Since the launch of the fourth national cultural relics census, North China's Shanxi province has been steadily advancing related work and is about to undergo its comprehensive field investigation stage from May 1, 2024 to May 30, 2025.

Shanxi, as a province abundant in cultural relics, participated in the third national cultural relics census and registered 53,875 immovable cultural relics, accounting for approximately 7 percent of the national total and ranking fourth nationwide.

"It has been 17 years since the third national census, and as economy and society evolve, significant changes have occurred in the status of immovable cultural relics resources," stated Cheng Shulin, deputy director of the Shanxi Culture Relics Bureau. Cheng emphasized that the purpose of conducting the census is to identify cultural relics resources, improve management mechanisms, and promote systematic preservation.

The fourth national cultural relics census differs from the third one, as it features the integration of these cultural relics with three-dimensional digital spatial representations, aiming to establish a chronological digital cultural relic information system.

As of now, all 11 cities and 117 counties (county-level cities and districts) in Shanxi have established leading groups or specialized teams to provide organizational support for the implementation of the fourth national cultural relics census.

During field investigations, related provincial-level departments will comprehensively review cultural relics, focusing on Paleolithic cultural sites, early wooden structures predating the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), stone cave temples, and newly discovered stone inscriptions.