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New Signage Approved for Disappearing Relics

New signage and signposts are to be placed in urban Xuanwu District to mark the sites of 30 of its valuable ancient relics, some of which can't be found by visitors due to lack of anything that can identify them.

"We want to use the signs to remind people about Beijing's long and glorious history," said Wang Shiren, a prestigious Beijing archaeologist. This southern district is where the city, then called Peking, was first built more than 3,000 years ago. It was also China's first imperial city, and became the capital almost 850 years ago. It was renamed Beijing in 1928.

Many of Xuanwu's relics are now dilapidated and often beyond recognition, ironic for such a historic place when many other sites of historical and cultural interest have had their original time-worn structures repaired or replaced.

In an effort to be on par with other sites, the district government is to allocate 10 million yuan (about US$1.2 million) to have the signs at least upgraded or replaced.

The project will be completed by 2005.