Fernando Chui Sai On, Macao's Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, said the primary task at present is to inform Macao residents of how to help protect their invaluable heritage. At the same time, the SAR government has established a legal work group to revise laws related to cultural heritage protection in an effort to make up for the legislation deficiencies, according to Chui.

He said he hopes the Ministry of Culture and the National Administration of Cultural Heritage (NACH) will offer guidance to Macao on cultural heritage protection, adding that Macao is also eager to draw on the successful experiences of other parts of China

Buffer zone for the Forbidden City

Another topic concerning China at this year's session of the World Heritage Committee is the approval of a plan for the protection of the buffer zone around the Forbidden City in Beijing.

The Forbidden City, also known as the Palace Museum, was the imperial palace of the Ming and Qing dynasties. According to the NACH, the World Heritage Committee adopted a resolution at last year's session requiring China to set up a buffer zone around the Forbidden City to better protect the world heritage site. Given this, China has formulated a plan in accordance with the conditions of the area and the requirements of the World Heritage Committee.

According to the plan, the area under protection in and around the Palace Museum amounts to 1,463 hectares, with the Forbidden City itself covering 86 hectares and a buffer zone amounting to 1,377 hectares. The buffer zone includes another five sites of historical interest, namely the Imperial City, Shichahai lake resort, the Imperial College, and Northern and Southern Luogu Lane.

Massive building and demolishing will be restricted in the buffer zone. The construction of new buildings higher than nine meters will be prohibited. Existing buildings that fall short of the mandatory requirements will be reconstructed in a gradual manner.

The buffer zone specified in the plan consists of two parts: the Imperial City, which is in the immediate vicinity of the Forbidden City, where the various ministries of the Ming and Qing dynasties were located, and the northern part of Beijing proper.

The Forbidden City is the best preserved, whereas the Imperial City, including Beihai (lake), Zhongnanhai (a compound with two lakes now serving as a government center), Jingshan Park, the Imperial Ancestral Temple (today known as Working People's Cultural Palace) and the Altar of Land and Grain (today, Sun Yet-sen Park), remain basically intact. Most of the original streets and alleys in the Imperial City still exist.

The Inner City, which surrounded the Imperial City, and the Outer City, built south of the Inner City, have been somewhat damaged. However, the original state of the northern part of Beijing city proper has been largely maintained, showcasing the charm of old Beijing.

As China has joined the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, the protection plan for the buffer zone of the Forbidden City, which is a piece of domestic legislation, needs to be subjected to the examination and approval of the World Heritage Committee before taking effect, said Xu Pingfang, an expert on the protection of world heritage sites.

Xu said that any land use in the buffer zone should conform to the plan required by the World Heritage Committee. If any fixed land use projects run counter to the plan, adjustments should be made. The World Heritage Committee is also expected to carry out regular inspections to check the protection of the buffer zone.

Guo Zhan, an official with the NACH in charge of world heritage affairs, said the World Heritage Committee has decided to send an inspection team to China to conduct an on-the-spot assessment of the large-scale maintenance projects in the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace and the Temple of Heaven. The results will be submitted to the 30th session of the committee to be held next year for further review.

The World Heritage Committee has made it compulsory that no high-rise buildings that jar with the atmosphere are visible when looking around from the terraces of the three major halls in the Forbidden City where some of the most important imperial ceremonies were held, namely the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Hall of Complete Harmony and the Hall of Preserving Harmony.

In light of this, the protection plan has banned the construction of modern buildings higher than nine meters in the buffer zone. According to the Beijing Municipal Administration of Cultural Heritage (BMACH), a six-story office building nearly 20 meters in height was half-torn down to be made consistent with its surroundings.

The protection plan provides that existing modern high-rise buildings in the buffer zone should be gradually demolished or made lower. Buildings that cannot easily be changed over a short period of time will be kept as they are.

In the buffer zone, new construction projects must get the nod from the city planning and cultural heritage management authorities before they can go ahead. Strict restrictions have been imposed on size, style and color so as to make sure new structures can be incorporated into the historical setting around the Forbidden City. According to guidelines enacted by the municipal government, large glass structures, exceedingly colorful buildings, and buildings that exhibit a blatant Western style are all forbidden in the buffer zone. The massive dismantling of traditional siheyuan courtyards and hutongs is also prohibited. Existing streets and lanes in the zone will not be widened.

"Due to the lack of maintenance, many old buildings in the buffer zone are in a precarious state. Will the establishment of the buffer zone deny residents the chance of improving their living standards through the government's city renewal programs? Does old city protection mean that these residents will live in dilapidated houses forever?" reads a comment posted online in the name of "ordinary people in the Inner City."