Liu Xiaohe told state media that many sites were unprotected and had been demolished to make way for construction projects.

In the worst-affected region, Shaanxi province, the statistics indicate that more than 3,500 cultural sites have vanished.

The BBC reports no specific buildings or monuments were named in the census.