Beijing recently announced a list of new zones to receive protection as the city's cultural relics. This is the ninth list of its kind, and protected zones prohibit construction activities without special authorization.
Among the 39 zones, 32 are newly delineated areas, including the Grand Canal Beijing section, the storefronts of the Quanjude Roast Duck Restaurant, the Water Supply Factory of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), and the Liuyang Hall. In 2014, the 1,794-kilometer-long Grand Canal was listed as an UNESCO World Heritage Site. Forty physical cultural heritage sites along the longest artificial river in the world, including the old Tonghui River, Jishuitan, and Dongbuyaqiao site, will all receive protection as Beijing's cultural relics.
The list also includes seven revisions of protection areas and construction control zones, such as the Modern Bank Building Complex in Xijiaominxiang, the Ming Dynasty City Wall Relics, the Changxindian Strike Site, the Tongzhou Modern School Building Complex, the Jiaozhuanghu Memorial of Tunnel Warfare Site, the Fangshan Dabaiyutang Quarry Site, and the passage from the south section to the Badaling section of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway.
The descriptions and drawings of the scope of protection and construction control zones of the cultural relics units will be issued by the Municipal Bureau of Cultural Relics and the Municipal Planning and Land Commission. According to the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Cultural Relics, construction projects or operations such as blasting, drilling, and excavation are banned within the scope of protection of the cultural protection zones. If it is necessary to carry out operations within the scope due to special circumstances, the operator must guarantee the protection of the cultural relics and receive authorization from the government. Authorization must come from both the department overseeing the specific cultural relic as well as the higher level of cultural relic authorities.
Within the scope of protection, no facilities that contaminate cultural relics or their environment shall be established, and activities that may affect the safety of the cultural relics and its surroundings may not be carried out. Existing facilities that contaminate the cultural relics and their surroundings should be addressed within a time limit. The historic features of the cultural relics must not be destroyed when carrying out construction projects within the protected zones.