BEIJING, July 8 (AP) -- China has begun checking the elevation of its historically most sacred peak following a survey that shortened the previously measured height of Mount Everest, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Saturday.

A 30-member team arrived at a city near the base of Mount Tai on Tuesday to carry out the survey, Xinhua said.

The mountain, in eastern Shandong province, is relatively modest in height, at 1,533 meters and 1,536 meters (5,059 feet and 5,069 feet), according to surveys in the 1950s and 1980s, Xinhua said.

But for centuries, Mount Tai was considered China's most sacred mountain, a place where emperors came to offer sacrifices to heaven.

The new survey will be the first to use state-of-the-art instruments, including global positioning systems, Xinhua said.

Last year, a Chinese survey of Mount Everest, which straddles the Chinese and Nepalese borders, found that the world's tallest mountain was 8,844.43 meters (29,008 feet) -- 3.7 meters (12 feet) shorter than a previous finding made 30 years ago, Xinhua said.