"Actually, they are not that cool," Lei said. "Grave robbers look for ancient tombs everywhere. There is not much technology involved. Additionally, it does not really require much knowledge of culture. Anyone can master the basics after undergoing a few hours of practice."

Grave robbers use a special tool called a "Luoyang shovel." It is an effective probe tool for seeking buried relics. The shovel can be used to excavate a sample of the earth lying deep underground. Simply by observing the soil's color and texture, one can tell whether there is a tomb under the earth's surface, and which historical period the tomb was built in. The Luoyang shovel is a tool also employed by archaeologists.

The criminal of grave robbing in China has been rampant since the 1980s. There is a saying among tomb robbers that an artifact from an ancient tomb can make one rich overnight. In the beginning, tomb robbery was a standalone activity. Then they formed gangs with clear divisions of labor. Today, grave robbery has evolved to encapsulate a whole series of crime, from the theft of relics to smuggling of such items across borders.

Grave robbers always commit their crimes silently under the cover of darkness at night. They burrow holes with Luoyang shovels at places where relics are potentially buried. The shovel can go as deep as 20 meters. Every deep hole will be destructive to the possible tomb uncovered and to the environment. When it rains, water will pour into the holes and leak into the coffin chamber, causing untold damage to buried artifacts.

"More often than not, we resort to preservation instead of excavation when we find a historical site. We know that excavation can sometimes mean destruction. Therefore, we try to carry out excavations as rarely as possible. But grave robbers care for nothing except their own profits," Lei said.

Mission impossible?

The Central Government and local authorities have spared no efforts in fighting against grave robbery and other criminal acts concerning cultural relics protection. A protection network has been established across the country. The network consists of police, archaeologists and volunteers. In some places, especially where historical heritage is abundant, the collaboration mechanism has proved to be effective. For example, the 30-square km site of the capital city of the ancient Zhou Dynasty (1046-256 B.C.), situated in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, is currently under the watchful eye of 40 local volunteers.

With a 5,000-year history of civilization, China boasts a large number of sites with historical significance. Therefore, it is very difficult to maintain constant vigilance and to achieve maximum coverage in protecting its cultural heritage as not every site is covered by the protection network. Mistakes and oversights are inevitable under these conditions. In particular, some local governments lack the necessary funding and manpower to ensure the integrity of buried treasures.

Faced with such grim situation, the Central Government has vowed to devote more money and efforts to safeguarding precious artifacts.

The State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH) carried out the third general survey of cultural relics nationwide between 2007 and 2011. According to SACH statistics, over 40,000 historic heritage sites have disappeared off the map in recent years.

In addition to robbery, many of these sites have been devastated by the fast-spreading infrastructure construction, Lei said. Some local officials give priority to urban construction rather than to the preservation of historic relics. They think the preservation of cultural relics do not help grow local economy.

"Most certainly, they are wrong," Lei said. "Our cultural heritage is the only remaining source of information that we can use for recording our civilization's past. Through the study of the heritage of our ancient civilization, we can better understand our past, draw lessons from it and choose the right path for our future. If we lose our heritage, we risk losing the memories and spirit of our nation."

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