Experts Call for Closing of World's Tallest Ancient Wooden PagodaA team of noted experts on ancient architecture have called for an early closing of the world's tallest ancient wooden pagoda to protect it from collapsing.The 944-year old and 65.86-meter high wooden pagoda is located in Yingxian County in north China's Shanxi Province, and is known as the tallest and oldest wooden pagoda in China today. Although it has successfully weathered nearly a thousand years of climatic changes, the pagoda is now seriously unaligned, mainly due to the damage done by numerous strong earthquakes and artillery attacks, they said, adding that the government is planning a massive restoration project to save the pagoda. "Tourists shouldn't enter the pagoda as they are allowed to do now," said Ye Keming, academician of the Academy of Engineering of China. "The pagoda is in such poor conditions that the tourists' visit could increase the danger of collapse." Another academician Zhang Jinqiu agreed that tourists could still admire the pagoda from a distance. Preparations for the restoration project including an overall estimate of the damage and geological exploration of the pagoda's foundation are already near completion. Experts are still working on three separate restoration plans, and one will be selected and approved by a panel of experts organized by the State Bureau of Cultural Relics later this year. |
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