The National Cultural Heritage Administration's key research base joint workstation for ancient architecture protection, which is the administration's first joint workstation focusing on a specific area, opened in Taiyuan, capital of North China's Shanxi province, on July 11.

Shanxi is a province rich in cultural relics, with 28,027 existing ancient buildings. Among these are 518 wooden structures from the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) and earlier, the most anywhere in China.

Shanxi also ranks first in the country in terms of the number of national key cultural relic protection units, making the protection and utilization of ancient architecture a major task for the province.

At the same time, there are many key issues that must be addressed when it comes to the detailed surveying of ancient buildings, restoration of construction techniques, structural reinforcement, and preservation of murals and sculptures.

With the establishment of the joint workstation, Shanxi will further solidify high-level technological innovation platforms, cultivate a hub for innovative talents, and promote the high-quality commercialization of technological achievements.

This will make the joint workstation a platform for basic research and technological breakthroughs, talent training and the commercialization of achievements, academic exchanges, and system innovation in ancient architecture protection and utilization.