Walking into the famous Ta Keo Temple in Cambodia, visitors may notice that some parts of the temple are covered by protective nets and scaffolds. Near these scaffolds is a sign in English and Chinese that reads “Funded by the government of the People’s Republic of China,” telling tourists from all over the world how China contributed to restoring the centuries-old landmark.
China first began working with Cambodia on temple restoration in 1997 with the Angkor Wat Temple project. More recently, restorations have been completed for the Chau Say Tevoda Temple and the Takeo Temple, Chai Xiaoming, president of the Chinese Academy of Cultural Heritage (CACH), told the Global Times.
He noted that China’s successful experience in fixing these latter two temples lead to another cooperation project between China and Cambodia to restore the latter’s Royal Palace in Phnom Penh. This project is expected to take two decades to complete.
