CHENGDU, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- A museum in southwest China's Sichuan Province, dedicated to ancient Chinese poet Du Fu, has recently started maintenance and preservation work on the "thatched cottage" - a replica of the poet's former residence.

Described as the "sage of poetry" and the "poet-historian," Du Fu was a realist poet who lived during the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and is often considered one of the greatest poets in Chinese history. His late years were in a time of almost constant unrest. While Chengdu, the capital of today's Sichuan, brought him one of the most peaceful periods of his life after escaping warfare, he wrote over 200 poems and built a thatched cottage there.

The thatched cottage and its surrounding scenery in the Chengdu Du Fu Thatched Cottage Museum was built in 1997, in line with the description of the residence in his poems.

Authorities with the museum said the maintenance project, which kicked off on Tuesday, will last about 20 days. The project focuses on replacing the thatch on the roof with a new one.

To better reappear the original style of the cottage, seven craftsmen with a good command of traditional crafts were commissioned to carry out the work, and the materials used for this maintenance include local bamboo and wild yellow thatching grass collected from different places across the province.

"We made a great effort on this maintenance because we hope to provide the visitors a vivid view of the living environment of the poet and feel the charm of his poetry," said Yan Yang, director of the ancient building conservation department of the museum.

According to Yan, the museum has already carried out two rounds of maintenance on the cottage during the past decades. The last renovation happened in 2015.