Five trained dogs have been introduced in a cultural relic
protection drive in Northwest China's Shaanxi Province to fight
against rampant tomb robberies.
The five Germany-originated huntaway will watch over Wulingyuan,
a historical site in Xianyang City, where tombs of five emperors
and many aristocrats of the Han Dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD) are
located.
The tombs are strong lures to robbers due to their large number
and high value of historical relics buried in the tombs, according
to local officials engaged in cultural relic protection.
The dogs will help officers observe situation around the tombs
at night, bark to make alert in case of any abnormal happenings and
catch suspects when they attempted to carry out robberies, the
officials said.
From July, the dogs began to receive special training to get
acquainted with surroundings of the tombs and learn
robber-controlorders produced by cultural protection officers.
Now, the major "work" of the dogs is to smell out suspects
hidden in crop fields during night while receiving further training
in daytime.
The city is planning to introduce more watchdogs in the next two
years for better protection in local museums and tomb sites.
Built more than 2,350 years ago, Xianyang, 20 kilometers
northwest of Shaanxi's capital city Xi'an, was the capital of the
Qin Dynasty (221 B.C.- 207 B.C.), the first feudal dynasty in
Chinese history.
Xi'an, with a history of more than 3,100 years, was the capital
of 13 feudal dynasties, including those in the period of great
prosperity such as the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-220 A.D.) and the Tang
Dynasty (6l8 A.D.- 907 A. D.).
The Chinese government has put into great investment and efforts
in protection of cultural and historic projects in the two cities
as the world-renowned terracotta warriors and horses in Xi'an and
more than 200 tombs from the Han and Tang dynasties in
Xianyang.
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(Xinhua News Agency October 26, 2006)