The “two lines“ refer to the protection boundary line and the construction control zone line of cultural heritage protection units. The protection boundary focuses on safeguarding the relics and their immediate surroundings while the construction control zone restricts building activities outside the protection boundary to preserve the unit's safety, environment and historical appearance.

　　“By integrating surveying and geographic information technology into cultural relic protection, we can accurately incorporate Zhangye's heritage data into the city's land-use planning system,“ he says. “This provides strong data support for subsequent site investigations and building surveys.“

　　Ongoing efforts in site surveys, grotto protection, revolutionary heritage surveys and historical building assessments will enhance the protection and preservation of cultural heritage.

　　On March 8, 2021, the Ministry of Natural Resources and the National Cultural Heritage Administration jointly issued a guide requiring that “the spatial information of cultural heritage resources be incorporated into the national land spatial basic information platform, implementing strict protection, and establishing data sharing and dynamic maintenance mechanisms“.

　　Based on the instructions, Zhangye developed and implemented its mapping project, which helped in the preservation of the cultural relics in the past four years.

　　“This project not only raises awareness about cultural relic protection but also legally ensures the preservation of the relics and their surrounding environments,“ says Bian Yuan, director of the Zhangye cultural heritage bureau.

　　Since the project's inception, the Zhangye government has prioritized its implementation.