In recent years, North China's Shanxi province has been advancing the comprehensive protection, systematic research, and dynamic preservation of its history and culture, striving to make cultural "soft power" a strong support for its transformation and development.

Upholding a protection-first principle, Shanxi established the country's first online monitoring and offline inspection mechanism, identifying 4,005 safety hazards and rectifying 3,432 of them – a rectification rate of 86 percent.

The province implemented a special project for the protection of low-level cultural relics supported by government general bonds, fostering collaborative protection through diverse investments and targeted measures. By engaging social forces, the province had a total of 473 adopted and sponsored heritage buildings as of the end of 2023, attracting over 520 million yuan ($71.24 million) in social funds.

In terms of archaeological research, Shanxi has focused deeply on two major national projects – Archaeology China and the Origins of Chinese Civilization – making significant research achievements and elucidating Shanxi's role in the origin of Chinese civilization.

Furthermore, the province continues to integrate cultural relics with cultural tourism, museums, and cultural creativity, aiming to develop cultural tourism into a strategic pillar industry. With two cities and 20 counties included on the provincial-level demonstration zone list for the protection and utilization of cultural relics, various regions have introduced popular themed routes and cultural products, riding the wave of tourist interest in ancient architecture and disseminating Shanxi's history and culture.