Anhui tightens rules covering historic buildings_美文

Anhui tightens rules covering historic buildings

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Anhui province will create "identity numbers" for local ancient buildings and ban the removal of ancient structures from the province.

A government statement released on Wednesday came days after kung fu film star Jackie Chan said he donated four ancient Anhui sandalwood houses to a Singaporean university.

Information on ancient buildings will be reserved in the province's archives, and the ancient buildings will get identity numbers for better protection, the Anhui Provincial Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development told China News Service on Wednesday.

The government plans to complete the identification of local ancient buildings in four of its key cities by the end of this year, the department said.

Privately owned ancient structures are not allowed out of the province, and the government encouraged the public to "adopt" ancient buildings by donating money for their maintenance, the department said.

The announcement came after an online post from Chan, who earlier this month said he planned to donate four ancient houses to the Singapore University of Technology and Design.

On his verified micro blog, the movie star said that he bought 10 houses in Anhui province about 20 years ago for his parents to live in. But the houses were destroyed by termites after his parents died about 10 years ago.

Chan did not provide further details about the houses on his micro blog, but his friend Wang Pingjiu, a composer, said that Chan dismantled the houses, marked all the pieces of wood and sent the wood to Hong Kong years ago.