The public should understand Chan's decision to donate the houses, since many ancient homes have not been protected well by local governments, he said.

"Lots of ancient buildings have been demolished by real estate developers in many cities," he said.

Statistics released in late 2011 by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage show that about 40,000 historical relics have disappeared in the past 30 years, with more than half of them destroyed by various construction activities.

Li Yongge, director of building restorations at the Palace Museum in Beijing, said that it is "improper" for Chan to donate the houses, adding that the hot and humid climate in Singapore is unsuitable for the preservation of wooden houses.

Doubts replied

Chan said on Tuesday he never thought the donation issue would cause so much public concern, assuring netizens that he will neither break the law nor do anything that could harm the nation.

"I really wanted to explain the issue in detail, because it's an interesting story," he said in the micro blog. "But it could not be explained clearly in just a few words, and it needs a suitable opportunity to sit down and explain it concretely."

Hu Rongsun, director of Huangshan city bureau of cultural heritage, said the Anhui provincial government published a regulation in 1997 to protect historic relics in people's homes, which states that civilian buildings in the province must be well protected, China National Radio reported.

Wang Henglai, director of Huangshan city's culture committee, said the authorities will provide better protection if Chan wishes to donate the buildings to the city government, China National Radio reported on Tuesday.

The local government has been dedicated to the protection of ancient buildings in hundreds of villages in recent years and will solve the problem of termites mentioned in Chan's micro blog using modern technology, Wang said.

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