West Lake inscribed on World Heritage List

The World Heritage Committee Friday inscribed the West Lake Cultural Landscape of Hangzhou in eastern China on UNESCO's World Heritage List as a cultural property. The 35th session of UNESCO's World Heritage Committee made the decision in recognition of the West Lake surroundings as an extraordinary model of cultural landscape, which clearly reflects Chinese philosophy and aesthetics and inspires park designing art profoundly in China and abroad. Surrounded by mountains on three sides, the 3,322-hectare landscape is a national cultural icon enriched with beautiful scenarios and dramatic legends. After centuries of human efforts in shaping it, the area is appreciated as a marvelous combination of natural and artificial beauty. Covered with luxuriant vegetation, the area is composed of a water surface of 5.66 square kilometers, and five territorial zones divided by causeways, dotted with numerous halls, towers, terraces, pavilions, pagodas, grottoes and temples. According to the Chinese State Bureau of Cultural Relics, the preparatory work for the West Lake Cultural Landscape to apply for World Heritage inscription kicked off in 1990 by the Hangzhou municipality, and has been further promoted by the State Bureau since 2008. Conforming to the requirements of preserving the authenticity, integrity and outstanding universal value of World Heritages, the Chinese government would enhance the protection and management of the West Lake Landscape with continuous efforts, said Tong Mingkang, vice director of the Chinese State Bureau of Cultural Relics. This is the ninth consecutive year that Chinese sites were approved to enter the World Heritage List. The West Lake Landscape thus became the 41st World Heritage in China. However, due to disputes of the panel in the evaluation process, the committee didn't discuss the inscription of Wudalianchi National Park or Five Interconnected Lakes in northern Heilongjiang Province, the other of the two Chinese sites which applied this year. The World Heritage Committee, responsible for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention, comprises representatives of 21 countries and has the final say on whether to add a new site to the World Heritage List. A total of 35 nominations, including natural, cultural and mixed properties, are being reviewed by the Committee which is holding its 35th session at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris.