Four Chinese Sites Apply for World Heritage ListingThe United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is considering placing four more Chinese sites in its World Heritage List.The UNESCO representative office in Beijing said today that the world organization will in June examine the four sites. The sites include the Mount Qingcheng and Dujiangyan ancient irrigation project in southwest Sichuan Province, villages with ancient architecture in east Anhui Province, the Longmen Grottos in Henan Province, and the imperial mausoleums of the Ming (1368- 1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties in northern Hebei Province outside of Beijing. The World Heritage Committee under UNESCO plans to decide on approval of the four sites at a December conference. Ranking fourth in the world, China has a total of 23 cultural and natural sites included on UNESCO's World Heritage List. The World Heritage Committee established a fund for protecting cultural and natural sites around the world in 1976. Cultural sites are required to have historic, artistic, archeological, scientific and anthropological value, while natural sites must offer distinct ecological and geographical features. The Convention on the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage, which UNESCO adopted in 1972, requires that all its members preserve and safeguard the listed sites, which must be protected during times of war. China joined the convention in 1985, and filed an application to join the Convention the following year. Six Chinese sites were added to the list in 1987 -- Mount Taishan in Shandong Province, the Great Wall and the Palace Museum in Beijing, the Mogao Grottos in Dunhuang in Gansu Province, the Tomb of Qinshihuang in Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi Province, and the Peking Man site near Zhoukoudian in southwest Beijing. |
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