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The Tianshan Mountains， which have captivated generations and featured prominently in Chinese swordplay dramas， are now on the world stage.
On June 21， the 37th session of the World Heritage Committee （WHC） of the United Nations Educational， Scientific and Cultural Organization （UNESCO） held in Cambodia inscribed the mountain in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on the World Heritage List of natural sites.
Thus far， China has altogether 45 sites inscribed on the list， surpassing Spain to become the country bearing the second most worldwide heritage sites in the world.
Natural beauty
“It’s great that the Tianshan Mountains as a whole are inscribed as a world heritage！ I have long dreamed of traveling there. I’d like to see the Heaven Lake， the snow-capped mountains， the original forests and meadows， and the red bed canyons. This news makes me even more eager to visit，” said Lu Xiao， human resource manager of Womai.com， online food shopping website of the China Oil and Food Corporation Innovative Foods （Beijing） Co. Ltd.
Indeed， the mountains have long been a sought-after location among travelers. The site owes its mystery to the splendid natural beauty it presents.
Located in the middle of Xinjiang， the Tianshan Mountains cover 606，833 hectares. The 1，760-km Tianshan range is a temperate arid zone surrounded by Central Asian deserts.
The clear Heaven Lake， where the mythical Heavenly Queen Mother bathes， is clear and transparent like a giant liquid mirror. About 90 meters deep at an altitude of 1，981 meters， its water comes from melting snow and ice. Snowy peaks and verdant spruce are reflected in it， forming a beautiful picture and making the lake one of the most famous tourist resorts in Xinjiang.
The Tianshan Mountains are home to 15，953 glaciers， and they have dozens of peaks above 5，000 meters. These towering peaks， which are covered by snow all year round， look solemn and mystifying.
In addition to the scenery， the site is a treasure of biodiversity. It is home to the endangered snow leopard. About 66 percent of the world’s 2，500 remaining snow leopards live in Xinjiang.
Below the snow-line of 3，000-meter altitude， the mountains are covered with evergreen spruce and pines. The dense forests provide a large proportion of timber. Also， the area is home to more than 80 kinds of medicinal plants， such as fritillaria， comfrey， henbane and motherwort. After joint efforts for three years， the site finally found a place on the world heritage list. China’s National Commission for UNESCO nominated Tianshan Mountains as a world natural heritage to the UNESCO on January 29， 2010.
A mountain of effort
“Now the whole world knows my hometown. I am so proud，” said Bao Lidai. Bao was a herdsman who once lived in the heritage site.
He moved out of the area along with other herdsmen in June of 2012 to further protect the area and enable it to live up to the requirements of a world natural heritage by the UNESCO’s WHC.
Indeed， Tianshan’s success couldn’t happen without these herdsmen’s support for the application work. The herdsmen， along with the government， have made great efforts to help the ecology in the four nominated areas of the Tianshan Mountains.
A number of environmentally unfriendly industrial and mining enterprises were shut down in the nominated areas. A large number of buildings， including hotels and hydropower stations， were removed. Also， the local government prohibited pasturing in an area of 180，000 hectares. In addition， more than 150 km of road were reconstructed.
In the 1980s and 1990s， many big companies and state organs built nursing homes or resorts around the Heaven Lake scenic spot. And many of the scenic spot’s administrative departments also built their offices there， said Gao Feng， an official with the local administrative committee.
In recent years， these buildings seemed increasingly inconsistent with the greater natural landscape. More than 20 such buildings， including shopping malls， restaurants and hotels， were moved to other places， said Gao.
An excellent example was the Hotel Western Queen in the Heaven Lake scenic spot. The hotel was built in 2000. It was the only three-star hotel and also the largest building in the scenery spot. Experts of the application team pointed out the hotel’s style didn’t match its surrounding natural landscape， which went against UNESCO requirements. So the Administrative Committee of the Heaven Lake Scenery Spot closed the hotel in April 2012 and built it into green land.
Rising soft power
“Protection of world heritage sites has been an important aspect of promoting the country’s soft power，” said Tong Mingkang， Deputy Director of China’s State Administration of Cultural Heritage， who led the Chinese delega- tion for the WHC’s 37th session. Observers believe the Tianshan Mountains’successful inscription is not only a result of China’s efforts in protecting its natural properties， but also an excellent display of its rising national soft power.
“Congratulations， China！” said Ek Tha， spokesman for the 37th WHC session. “Your country is becoming more known to the outside world with the listing of the Tianshan Mountains on the world heritage list. The outstanding universal values of the Tianshan Mountains deserve recognition on the list.”
The inscription was another example that China has been playing a great role in protecting and preserving the natural environment so that the next generations will also benefit from them， said Ek Tha.
China has made considerable progress in protecting world heritage， said Tong while speaking of the Chinese participation in UNESCO’s world heritage protection.
China joined UNESCO’s World Cultural and Natural Heritage Protection Convention in 1985. Two years later， it attained its first batch of world heritage sites in 1987， including the Forbidden City， the Great Wall， the Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian， Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes and Taishan Mountain.
