Hi-tech helps protect world's tallest Buddha statue

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 ◆ Hi-tech helps protect world's tallest Buddha statue

Scientists with instruments examine each of the 108 test stones to find the one most suitable for curing the "diseases" of the 71-meter-high Leshan statue, the world's tallest Buddha.

Hi-tech has been used to help preserve this world heritage site in China during the past decade, benefiting from the country's rapid progress in science and technology.

The 1,200-year-old Buddha, located in southwest China's Sichuan Province, has lost its original look after centuries of weathering by wind and water as well as years of damage from visitors.

To treat the Buddha, experts have painstakingly developed new techniques, including stone weathering imaging, biological damage research and a tourism administration system.

The techniques may reveal the physical, chemical and biological weathering mechanism of the Jurassic-Cretaceous period rock, which will greatly boost China's relics research, according to experts.

The statue was renovated many times during the first half of last century but not all results were satisfactory.

In 1996, the Buddha was added to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's World Cultural Heritage list. Currently, there are 730 such sites worldwide, with 140 in Asia and 28 in China.