While China is stepping up the construction of its south-north water diversion project, a projected life line for hundreds of millions of people in the north, a plan for protecting the cultural relics at the construction sites is still under discussion.

The contradiction between modernization and cultural heritage protection is again in the spotlight in the massive infrastructureproject.

Largest month, an investigation group composed of national advisors, heritage protection experts and water conservancy experts had an inspection tour along the route of the water diversion project, including Shandong, Jiangsu, Hubei and Henan provinces, to see how cultural relics are protected.

"Archeological excavation and heritage protection should have been done before the start of the project. But the preservation plan has not been approved yet and the fund is not in place," saidTong Peihua, deputy director of the archaeological institute of Shandong Province.

In order to tackle the problem of water shortage in the northern part of the country, China launched the south-north water diversion project at the end of 2002.

The eastern route of the project is expected to supply water to Shandong by 2007. The central route is due to supply water to Henan and Hebei provinces, Beijing and Tianjin by 2010.

A reservoir of precious Chinese cultural artifacts will be affected by the project, as it courses through the hinterland of China's ancient civilization.

Many cultural relics are facing the threat of damage as the time and money spent in heritage protection is far from enough. Some experts have warned that the project would leave a deep woundin China's cultural heritage without immediate measures for protection.

The latest figure provided by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage shows that a total of 788 cultural heritage sites will be affected by the south-north water diversion project.

They include at least two world heritage sites -- Yuzhen Palaceon the Wudang Mountain and the Great Wall remains of the Yan State in the Warring States Period (475-221 BC).

In addition, two heritage sites under national level protectionand 24 sites under provincial level protection will also be affected.

But nobody knows how many underground relics will be submerged by water.

A water conservancy expert participating in the investigation said it was really an urgent job to start the south-north water diversion project as the whole region of north China depends on over-exploitation of underground water resources for water supply.The water source for supply to the national capital of Beijing would dry up in a dozen of years if the situation continues.

According to him, the fund for cultural heritage protection of the water diversion project should be included in the total cost of the project, which is supported by financial resources of the central and local governments and bank loans.

However, many local governments concerned hold that cultural relics belong to the state and the cost of protection should be covered by the central government, he said.

As a result, when modernization meets ancient relics, the balance of favors leans to the former in today's China, a country where problems such as poverty and shortage of energy resources seem more urgent than cultural heritage protection.

But many Chinese have begun to worry that if the current trendspersist there will be too little cultural heritage left to future generations.

A similar problems came into being in the construction of the Three Gorges Project. Experts say the cultural heritage sites affected by the south-north water diversion project are much more valuable than those in the Three Gorges.

Chinese archaeologists say they are in a "golden age" since large-scale infrastructure construction throughout the country means increasing opportunities for archaeological excavations.

But archaeologists are ambivalent. They are happy that many great discoveries have been brought by the construction projects, but also worried about the inevitable damage that will be incurredby ancient relics.

The coming two decades will see more large-scale construction projects in China. Experts say China should sum up the experience in cultural heritage protection gained in undertaking large projects and seek a balance between development and the protectionof ancient history and culture.

"The south-north water diversion project will also become a site of human cultural heritage someday in the future," said renowned Chinese cultural heritage expert Xie Chensheng.

"The value of this future heritage depends on how much heritagewe preserve today," Xie said.

(Xinhua News Agency October 10, 2005)