Lanxi, a county-level city in Jinhua, Zhejiang province has over the past 20 years been making efforts to protect its ancient buildings.
For example, authorities have established a special task force for the protection and utilization of traditional villages, formulated 21 special plans, hired professional personnel to conduct surveys and assessments of the ancient buildings in each village, and formed a project list.
So far, 18 traditional villages have initiated 27 concentrated and contiguous protection demonstration projects, of which 23 have been completed.
Authorities have also established 51 teams, consisting of 558 treasure guardians, to take on responsibility for the inspection and fire protection of over 2,000 ancient buildings in the city.
Zhuge village, which is home to more than 300 ancient buildings from the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties (1271-1911), is one of the pioneers in the campaign and proposed a plan to simultaneously protect and develop its ancient buildings in 1995.
According to the plan, each resident is appointed as a protector and the buildings have been transformed into homestays, teahouses, cafes, restaurants, and cultural and creative stores, which can generate over two million yuan ($280,613.63) in rental income annually for the village and create jobs for more than 3,400 residents.
Dubbed the "hometown of Chinese traditional buildings", Lanxi is currently home to more than 2,000 immovable cultural relics, including one national-level historical and cultural block, three provincial-level historic towns, four provincial-level historic villages, and 21 Chinese traditional villages.
