Hebei province started it first general assessment of movable antiquities and treasures, this past Thursday, to get a better sense of how to protect them. The government is also getting a better picture of its cultural relics that cannot be moved, such as temples and other old buildings. Three of these studies of fixed structures have been done since 1949, but none on movable relics, because of certain restrictions.

Hebei has a wide range of these movable antiquities, most of them very valuable, and many individuals or organizations have collected the more valuable ones. And a lack of understanding of these movable relics has left them without adequate government protection as well as the possibility of showing them or doing research.

The government plans to conduct a complete set of surveys on around a million relics to build an information database and better management system, by the end of 2016, and to thoroughly update and scientifically evaluate the information on the movable relics.