In May, 2022, against the backdrop of grassland spring, the ruins of Shangdu in Yuan Dynasty showed a spectacular scene. Xinhua News Agency reporter Peng Yuanshe
The picture shows the World Natural Heritage Museum of Chengjiang Fossil Site. Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Xinbo photo
From September to mid-October, 2022, the rice in Hani Terrace, a world heritage site, matured one after another. From the foot of the mountain to the top of the mountain, the villagers began to harvest the sickle one after another. Xinhua News Agency reporter Jiang Wenyao photo
Huashan rock paintings attracted a large number of tourists to visit. Photo by He Huawen
Fanjing Mountain is one of the most important habitats of biodiversity in the middle subtropical zone, with wild animals and plants represented by Guizhou golden monkey and Abies Fanjing Mountain. The picture shows the red-breasted pheasant female, orange-winged blackbird, red-breasted pheasant male and squirrel photographed in Fanjingshan National Nature Reserve, Guizhou Province in April 2022. Xinhua News Agency reporter He Li Yang Wenbin photo
The picture shows Chaotianmen, one of the seven ancient gates in Quanzhou. Xinhua News Agency reporter Song Weiwei photo
2012 Yuanshangdu Site
In 2012, the 36th session of the World Heritage Committee held in St. Petersburg, Russia, listed the Yuanshangdu site declared by China in the World Heritage List.
Yuanshangdu site is located in Zhenglan Banner, Xilin Gol League, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, with Longgang in the north and Luanhe River in the south. The ruins of Shangdu in Yuan Dynasty are composed of city sites (including Miyagi, Imperial City and Outer City), closed compartments and urban flood control canals outside the city walls, including city walls, gates, roads, moats, flood control canals, palaces, temples, houses, warehouses and other building bases and tombs.
It completely presents the overall pattern and architectural features of the "Summer Capital" in the Yuan Dynasty, and is the earliest, longest-standing, unique and best-preserved site in China’s capital series of the Yuan Dynasty.
2012 Chengjiang Fossil Land
In 2012, at the 36th World Heritage Committee meeting held in St. Petersburg, Russia, Chengjiang Fossil Land in China was listed in the World Heritage List, which filled the blank of China’s fossil natural heritage.
Chengjiang Fossil Site is located in Chengjiang County, Yuxi City, Yunnan Province, covering an area of 512 hectares, 530 million years ago. It was discovered in 1984 and is known as "one of the most amazing paleontological discoveries in the 20th century".
Chengjiang fossil record accurately the historical facts of life explosion in the early CAMBRIAN, which is the best example of life explosion in the early CAMBRIAN. At the same time, Chengjiang fossils have remarkable species diversity characteristics, showing a complete marine biological community and ecosystem in the early CAMBRIAN, which is a window to understand the structure of the early CAMBRIAN biological community.
Tianshan Mountain in Xinjiang in 2013
In 2013, the 37th session of the World Heritage Committee listed the Tianshan Mountains in Xinjiang declared by China in the World Heritage List. The Tianshan World Natural Heritage Site in Xinjiang declared this time consists of Bogda, Bayinbuluke, Tomur and Kalajun — Kurdnin and other regions.
Located in the hinterland of Central Asia, far from the ocean and surrounded by vast deserts, Tianshan Mountain shows the most representative comprehensive natural landscape in temperate arid areas in the world, with remarkable landscape diversity and unique natural beauty. At the same time, "Tianshan Mountain in Xinjiang" has remarkable biodiversity, and it is an important habitat for the remnants of Central Asian mountains, as well as many rare and endangered species and endemic species, which highlights the biological evolution process in which the warm and humid flora in this area is gradually replaced by the modern arid Mediterranean flora.
Cultural Landscape of Hani Terrace in Honghe in 2013
In 2013, the 37th session of the World Heritage Committee listed the cultural landscape of Hani terraced fields in Honghe declared by China in the World Heritage List.
The "four elements isomorphic" system of forest, water system, terraced fields and villages embodied in the cultural landscape of Hani terraced fields in Honghe has outstanding universal value. The sophisticated and complicated agriculture, forestry and water distribution system perfectly reflected by it has been strengthened through the unique socio-economic and religious system formed for a long time, which shows an important mode of interaction between people and the environment.
