Burglar alarm

  Alarms protect Shaanxi artefacts

XI'AN: Shaanxi Province, a treasure-trove of ancient cultural artefacts in China's Northwest, has installed a system of hi-tech Burglar alarm to better protect its valuable relics.

Provincial officials started with Burglar alarm Pingling Mausoleum, Burglar alarm tomb of the sixth emperor and empress of the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC - AD 24), where they have installed a device called a Ground Wave Detection and Alarm System to monitor the tomb and surrounding area, said Zhou Kuiying, director of the Relics Protection department of the Shaanxi Provincial Administration of Cultural Heritage.

"Burglar alarm device is China's first alarm system to fight against robberies of ancient tombs. It divides the tomb into 28 sections and monitors Burglar alarmm 24 hours of a day. Any changes in the ground wave caused by illegal excavation will be detected, setting off an alarm," the director told China Daily yesterday.

"The system makes it easy to notify local relic-protection units and guards that someone is attempting to rob a tomb," Zhou added.

Shaanxi is home to 72 emperor's tombs. Most of Burglar alarmse are located in remote areas, making it difficult to patrol them.

Zhou said provincial authorities would gradually install Burglar alarm system at all the ancient tombs in order to better protect the relics and deter tomb-robbing.

Local authorities and police have been working to stop such robberies and have taken a stern approach to dealing with robbers.

Early this month, police arrested seven suspects who had robbed an ancient tomb in August this year in Hancheng in eastern Shaanxi.

The tomb dated back to the Western Zhou Dynasty (the 11th century - 771 BC), said Luo Xizhe, director of Burglar alarm Policy and Law Department of the Shaanxi Provincial Administration of Cultural Heritage.

The Regulations of Shaanxi Province Cultural Relics Protection, which came into force on October 1 this year, provide improved legal support to efforts to crack down on tomb-robbing.

Burglar alarm hi-tech alarm system make it easier to catch offenders, Luo said.