However， the inscription on the world heritage list was only “the first step of the long march，” with the further protection of such sites as the more important task， said Tong.
On June 21， the 37th session of the World Heritage Committee （WHC） of the United Nations Educational， Scientific and Cultural Organization （UNESCO） held in Cambodia inscribed the mountain in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on the World Heritage List of natural sites.
Thus far， China has altogether 45 sites inscribed on the list， surpassing Spain to become the country bearing the second most worldwide heritage sites in the world.
Natural beauty
“It’s great that the Tianshan Mountains as a whole are inscribed as a world heritage！ I have long dreamed of traveling there. I’d like to see the Heaven Lake， the snow-capped mountains， the original forests and meadows， and the red bed canyons. This news makes me even more eager to visit，” said Lu Xiao， human resource manager of Womai.com， online food shopping website of the China Oil and Food Corporation Innovative Foods （Beijing） Co. Ltd.
Indeed， the mountains have long been a sought-after location among travelers. The site owes its mystery to the splendid natural beauty it presents.
Located in the middle of Xinjiang， the Tianshan Mountains cover 606，833 hectares. The 1，760-km Tianshan range is a temperate arid zone surrounded by Central Asian deserts.
The clear Heaven Lake， where the mythical Heavenly Queen Mother bathes， is clear and transparent like a giant liquid mirror. About 90 meters deep at an altitude of 1，981 meters， its water comes from melting snow and ice. Snowy peaks and verdant spruce are reflected in it， forming a beautiful picture and making the lake one of the most famous tourist resorts in Xinjiang.
The Tianshan Mountains are home to 15，953 glaciers， and they have dozens of peaks above 5，000 meters. These towering peaks， which are covered by snow all year round， look solemn and mystifying.
In addition to the scenery， the site is a treasure of biodiversity. It is home to the endangered snow leopard. About 66 percent of the world’s 2，500 remaining snow leopards live in Xinjiang.
Below the snow-line of 3，000-meter altitude， the mountains are covered with evergreen spruce and pines. The dense forests provide a large proportion of timber. Also， the area is home to more than 80 kinds of medicinal plants， such as fritillaria， comfrey， henbane and motherwort. After joint efforts for three years， the site finally found a place on the world heritage list. China’s National Commission for UNESCO nominated Tianshan Mountains as a world natural heritage to the UNESCO on January 29， 2010.
A mountain of effort
“Now the whole world knows my hometown. I am so proud，” said Bao Lidai. Bao was a herdsman who once lived in the heritage site.
He moved out of the area along with other herdsmen in June of 2012 to further protect the area and enable it to live up to the requirements of a world natural heritage by the UNESCO’s WHC.
Indeed， Tianshan’s success couldn’t happen without these herdsmen’s support for the application work. The herdsmen， along with the government， have made great efforts to help the ecology in the four nominated areas of the Tianshan Mountains.
A number of environmentally unfriendly industrial and mining enterprises were shut down in the nominated areas. A large number of buildings， including hotels and hydropower stations， were removed. Also， the local government prohibited pasturing in an area of 180，000 hectares. In addition， more than 150 km of road were reconstructed.
In the 1980s and 1990s， many big companies and state organs built nursing homes or resorts around the Heaven Lake scenic spot. And many of the scenic spot’s administrative departments also built their offices there， said Gao Feng， an official with the local administrative committee.
In recent years， these buildings seemed increasingly inconsistent with the greater natural landscape. More than 20 such buildings， including shopping malls， restaurants and hotels， were moved to other places， said Gao.
An excellent example was the Hotel Western Queen in the Heaven Lake scenic spot. The hotel was built in 2000. It was the only three-star hotel and also the largest building in the scenery spot. Experts of the application team pointed out the hotel’s style didn’t match its surrounding natural landscape， which went against UNESCO requirements. So the Administrative Committee of the Heaven Lake Scenery Spot closed the hotel in April 2012 and built it into green land.
Rising soft power
“Protection of world heritage sites has been an important aspect of promoting the country’s soft power，” said Tong Mingkang， Deputy Director of China’s State Administration of Cultural Heritage， who led the Chinese delega- tion for the WHC’s 37th session. Observers believe the Tianshan Mountains’successful inscription is not only a result of China’s efforts in protecting its natural properties， but also an excellent display of its rising national soft power.
“Congratulations， China！” said Ek Tha， spokesman for the 37th WHC session. “Your country is becoming more known to the outside world with the listing of the Tianshan Mountains on the world heritage list. The outstanding universal values of the Tianshan Mountains deserve recognition on the list.”
The inscription was another example that China has been playing a great role in protecting and preserving the natural environment so that the next generations will also benefit from them， said Ek Tha.
China has made considerable progress in protecting world heritage， said Tong while speaking of the Chinese participation in UNESCO’s world heritage protection.
China joined UNESCO’s World Cultural and Natural Heritage Protection Convention in 1985. Two years later， it attained its first batch of world heritage sites in 1987， including the Forbidden City， the Great Wall， the Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian， Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes and Taishan Mountain.
However， the inscription on the world heritage list was only “the first step of the long march，” with the further protection of such sites as the more important task， said Tong.