BEIJING, Feb. 5 (Xinhuanet) -- A total of 3,004 new cultural relics sites had been found by the end of 2009 in Tibet's third general survey of cultural relics, which started in April of 2007.

    Since the survey was conducted, 4,268 sites for immovable cultural relics has been discovered and registered in the region, said Yudawa, director of Tibet Autonomous Regional Cultural Relics Bureau, at a conference attended by leading officials of Tibet's cultural departments and cultural relics bureaus held in Lhasa on Thursday.　

A visitor views a Buddhism sculpture made in the 14th century in the treasure hall of the Potala Palace in Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, July 18, 2009. (Xinhua/Chogo)  Photo Gallery>>>

    Of the registered sites, 1,513 are ancient ruins, 501 ancient tombs, 1,443 historic buildings, 581 grottoes and stone carvings, 207 modern historical sites and typical buildings.

    Tibet spent 15.09 million yuan (2.21 millioni U.S. dollars) in 2009 conducting the survey in Tibet's 73 counties and 692 townships, covering an area of 1.18 million sq km.

Photo taken on Aug. 22, 2009 shows the general view of Potala Palace in Lhasa, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region. (Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    Of the newly found cultural relics sites, the major ones include the Tashi Island rock paintings, the first of its kind ever found in Tibet and three stone sarcophagus tombs unearthed in southeastern Tibet's Nyingchi Prefecture.

    China's Central Government has been paying close attention to the cultural relics protection in Tibet, which is rich in cultural relics resources.

    From the 1980s to the 1990s, the Central Government spent about 300 million yuan renovating the region's 1,400 monasteries.

    From 2002 to 2009, it allocated 380 million yuan for the renovation of Tibet's three key cultural relics, i.e., the Potala Palace and Norbu Lingka, or the former winter and summer palaces of the Dalai Lamas and the Sagya Monastery, known for housing numerous classical books on Buddhism and precious paintings.

    Another 570 million yuan (about 83.4 million U.S. dollars) has been spent on renovating 22 cultural relics in Tibet.

    By now, the total financing from the Central Government for the cultural relics protection in Tibet has hit 1.3 billion yuan.