The beautiful stone lion sculptures on the 800-year-old Lugou Bridge in southwestern Beijing recently received a health check-up.

Conservators will submit a "health report" by the end of this year to serve as a guideline for future protection work on the exquisite lions, the Beijing Morning Post reported.

Lugou Bridge, recorded in the travelogue of Marco Polo, is famous for its 485 lifelike carved stone lions.

When Marco Polo traveled to China during the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), he described the bridge in vivid words: "Over the river, there is an extremely beautiful stone bridge. Come to think of it, it is indeed the most wonderful and unique bridge in the world ..." he wrote.

But the artistic stone lions on the bridge balustrades are now suffering damages due to weathering.

The examination on the health condition of the lions took conservation experts two years to finish, and could serve as preparations for future protection work, said an official with the cultural relics department of Beijing's Fengtai District.

Conservators have found that the stone textures of the lions are not the same, rendering some of the lions more vulnerable to weathering than others.

"The bridge was refurbished and repaired many times in history, and different stone materials were used, so there is a difference in the texture of the stone lions," one official explained.

Experts are currently making final revisions to the "health report." A trial protection project will be initiated to protect the stone lions, in which conservators will try to solve the weathering problem by spraying a protective chemical over the stone lions. If this method proves a success, an action plan to save the lions will be set up, according to the official.

The Lugou Bridge, 266.5 meters in length and 7.5 meters in width, with 11 arches, was first built in 1189 over the Yongding River south of Beijing.

The lion cubs on the bridge vary from a few millimeters to a dozen millimeters in size. Often half hidden, they have proven difficult to count.

(CRI December 27, 2007)