More sections of the ancient city wall of Pingyao in north China's Shanxi Province have been found to be unsafe.

"A total of 52 dangerous sections of the wall were recently confirmed on the 630-year-old wall, which was listed as a World Cultural Heritage site in 1997 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)," said Dong Yangzhong, an official with the Shanxi Provincial Cultural Heritage Bureau.

The wall, measuring 6,162 meters in circumference, was found to be structurally unsound in 52 sections, 26 of which are particularly vulnerable to collapse. The weak areas were detected by a specialist construction institute, which examined the wall, following an earlier incident where a section of the wall collapsed, using advanced technology, Dong said.

Experts have suggested immediate emergency measures, such as putting up warning signs at the weaker sections, and limiting the number of tourists.

"A comprehensive protection package based on the recent findings will be announced soon," Dong said.

The examination took more than half a year, and was conducted as a result of a collapse on October 17, 2004. No casualties were reported when the 17-meter long, 10-meter high, and three-meter thick section near the southern city gate fell apart.

Repairs on the collapsed section of the wall cost an estimated 870,000 yuan (about US$105,300), Dong said.

Reparation works on the damaged sections of the wall were reported by www.tynews.com.cn on April 30. On May 12, www.sx.chinanews.com.cn reported on the newly detected dangers.

The existing city wall was rebuilt in 1370. Pingyao, an ancient banking and business center, has well-preserved streets, stores, temples and residential houses built during the imperial Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, and it attracts many domestic and international tourists each year.

(Xinhua News Agency May 16, 2005)