KUNMING, June 9 (Xinhua) -- Southwest China's Yunnan Province has been racing against time to digitalize intangible cultural heritage that is on the verge of extinction.

The digitalization involves detailed recording of words, pictures, audio and video of unique techniques, manufacturing processes and representative heritage works, as well as information about practitioners.

"Through digitalization, cultural relics, intangible cultural heritage and historical documents can come alive," said Yang Decong, deputy director of the provincial department of culture.

"Researchers started to digitalize the cultural practices in 2014, and more than 50,000 documents and 3,000 items had been uploaded to the database by the end of last year," Yang said.

Bordered by Myanmar, Vietnam and Laos, Yunnan boasts more than 52 ethnic minorities with diverse cultures. It is home to about 7,000 types of intangible cultural heritage and more than 10,000 practitioners, according to Yang.

"With the help of modern technologies, intangible cultural heritage could be better presented and preserved," Yang said.