China's ancient relics to be listed on stock market

China's 2,000-year-old "terracotta army" may soon be launched on the stock exchange if the local tourist authorities win their argument against conservationists.

Officials in Xian say they plan to exploit to the full "the market value of the eighth wonder of the world" by listing the site where 6,000 life-sized warriors and horses guard the tomb of China's first emperor, Qin (221-210 BC).

Scholars and experts have denounced the scheme, which they fear will turn the relics into a theme park.

They say that other antiquities in China, including the birthplace of the philosopher Confucius, are also threatened by companies seeking to make a quick profit.

Only foreign leaders and Communist party officials are allowed to get close to the army; President Ronald Reagan, for instance, famously pretended to be frightened by a terracotta horse. But with 700,000 visitors a year the statues are already at risk.

"I still remember the beautifully coloured warriors that had just been excavated [in 1974]," one archaeologist said, lamenting their faded appearance today.

Chen Junke, a specialist in Chinese relics, wrote in yesterday's China Daily that the key problem was "how to balance economic development ... with cultural preservation".

The Qin Terracotta Museum says that going public will help it to market "catering and beverage services and the development, production and sale of souvenirs".

A motorway has already been built to the site from Xian, and food and souvenir stalls have multiplied outside its gates. The only way to see the warriors in relative peace is in the first half hour after the museum opens.

Critics point to a scandal last year when slapdash cleaning methods allegedly caused irreparable damage to the temples of Confucius at Qufu, eastern China.

A company which had won a management contract celebrated by giving the temples a face-lift, hosing them down and scrubbing them with stiff brushes. Large flakes of paint peeled away from ancient frescoes and water seeped into timbers.

The Qin mausoleum is China's second most popular tourist site, after the Great Wall, and a huge cash earner for the north-west province of Shaanxi.

The emperor's tomb has not been opened yet: it is believed to contain a map of the world as known at the time, with the seas and rivers marked in mercury.

The Shaanxi tourism bureau has been struggling for four years to raise funds by listing the mausoleum and other sites. These include the tomb of China's only empress, Wu Zetian (AD625-706), 50 miles north of Xian.

The empress was a resourceful concubine who killed her rivals to gain the throne. The provincial governor wants to open her tomb so that it can be included in the new listing. But Beijing archaeologists warn that it may contain silk, wooden and paper relics which will crumble into dust for want of the proper techniques to preserve them.

Other historic spots in China popular with tourists include:

The Great Wall, Badaling, near Beijing. Totally rebuilt, with cable car, tacky shops and huge carpark.

The Temple of Confucius, Qufu. Frescoes damaged by water hoses and scrubbing when new tourist company took over.

Xishuangbanna, Yunnan province. Daily tourist shows with Chinese performers pretending to be 'ethnic dancers'.

Yangtze Delta villages. Original residents have been moved out to create 'water towns' for tourists with ticket-only admission.