Deadly rains in central Henan province threatened key Unesco World Heritage sites and hundreds of national relics. Experts warn the disaster may be a taste of future trouble

Cultural heritage workers estimate they have five years to secure the heritage site’s contents before it is destroyed to extract the ore

From the Bamiyan Valley to an ancient spiritual centre of Zoroastrianism and Buddhism, former Unesco senior official Francesco Bandarin looks at the embattled country’s most important landmarks