On August 10, 2022, the Joint Workshop on Cultural Heritage Conservation was successfully wrapped up in Fuzhou, Fujian. This workshop was co-organized by the School of Archaeology and Museology of Peking University and the Beijing branch of World Heritage Institute of Training and Research for the Asia and Pacific Region under the auspices of UNESCO. With the combined means of archival research and field investigation, this workshop aimed at investigating the conservation status and core value of Fuzhou’s local cultural heritage, and further exploring the possibility of a potential world heritage status nomination.

This workshop consisted of two sessions which were respectively carried out online and offline. From July 21 to 23, online courses on basic problems of heritage conservation, fundamental methodology of field investigation, and the current status of research subjects were delivered. From 31 July to 11 August, students started field research under the guidance of host instructors in Fuzhou, while guest instructors provided themed lectures based on specific local conditions. Qi Xiaojin, vice president of the Department of Humanistic and Creative City at Tsinghua Tongheng Urban Planning & Design Institute, had a critical reflection based on her own research experience in the Shangxiahang Region, on how different standpoints in oral interviews can lead to reader’s miscomprehension. Lin Yinan, associate professor and deputy head of the Department of Landscape Architecture at East China University of Science and Technology, Director of the Fuzhou Old Architecture Encyclopedia website, used the historical connection between Cangqianshan and Guling as background, and presented the values possessed by Guling through the stories of “foreign nostalgia”. Song Feng, an associate professor at the College of Urban and Environmental Sciences at Peking University, focused on the theory of urban morphology, and introduced the contribution of the Conzenian School and the spread and application of this theory in China. Zhang Jizhou, an early co-founder of the Fuzhou Old Building Encyclopedia, started with natural materials such as cedar wood from Wuyi Mountain or granite and bluestone from Fuzhou, analyzed the unique architectural conditions of Fuzhou's historic buildings, as well as their spiritual significance and cultural value.

On August 10, the closing ceremony of the 2022 Joint Workshop on Cultural Heritage Conservation took place in the Lin Zexu Memorial Hall in Fuzhou. Zhang Jianwei, deputy dean of the School of Archaeology and Museology at Peking University and executive deputy director of WHITRAP-Beijing Center hosted the event. The ceremony process was divided into four sessions. Firstly, representatives from our investigation teams, namely Sanfangqixiang, Yantai Mountain, Shangxiahang, and Mawei-Guling, reported their results of the archival study, field research, and oral interview, and put forward suggestions on the possible direction of conservation and utilization. Afterwards, the instructors and guest panelists commented on each group’s work and pointed out possibilities for future exploration. The participants also presented the summary of the integral study of Fuzhou’s historical narration, analyzing the value carriers and narrative of each group of building from the perspective of ideology, social structure, and urban function. Finally, Chen Yubiao, director of the Museum and Heritage Safety Division at Fuzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, and He Jingping, director of the conservation and archaeology division at Fujian Provincial Bureau of Cultural Heritage, made the final comments, affirming the fruitful results of each group’s investigation and high expectations for future work.