Source: CCTV.com

07-17-2008 09:21

Water levels at the Three Gorges dam are expected to swell to 175 meters during this year's flood season. Local authorities have removed important cultural sites and artifacts to the safety of higher ground.

Water levels at the Three Gorges dam are expected to swell to  175 meters during this year's flood season.(Photo: CCTV.com)

In Badong County, Hubei province, restoration has been completed on eleven ancient buildings. Once the buildings were located at the foot of the immense dam. The buildings are important cultural relics of local people of the Tujia ethnic group. Here were a place of worship, a government office and the dwellings of ordinary people. All are now safely restored on higher ground, after being designated as a collective, provincial heritage site.

The construction of the Three Gorges Project entailed relocation of many historical and cultural sites. Ancient buildings were dismantled, moved to new locations and re-assembled. Architects and historians were commissioned to ensure that the original quality of the buildings was preserved.

Editor:Liu Fang