What?
Registered in 2003, the Beijing Cultural Heritage Protection Center (CHP) is an independent Chinese NGO who supports communities to protect their cultural heritage throughout China. Our work is vital because China’s rapid development and social change is dramatically affecting its cultural landscape. CHP gives Chinese people a voice to protect the future of their past through capacity building, education, training, networking and support. Our belief is that people make change. CHP’s main focus areas are cultural heritage protection and civil society building, ethnic minority cultural revitalization and media mobilization.
Who?
CHP was originally formed as a volunteer network initiative by passionate cultural conservationist He Shuzhong. We are now the leading local cultural heritage protection NGO in China. We are small and only have three full-time and one part-time staff, and two international year-long interns. We also have several hundred volunteers all across China. Every supporter of CHP is dedicated to preserving Chinese culture, which is why CHP as a small grassroots NGO is making such a difference in China. As a leader in its field, CHP collaborates with key organizations, including UNECSO and the United States Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation.
Where?
CHP’s office is in Beijing and we have a focus on Old Beijing, but our scope is across the whole country. We advocate preservation in all corners of China, and are currently doing two minority projects in Ae’r Village and Congjiang. The behaviour of China’s residents, whether they live in Old Beijing or a new apartment block in Shanghai, determines the fate and prosperity of China – one of the longest continuous cultures in the world.
How?
Our aim is to bring change through the Chinese people. We have influenced government and stopped demolition projects across China. CHP’s proudest impact, however, is that we are changing Chinese people’s long-standing attitude towards cultural heritage and its protection. People now see cultural protection as not just the government’s responsibility. They see it as their responsibility – the people of Beijing and China. There is of course a long way to go but CHP is committed to going the whole way.
Funding?
As an independent NGO, CHP does not receiving funding from the government. Instead, CHP receives funding from a variety of sources, including sponsors, embassies, foundations, merchandise sales, and international and local individual donors. Some popular ways to support CHP are to donate or become a corporate sponsor, help us as a volunteer or intern, sign up to receive our monthly e-newsletter, attend our diverse range of events, tell everyone you know about our cause, and most importantly let us know if you see any cultural heritage destruction around Beijing.