After six years, restoration for the Potala Palace in Tibet will be finished by the end of this year. The Chinese central government is spending another 570 million yuan to repair 22 historical buildings and temples in the Tibet Autonomous Region.

The Chinese central government is spending another 570 million yuan to repair 22 historical buildings and temples in the Tibet Autonomous Region.

The 1300-year-old Potala Palace has been under restoration since 2002. The government has allocated 180 million yuan for this project.

Since there is no blueprint for this building, repair work faced tremendous difficulties from day one. Restoration includes refixing the basement areas, and retouching many mural paintings.

Qamba Gesang,director of Admin. Bureau of Potala Palace, said, "Our principle is to preserve the ancient. We use mineral paint, because it lasts longer and looks brighter."

Tibet is a province rich in cultural relics. During the past 20 years, the central government and Tibet's regional government have invested more than 700 million yuan in repairing and reopening over 1400 temples, heritage sites, and places of worship. According to the eleventh five-year plan, 15 cultural icons, including Jokang Temple and seven historical sites, will be restored this year.

The tenth five-year plan allocated 330 million yuan to preserve the Potala Palace, Norbu Lingka, and the Sakya Monastery. The amount will be increased to about 800 million in the next five years.

(CCTV April 6, 2008)