The renovation work on the Champa Ling Monastery in Tibet has been completed, part of China's efforts to better protect cultural heritage in the autonomous region, said local officials in Qamdo prefecture.

The monasteryis the first and biggest of the Gelug sect of the Tibetan Buddhism in the Khampa area that includes the eastern part of Tibet autonomous region and western Sichuan province. The monastery, founded in 1437 during the Ming Dynasty, was named after the Buddha Jampa it enshrines. In 2013, the monastery was listed as a key national cultural heritage site.

The project includes renovation of the ancient architecture, water supply, drainage and fire control facilities, which will cost 93.78 million yuan ($15 million), said Losang Chodrak, deputy director of the Cultural Heritage Protection Bureau of Qamdo.

As part of the renovation, the original look of the monastery was kept intact by using similar materials for painting and decoration. The work awaits a final check by the autonomous region's cultural heritage authorities.

The monastery, covering about 20 hectares, has nine major buildings for enshrining Buddhas and scripture chanting of the monks. The renovation was begun in March 2013 and all the decoration for the assembly hall and scripture-printing house was completed in the last month, according to Losang Chodrak.

The renovation also brought benefits to the local artisans. More than 700 workers, 404 of whom are Tibetan people, participated in the Champa Ling project to earn wages of 37.5 million yuan, saidLosang Chodrak."Each worker receives about 200 yuan per day in payment, a relative decent salary in Qamdo," he said.

The project also created a chance for Qamdo to cultivate local traditional craftsmanship. The leading group for the project organized 50 farmers and herdsmen to learn from carpenters and masons. The team, focusing on traditional Tibetan architectural decoration, will become the first group in Qamdo to master the techniques.

Wang Liangguo, project manager of Tibet Xuanyuan Ancient Architectural Heritage Protection Engineering Co Ltd, said some old pillars of the aged halls were tilting and his workers had to cut out some and place new ones to balance the hall.

"The most difficult part is that the floor is required to be made from soil and rock. We get the rocks and the soil from the mountains and the workers must hammer them together and polish them so they are flawless. One worker can only finish one square meter in one week," Wang said.

A new building is under construction to accommodate the monks. The monks' houses have been decorated and fortified. A monk at Champa Ling who asked not to be named, said the renovation would create a more comfortable milieu for them to study the classics.

Qamdo prefecture has made strong efforts to protect cultural heritages and religious sites. The past two years saw 17 projects carried out at a cost of 320 million yuan, according to the bureau.

A view of part of the renovated Champa Ling Monastery in Qamdo prefecture. [Provided/China Daily]

                Editor: Julia Qin