Raging wildfires which have ripped across parts of Canada's British Columbia in recent weeks have put the Barkerville Historic Town, one of the province's largest historical tourist destinations, dangerously at risk.
Sweltering conditions from a heat wave which has gripped Western Canada since early July resulted in many wildfires breaking out, with more than 300 fires erupting across British Columbia towards the end of last month.
One blaze came very close to the Barkerville Historic Town, which was named after a British prospector who found gold there in 1862, forcing it to be closed to the public while firefighters tried to secure the area.
The town has been recognized as a national heritage site in Canada for around a century, with many of its historic buildings being restored and maintained to retain their original look.
The small town also drew an influx of Chinese miners during the 19th century gold rush, where traces of their past lives are still preserved. A total of 125 heritage buildings are still in use in the town, making it a living history museum.
"We do have a large repository of Chinese artifacts. Barkerville's population at the height of our gold rush was one-third to one-half Chinese," said Stewart Cawood, the town's manager for public programming and media.
Following nearly two weeks of closure amid evacuation orders, the historic town was set to re-open on Friday, according to a notice published on a British Colombia tourism site.
Raging wildfires put historic Canadian town at risk
Raging wildfires put historic Canadian town at risk
Raging wildfires put historic Canadian town at risk
The delegation of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) and the Chinse People's Armed Police Force to the third session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC), China's national legislature, held group meetings to review the government work report on Wednesday afternoon in Beijing.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang delivered the government work report on behalf of the State Council at the opening meeting of the third session of the 14th NPC at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Wednesday morning.
Zhang Youxia, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and vice chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), said that the extraordinary achievements made by the Party, the country and the military over the past year have proved that no difficulties or obstacles can stop China from advancing the historical process of national rejuvenation.
He stressed that the entire military forces must focus on achieving the centenary goal of the PLA, comprehensively enhance the military's capability to fight and win, and accelerate the advancement of the modernization of national defense and armed forces.
He Weidong, also a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and vice chairman of the CMC, said that under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee, China has made new solid strides forward in advancing Chinese modernization, urging the whole military to strengthen military training and combat readiness, promote the implementation of plans, unswervingly enforce discipline while combating corruption to achieve the centenary goal of the PLA.
Military delegation to NPC annual session reviews gov't work report
