A mid-term promoting meeting of the Three-Year Action Plan for the Protection of Covered Bridges (2023-25) was held in Pingnan county, Ningde, Fujian province, on Wednesday and Thursday, bringing together heritage professionals from 13 provinces to showcase the latest progress in the protection and use of historical covered bridges.

Covered bridges feature unique structures and elegant designs widely distributed in the southern part of China. Covered bridges not only serve practical transportation functions but are also used as shelters from the sun and rain, places for people to rest, communicate, and gather.

The plan was issued last year by the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the National Cultural Heritage Administration to promote the protection, research and use of covered bridges.

According to preliminary statistics released by the meeting, there are 1,820 covered bridges nationwide. The data will continue to be updated. Various provinces have completed 70 covered bridge protection projects, and are organizing 29 other projects. The total investment for the projects has exceeded 110 million yuan ($15.45 million).

Guan Qiang, deputy director of the National Cultural Heritage Administration, commends the progress achieved in different provinces. He also calls for strengthening work mechanisms in the next step, continuing efforts in survey and evaluation, comprehensively collecting covered bridge information, bringing the cultural heritage back to life and ensuring the smooth completion of the plan.