The Chinese capital, a cultural center rich in sites of historical interest, is racing against roaring bulldozers to protect its heritage.

In a bid to save the city's past from development, the Standing Committee of the Beijing Municipal People's Congress -- the metropolis' top legislature -- is revising the cultural relics protection and management regulation due to changes made to the Law on Cultural Relics Protection, which was passed by the nation's top lawmakers last October.

One of the major changes in the regulation is to strengthen the preservation and management of unmovable heritage sites, especially those not yet listed for protection, said Jiang Jingbo, an official with the Beijing Municipal People's Congress' Standing Committee.

Many heritage guardians have long appealed for a regulation to safeguard the invaluable sites that have not been effectively protected, such as the Siheyuan a traditional Chinese residential compound with houses around a courtyard.

The city's Siheyuan firstly built in the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), have long been considered an epitome of China's traditional urban residential buildings.

"The design, layout and construction material of the old houses reflect the ancient philosophy of harmony between humans and heaven,'' said Liu Xiaoshi, a leading architect active in the preservation of old Beijing.

However, many valuable Siheyuan have disappeared or will be demolished during massive construction projects.

The municipal government has taken measures to salvage the ancient buildings by tagging protection plates on more than 500 of them since July.

And the revised regulation will give legal buttress to the protection of the unmovable historic sites and stipulate punishment for any people who break the law, said Jiang.

Moreover, the revised regulation will also strengthen the management of Beijing's booming relics market, Jiang added.

The private trading of antiques is a Chinese tradition and there are many outlets for it such as the Liulichang Antiques Market in central Beijing.

However, the transaction of cultural relics had always been monopolized by the State. It banned people and organizations other than those approved by the cultural administrative authorities from engaging in such business.

The new Law on Cultural Relics Protection cautiously opens the cultural relics market to private collectors by permitting private transactions of relics while the nation enhances supervision and management of the cultural relics market.

"The revised regulation will reflect the changes of the new law and define types of relics that are not allowed to be traded in free markets,'' Jiang said.

The city's legislators are also working on a draft regulation to protect Beijing as an historical and cultural city.

Jiang revealed that the new mandate will focus on the detailed protection of the city's river system, the traditional urban axis, building colors, ancient trees, the old city shape, roads and lanes.

(China Daily November 6, 2003)