From static protection to activation and utilization, large heritage sites have entered people's lives and integrated into urban and rural development.

China News Service, Zhengzhou, October 14 (Reporter Ying Ni) How to preserve and use large heritage sites, how to integrate into people's lives and integrate into urban and rural development? From October 13th to 14th, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage held a national major heritage work conference in Zhengzhou, Henan, where heads of relevant cultural relics administrative departments, heads of national archaeological sites parks, cultural and museum units, and scientific research institutions gathered for exchanges.

What is a large ruins?

Major sites mainly include large-scale settlements and cities that reflect the various stages of development in ancient Chinese history involving politics, religion, military, science and technology, industry, agriculture, architecture, transportation, water conservancy and other aspects of historical and cultural information. They are large-scale, valuable and far-reaching. Sites, palaces, mausoleums, tombs and other sites, site groups and cultural landscapes are the core cultural relic resources that demonstrate China's millions of years of human history, 10,000 years of cultural history, and more than 5,000 years of civilization history. For example, the Yin Ruins, Sanxingdui, Xixia Mausoleums, Liangzhu Ancient City, etc. are all representative major sites.

During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage selected 150 representative sites from more than 330,000 ancient sites and ancient tombs across the country. Among them, Henan Province has the largest number of large sites, including 16 sites including Yangshao Village Site, Erlitou Site, and Zhengzhou Shopping City Site.

The protection of large heritage sites is easily affected by urban development. The key is to fix the protection boundaries and rigid constraints through systems. Zhengzhou compiled the "Strategic Plan for the Protection and Utilization of Zhengzhou Major Heritage Areas" and took the lead in the country to implement the "archaeology first" reform and strictly implemented the "archaeology first, transfer later" system. Several urban high-speed lines have actively avoided important archaeological discoveries. Hangzhou has promulgated the "Regulations on the Protection of Historical and Cultural Cities in Hangzhou" and the "Regulations on the Protection and Management of World Cultural Heritage of Liangzhu Ancient City Ruins in Hangzhou", striving to coordinate protection and development and provide legal protection for the protection of large heritage sites.

The protection of large heritage sites empowered by technology has been further highlighted. In the Xixia Mausoleum, satellite remote sensing, drone inspections, Internet of Things sensing and manual mobile inspections were integrated, and multiple monitoring indicators were deployed to achieve data interoperability with the national heritage monitoring platform; in Sanxingdui, an innovative large-site archaeological work model of "topic presets, protection synchronization, multi-disciplinary integration, and multi-team cooperation" was formed to realize the archaeological site as a scientific research and cultural preservation site, and promote the in-depth integration of traditional archeology, technological archeology, laboratory archeology, and cultural relics protection.

At the same time, the protection of large heritage sites is not just about "guarding the house", but also about clearly explaining the civilization buried underground.

Hangzhou Yujiashan Archaeological Museum launched the "Barrier-free Traveler" public welfare program based on the country's first archaeological-themed barrier-free exhibition hall; the Wuyue Guoyi Jincheng site is based on the "city-mausoleum-temple" heritage pattern and creates a "one street and three blocks" linkage display system to drive the development of the cultural tourism industry in the area. Hangzhou has also held the "Liangzhu Forum" for three consecutive years, carried out cultural exchanges with 136 countries and regions, and continued to carry out global exhibition tours, world heritage themed dialogues and other activities, becoming an important window to showcase Chinese civilization and promote international dialogue.

Sichuan Province insists on classified policies and differentiated development. The Jinsha site in the urban area insists on benefiting the people through culture, optimizes the supply of public services, creates special activities such as the "Jinsha Sun Festival", and becomes an "urban cultural living room". Sites such as Sanxingdui, Baodun, Qiongyao, Luojiaba, Chengba, and Shudao located in rural areas have linked local resources and developed integrated businesses such as agriculture, culture, sports, and tourism according to local conditions, driving villagers to find jobs nearby and increase their income, effectively promoting rural revitalization.

Hubei Province relies on large heritage sites to create a unique cultural tourism carrier. Jingzhou builds the Jinan Ecological Cultural Tourism Zone with the Chu Jinan Ancient City and other sites as the core. Qujialing builds a "Chinese Agricultural Valley" based on rice farming civilization. Tonglushan Night Tour integrates light and shadow performances and folk music to enrich cultural experience.

From static display to active utilization, the construction of the National Archaeological Site Park has opened up a new path for the revitalization of large heritage sites.

The overall protection and display area of ​​the Luoyang City Archaeological Site Park during the Sui and Tang Dynasties is 8,300 acres, with focus on the implementation of protection and display projects such as Dingding Gate, Two Lanes and One Street, Tiantang, Mingtang, Jiuzhou Pool, Yingtianmen, Hanjiacang, Huiluocang, and the South City Wall Ruins. The core area of ​​Miyagi City has become a city card and cultural landmark that recreates the past glory of the thousand-year-old ancient capital. There is an endless stream of people wearing Hanfu checking in. In 2024, the case of "Harmonious Coexistence of the Protection of Luoyang City Sites and Urban Development in the Sui and Tang Dynasties" won the title of "Top Ten National Archaeological Site Protection Display Cases".

In December 2025, the Dahe Village National Archaeological Site Park, which has undergone more than half a century of archaeological efforts, was officially opened. In the new Dahe Village Heritage Museum, more than 1,500 pieces (sets) of high-quality cultural relics comprehensively outline the splendid civilization picture of 7,000 to 5,000 years ago. In the archaeological shed of the city wall relics of the late Yangshao Culture, the audience can clearly see the strata of nearly 7,000 years ago. In the park, the fragrance of flowers continues all the time, and the first baby deer was recently born in Dahe Deer Garden. In the morning, it is an ecological oxygen bar for runners; in the afternoon, it is a weekend class for parents and children; in the evening, it becomes a romantic camp for young people to gather. A settlement that dates back thousands of years has been integrated into the daily life of contemporary cities.