LulongfoerYuSectionoftheGreatWallinHebeiProvincebeingrenovatedinOctober2016YANGSHIYAOInrecentdays,HeXiongzhou,a49-yearoldphotographerfromGuangzhouinsouthChina鈥檚GuangdongProvince,didnothavehismindontakingpictures.Histhoughtswereelsewhere.InManama,capitalofBahrain,tobeprecise.Allhisattentionwasonthe42ndSessionofUNESCOWorldHeritageCommittee,whichtookplacefromJune24toJuly4inthePersianGulfcountry.
Afteralongwait,thenewshehadbeenwaitingforsoimpatientlywasfinallyreleased:FanjingMountain,wherehenowlives,becameChina鈥檚latestadditiontotheUNESCOWorldNaturalHeritageList.
鈥淚t鈥檚reallyworthit,鈥漵aidHe.
HefirstsetfootonFanjingMountain,insouthwestChina鈥檚GuizhouProvince,in2006.Asaphotographerwithaneyeforlandscapes,hewasimmediatelyfascinatedbythebeautyoftheplace.Somuch,infact,thathedecidedtosellhishouseinGuangzhouandsettleonthemountain.Sincethen,hehasundertakenthetaskofcapturingFanjingMountain鈥檚wildbeautywithhiscamera.Overthelast12years,hesayshetookmorethan100,000photosofthemountainfromallangles.
Comparingphotostaken12yearsagotootherstakenrecently,hefindsthatalmostnothinghaschanged:Thismeansthatthelocalgovernmentattachesmuchimportancetoprotectionofthemountain.
鈥淏utnowthatFanjingMountainhasbeenplacedontheUNESCOWorldNaturalHeritageList,wewillneedtoputevenmoreemphasisonitsprotection,鈥漢esaid.FanjingMountaininGuizhouProvinceYAOLEITechnologytotherescue
ChinasignedtheConventionConcerningtheProtectionoftheWorldCulturalandNaturalHeritageonNovember22,1985,andbecameamemberoftheWorldHeritageCommitteeonOctober29,1999.Sincethen,thecountryhastakenanactiveroleinprotectingitsWorldHeritagesites.IncludingFanjingMountain,thecountrynowhas53UNESCO-recognizedsites,rankingitthesecondintermsofthenumberoftheWorldHeritagesitesafterItaly.
Inrecentyears,Chinaaddedanotherstringtoitsbowbyusingmoderntechnologytobetterprotectitsheritagesites.OnApril25,AmericantechgiantIntelandtheChinaFoundationforCulturalHeritageConservationsignedapartnershipagreementtoprotectandrestoretheGreatWallofChinausingdronesandartificialintelligence(AI).
鈥淎soneoftheSevenWondersoftheWorld,theGreatWallhasbeenexposedtoweathererosionforthousandsofyears.Somepartsarelocatedonsteepslopeswhichmakesdailymaintenanceahugechallenge.OurpartnershipwithIntelopensupnewopportunitiesforpreservation,鈥漵aidLiXiaojie,PresidentoftheFoundation.
TheJiankouSectionoftheGreatWallisamongthemostfamousandsteepest.Locatedinathickforest,thesectionofthewall,whichdatesbacktothethirdcenturyB.C.,hasbeenseverelytestedbytimeandweather.Intel鈥檚Falcon8+droneswillbeusedtomaptheareathroughaerialphotography,generatinghigh-definition3Dimagesthatwillallowteamstoassessthecurrentstateofdamage.ThedatawillthenbeprocessedbyAI,whichwillcreate3DmodellingoftheGreatWalltoeffectivelyandsafelyidentifyareasinneedofrepair.Allthiswouldhavebeenimpossiblewithoutnewtechnologies.
BeyondtheGreatWall,otherimportantheritagesiteshavealsobenefitedfrommoderntechnology.TheMogaoCaves,locatedinadesertedareaofDunhuanginnorthwestChina鈥檚GansuProvince,havebeenlistedasaUNESCOWorldCulturalHeritagesitesince1987.Whilethesitewasunderthethreatofnaturalerosionandhumanimpact,localauthoritiesdecidedtolaunchalarge-scaledigitizationprojectofthecavesinthe1990s.
Aftermorethan20yearsofwork,ahundredcavesunderwentdigitizationand3Dmodeling.SinceApril29,2016,theMogaoCavescanbevisitedthroughhigh-definitionvirtualrealityontheInternet.
鈥淲iththesetools,wewishtoopenupthesetreasuresofhumanitytoagreaternumberofvisitorsandhelppromotestudiesandresearchonMogaoCavesinChinaandbeyond,鈥漵aidWangXudong,PresidentofDunhuangAcademy,theunitresponsibleforprotectingandstudyingthecaves.
Touristmanagement
ThestatusofbeingaUNESCOWorldHeritagesitecanalsohelpdeveloptourism.PingyaoAncientCityinnorthChina鈥檚ShanxiProvincebecameaWorldHeritagesitein1997.Soonafter,thenumberofvisitorssoaredfrom50,000in1997tomorethan1.5millionin2016.ItwasthesamefortheLongmenCavesinLuoyangofcentralChina鈥檚HenanProvince,listedin2000:Ticketsalesincreasedfrom10millionyuan($1.49million)in2000to27millionyuan($4.03million)in2001.
ButoverdevelopmentintourismofsomeWorldHeritagesitesbroughtproblemsinprotection.
鈥淚oncehelpedtoprotecttheancientcitiesofPingyaoandLijiang(insouthwestChina鈥檚YunnanProvince),butaftertheybecamepopulartouristsites,thingstookaratheruglyturn,鈥漵aidRuanYisan,ProfessoratShanghaiTongjiUniversity.
ThesituationissoseverethattherampartsofPingyaoAncientCityhavecollapsedthreetimesintwoyearsbecauseoftheexcessivenumberoftourists.InDunhuang,caveshavebecomevictimsoftheirpopularity,whichhasacceleratedoxidativedamagetothefrescoes.
鈥淭hemainvalueofWorldCulturalHeritagesitesliesintheirculturalfunction,nottheireconomicfunction.Insomeplaces,thesesitesareconsideredfirstastouristattractionsandareoverexploited,whichiswrong,鈥漵aidXieNinggao,ProfessorattheWorldHeritageResearchCenterofPekingUniversity.
Infact,asearlyas2002,theStateAdministrationofCulturalHeritage,thenMinistryofCulture,andotherrelatedgovernmentalbodiesjointlyissuedaregulationstipulatingthattheprotectionofWorldHeritagesitesshouldbeaprerequisitefortheirexploitation.Infact,theChineseGovernmenthassteppedupitsmonitoringofmanagementprogramsinitsWorldHeritagesitesandrejectedthosedeemedunreasonable.
鈥淧rotectingandexploitingWorldHeritagesitesarenotcontradictorygoals,andlocalauthoritiesmustadopteffectivemethodstoachievewin-winresults,鈥漵aidZhaoYun,ResearcherwiththeChineseAcademyofCulturalHeritage.
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