China and Japan will cooperate in training 100 specialists for
protecting the cultural heritage along the Silk Road in the coming
five years.
The State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH) of China
and the Foundation for Cultural Heritage and Art Research, a
non-governmental organization of Japan, signed an agreement in
Beijing on Monday.
According to the agreement, the Japanese side will invest 150
million Japanese yen (about US$1.28 million) in the joint training
project.
"The special training program for protecting the Silk Road is
the first of its kind in China, and will be carried out by
state-level research institutes of the two countries," said Zhang
Tinghao, head of China Cultural Relics Research Institute.
Those working in the cultural heritage protection organizations
along the Silk Road in Xinjiang, Qinghai, Ningxia, Gansu, Shaanxi
and Henan, especially young and middle-aged specialists, will be
chosen to join the project.
The training will include classes cultural heritage protection
theory, experiments in labs and field teaching in the protection of
earth relics, ancient buildings, archaeological sites, pottery and
porcelain, metal objects, murals, textiles and paper relics.
The Silk Road, which started in the ancient Chinese metropolis
Chang'an, known today as Xi'an, ended in Rome. It traversed 6,440
kilometers through China and central Asia and became the nexus
between different civilizations in ancient Europe and Asia.
However, lots of cultural heritage along the ancient route is
under threat of destruction from natural and human factors.
SACH has announced that it is joining hands with other countries
to apply for the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) to include the Silk Road into the World
Heritage List.
"The Sino-Japanese training project is aimed at upgrading the
expertise of the cultural heritage specialists along the Silk Road
and giving better protection to the cultural heritage along the
Silk Road," said Hou Jukun, an official with SACH.
(Xinhua News Agency February 28, 2006)