2014 Grand Canal
In 2014, the 38th session of the World Heritage Committee reviewed and approved the application submitted by China, and the Grand Canal was officially listed on the World Heritage List as a cultural heritage.
The World Heritage of the Grand Canal is distributed in 27 cities in 8 provinces (municipalities directly under the Central Government) and consists of 31 independent heritage areas. The World Heritage of the Grand Canal includes 27 sections of China’s Grand Canal riverway heritage, and 58 heritages including canal hydraulic relics, canal affiliated relics and canal-related heritages. These heritages are located in 31 heritage areas according to their geographical distribution. These heritages show the historical development, river navigation landscape, water management technical facilities and urban landscape, historical sites and cultural traditions related to the canal.
The Grand Canal is still an important inland transportation mode today, which has played an important role in ensuring China’s economic prosperity since ancient times.
2014 Silk Road: Chang ‘an — Road network of Tianshan corridor
In 2014, China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan jointly declared the Silk Road: Chang ‘an — The road network of Tianshan Corridor is listed in the World Heritage List.
"Silk Road: Chang ‘an — The "Road Network of Tianshan Corridor" line spans nearly 5,000 kilometers, including 33 representative sites of central towns, commercial settlements, traffic and defense sites, religious sites and related sites. There are 22 archaeological sites and ancient buildings in China, 8 in Kazakhstan and 3 in Kyrgyzstan.
2015 Tusi Site
In 2015, at the 39th session of the World Heritage Committee, the Tusi site declared by China was approved for inclusion in the World Heritage List.
Tusi site is located in the southwest mountainous area of China, including a series of tribal territories. Tusi site reflects the political system that ancient China carried out to manage ethnic minority areas in the mountainous and multi-ethnic areas in southwest China from 13th to early 20th century. The heritage of Tusi site series bears witness to the unique management wisdom of ancient China, as a unified multi-ethnic country, in the multi-ethnic mountainous areas in southwest China, which promotes the sustainable development of ethnic areas, contributes to the long-term reunification of the country, and has outstanding significance in maintaining the inheritance of ethnic cultural diversity.
2016 Zuojiang Huashan Rock Painting Cultural Landscape
In 2016, at the 40th session of the World Heritage Committee held in Istanbul, the cultural landscape of Zuojiang Huashan Rock Painting declared by China was included in the World Heritage List.
The cultural landscape of Huashan rock paintings in Zuojiang is located in Ningming County, Longzhou County, Jiangzhou District and Fusui County, Chongzuo City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. It consists of three most representative cultural landscape areas with dense distribution of rock paintings, including 38 rock paintings (107 rock paintings in total, 3,816 images), the mountain where the rock paintings are located and the opposite platform, and about 105 kilometers of Zuojiang and Mingjiang rivers.
2016 Hubei Shennongjia
In 2016, at the 40th World Heritage Committee meeting held in Istanbul, Turkey, Hubei Shennongjia was approved to be included in the World Heritage List.
Shennongjia national nature reserve has a complete subtropical forest ecosystem and rich biodiversity. In 1990, Shennongjia joined the UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve Network and was listed in the UNESCO World Geopark Network in 2013. The World Heritage Committee believes that Shennongjia has the most complete vertical natural belt spectrum in the world, and its biodiversity makes up for the blank in the World Heritage List.
In 2021, at the 44th meeting of the World Heritage Committee held in Fuzhou, Fujian, China, the Li Po National Nature Reserve in Chongqing became a part of the world natural heritage Shennongjia, Hubei Province through the fine-tuning process of the boundary.
2017 Hoh Xil in Qinghai
In 2017, at the 41st World Heritage Committee meeting held in Krakow, Poland, Hoh Xil, Qinghai was listed in the World Heritage List.
Hoh Xil is located in the hinterland of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, with an average elevation of more than 4,500 meters. The Hoh Xil World Heritage Application Project was officially launched at the end of 2014, covering a total area of about 6 million hectares.
In its assessment report, IUCN said that Hoh Xil is vast and hardly impacted by modern human activities, and its beautiful scenery is "amazing". The complete migration route of Tibetan antelopes between Sanjiangyuan and Hoh Xil is preserved here, and Tibetan antelopes can migrate undisturbed.
