Visitors look at a carved stone. [Photo/jnnews.tv]

The Shandong (Qufu) Cave Temples and Carved Stones Protection Base was established in Qufu, Jining, East China's Shandong province on Sept 10 by the Chinese Academy of Cultural Heritage, the Qufu cultural heritage administration, as well as the Qufu Sankong ancient architecture management office.

This is the first cultural heritage research and protection institution set up by the Chinese Academy of Cultural Heritage in a county-level city. It aims to conserve ancient architecture, cave temples, and carved stones, as well as foster more talents specializing in the protection of cultural heritage items through cooperation between the academy and the city.

Qufu is the hometown of the famed ancient Chinese philosopher and educator Confucius. It is also the place of origin of Confucian culture. It boasts a large number of cultural relics, including more than 1,300 ancient buildings, over 100,000 ancient burial sites, as well as over 10,000 inscribed carved stones and tablets.

Shandong has been attaching great importance to the conservation of historical relics. The Shandong Department of Culture and Tourism conducted a field survey in 2020, confirming that the province has 183 cave temples in total.