Battle hots up to save ancient buildings in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu

Cultural heritage experts and villagers are calling for the protection of dozens of ancient buildings in a village in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, which are on the verge of demolition by the authorities' bulldozers.

It is the latest example of tussling between government officials' pursuit of economic growth and the public's desire of protecting cultural relics.

A plan released about a month ago by the Zhenjiang Economic and Technological Development Zone said all houses in Ge village, which is administered by the town of Dinggang, would be pulled down, apart from nine old houses included in the national heritage list.

The village, home to more than 530 families, dates back to the Southern Song dynasty (AD 1127-1279), when its first settlers moved south from Shandong to avoid warfare.

Wang Yongping, an architecture professor at Nanjing University of Technology, said he had led a team of 160 students to investigate Ge village in 2011 and they had found 67 well-preserved buildings with Ming dynasty (AD 1368-1644 ) and Qing dynasty (AD 1644-1911) features.

"These buildings form the oldest, the largest and most completely preserved residential blocks in northern Jiangsu," he said. "Those buildings, with their elegant ornamentation, such as stone and wood carving, are of great cultural value."

Three years ago the local authorities considered applying to the provincial government for recognition of Ge village as a "historic cultural village" because of its 62 ancient houses as well as several old roads and wells, but they did not proceed with the application, the Oriental Morning Post reported.