Fund launched in Beijing to protect old villages against fire

The China Foundation for Cultural Heritage Conservation and Tencent Foundation have jointly established a fund in Beijing on Monday to better protect traditional Chinese villages from fire.

A nationwide comprehensive investigation on the fire prevention capacity of traditional Chinese villages will be launched thanks to the fund, including both online surveys and field research. A national database on the safety facilities of these villages will be set up for further tailored, dynamic measures to prevent fires and improve management of the sites.

The program is supervised by the National Cultural Heritage Administration, and is thus an exploration for joint effort among government, public foundations and enterprises on protection of cultural heritages.

Fire is a major threat to traditional Chinese architecture, which is mainly made with wood, earth and bricks, and the 2,600-odd registered traditional Chinese villages nationwide are generally considered to present a vulnerability in the safety of cultural heritage.

Last year, the National Cultural Heritage Administration launched a three-year campaign to comprehensively improve fire-prevention capacity among administrators of cultural heritage sites in China, and the new fund is seen as a chance to offer advice on drafting relevant guidance in rural areas.