2017 Gulangyu: Historical International Community
In 2017, at the 41st World Heritage Committee meeting held in Krakow, Poland, "Gulangyu Island: Historical International Community" located in Xiamen, Fujian Province, China was approved to be included in the World Heritage List.
Gulangyu Island is located at the mouth of Jiulong River. This heritage reflects a complex modern community, which consists of 931 groups of historical buildings, natural landscapes, historical roads and historical gardens with diverse local and international architectural styles. Through the joint construction of local residents and overseas Chinese returning home, Gulangyu has developed into a community with outstanding cultural diversity and modern life quality. Gulangyu Island, as a unique example of cultural integration, is the product of cultural exchanges for many years, which clearly reflects the organic urban structure formed by the continuous integration of multicultural elements for decades.
2018 Fanjing Mountain
In 2018, at the 42nd session of the World Heritage Committee held in Manama, Bahrain, the Mount Fanjing declared by China was included in the World Heritage List.
The heritage site of Fanjing Mountain covers an area of 402.75 square kilometers, and its ecosystem retains a large number of ancient, rare, endangered and endemic species, with 4,395 species of plants and 2,767 species of animals. It is one of the hottest areas with the richest species in the biological area of deciduous forests in the East.
2019 China Yellow (Bohai) Sea Migratory Bird Habitat (Phase I)
In 2019, at the 43rd session of the World Heritage Committee held in Baku, the Azerbaijani capital, it was considered and approved to include "China Yellow Sea (Bohai Sea) Migratory Bird Habitat (Phase I)" in the World Heritage List. The "outstanding universal value" of this project and the protective measures taken by the China government have been affirmed.
IUCN believes that the migratory bird habitat in the Yellow Sea (Bohai Sea) in China has the largest intertidal beach in the world, and it is the central node of the "East Asia-Australasia" international migratory bird migration route with the most endangered species and the highest degree of threat. The Yellow Sea Wetland in Yancheng, Jiangsu Province, where the first phase of the project is located, has more than 680 species of vertebrates and more than 500 species of invertebrates, including 415 species of birds. It is the stopping place, molting place and wintering place for millions of migratory birds around the world.
This area provides habitats for 23 species of birds of international importance and supports the survival of 17 species on the IUCN Red List, including 1 critically endangered species, 5 endangered species and 5 vulnerable species. At the same time, it is also the survival dependence of the world’s rarest migratory birds, such as the spoon-billed snipe and the little green-footed snipe, and it is also the largest wintering place for red-crowned cranes in China.
2019 Liangzhu Ancient City Site
In 2019, at the 43rd session of the World Heritage Committee held in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, the site of Liangzhu Ancient City in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province was listed in the World Heritage List.
The site of Liangzhu Ancient City, located in the Yangtze River Delta on the southeast coast of China, shows people an early regional country supported by rice farming and with unified beliefs in the late Neolithic period. The site consists of four parts: Yaoshan site area, Gukou high dam area and plain low dam — Piedmont long dike area and city site area. Through large-scale earth buildings, urban planning, water conservancy system and social hierarchy embodied in different tomb forms, these sites have become outstanding examples of early urban civilization, and with their early time, high achievements and rich content, they show the outstanding contribution of the Yangtze River basin to the "multiple integration" characteristics of the origin stage of Chinese civilization.
Quanzhou in 2021: China’s World Ocean Trade Center in Song and Yuan Dynasties.
In 2021, at the 44th session of the World Heritage Committee held in Fuzhou, Fujian, China, China’s cultural heritage declaration project "Quanzhou: the World Ocean Trade Center of Song, Yuan and China" was listed in the World Heritage List.
Heritage components include administrative building sites, religious buildings and statues, historical sites of cultural monuments, kiln sites and iron smelting sites, as well as transportation networks composed of bridges, docks and navigation towers, which reflect the marine area, social and cultural structure and trade structure of Quanzhou in Song and Yuan Dynasties. Through the series of heritage components, the highly integrated regional structure and key administrative, transportation, production, trading and social and cultural factors are highlighted.
(Source of this article: National Cultural Heritage Administration, etc.)