Shanxi police rescue 5,259 stolen relics in Jan, Feb

A recently recovered bronze base, for a drum from the Warring States Period (475-221 BC), goes on display at the Shanxi Museum. [Photo/shanxi.gov.cn]

Shanxi Museum in Taiyuan, capital of Shanxi province, is displaying recovered stolen cultural relics and moving to increase public awareness, in a bid to stop the theft and destruction of its priceless cultural relics.

Shanxi has intensified a crackdown on the theft of ancient tombs, architecture, stone carvings, frescoes and sculptures in recent years. According to the provincial public security department, 110 investigations resulted in 5,259 items successfully being recovered from criminal 24 gangs in January and February.

Among the retrieved pieces, 26 have been recognized as grade one, or the highest level of China's cultural relics.

Shanxi is home to 452 sites that contain cultural relics under national protection, and to more than 28,000 ancient architectural sites, the most of all the provinces in China.