Photographer Cheng Weidong felt a sense of great relief when he managed to reach Taoping village in Sichuan province a week after the deadly May 12 earthquake.

He thought it was a miracle that much of the 2,000-year-old Qiang minority group village, renowned for its ancient stone towers and blockhouses, was in good shape. After all, Taoping is just 17 km away from the epicenter of the quake in Wenchuan.

Moreover, not a single villager from the 98 households was hurt, and dozens of the stone towers, built more than 1,000 years ago, stood defiantly under the blue sky.

"What I saw was a world architectural miracle," said the 57-year-old photographer with Nationality Pictorial.

It is this miraculous feature that could fetch the structures international recognition because the central government has been trying to get them a UNESCO world cultural heritage site status.

Zhang Bai, deputy director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, said yesterday: "Their unique structure and outstanding quake-resistant feature make them a very eligible candidate."

During a group interview, organized by the 2008 Beijing International Media Center, Zhang said Taoping's application would be submitted in the next few years along with those of the Songshan Mountain, the Wutai Mountain and the Silk Road.

Though Taoping did not suffer much damage, some other places where the Qiang people live, such as Beichuan county, were devastated by the quake.