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Xinjiang Tianshan and Honghe Hani Rice Terraces were inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List
From：WHC 　 PublishDate：2013-06-24　 Hits：5578
China’s Xinjiang Tianshan and Honghe Hani Rice Terraces were inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in the 37th session of World Heritage Committee held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on 21-22 June, 2013. Xinjiang Tianshan was inscribed as Natural Heritage, while Honghe Hani Rice Terraces as Cultural Landscape.

Xinjiang Tianshan, China
Xinjiang Tianshan comprises four components—Tomur, Kalajun-Kuerdening, Bayinbukuke and Bogda— that total 606,833 hectares. They are part of the Tianshan mountain system of Central Asia, one of the largest mountain ranges in the world. Xinjiang Tianshan presents unique physical geographic features and scenically beautiful areas including spectacular snow and snowy mountains glacier-capped peaks, undisturbed forests and meadows, clear rivers and lakes and red bed canyons. These landscapes contrast with the vast adjacent desert landscapes, creating a striking visual contrast between hot and cold environments, dry and wet, desolate and luxuriant. The landforms and ecosystems of the site have been preserved since the Pliocene epoch and present an outstanding example of ongoing biological and ecological evolutionary processes. The site also extends into the Taklimakan Desert, one of the world’s largest and highest deserts, known for its large dune forms and great dust storms. Xinjiang Tianshan is moreover an important habitat for endemic and relic flora species, some rare and endangered.
(Source: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1414/)

Xinjiang Tianshan

 

Cultural Landscape of Honghe Hani Rice Terraces, China
The Cultural Landscape of Honghe Hani Rice Terraces covers 16,603-hectares in Southern Yunnan. It is marked by spectacular terraces that cascade down the slopes of the towering Ailao Mountains to the banks of the Hong River. Over the past 1,300 years, the Hani people have developed a complex system of channels to bring water from the forested mountaintops to the terraces. They have also created an integrated farming system that involves buffalos, cattle, ducks, fish and eel and supports the production of red rice, the area’s primary crop. The inhabitants worship the sun, moon, mountains, rivers, forests and other natural phenomena including fire. They live in 82 villages situated between the mountaintop forests and the terraces. The villages feature traditional thatched “mushroom” houses. The resilient land management system of the rice terraces demonstrates extraordinary harmony between people and their environment, both visually and ecologically, based on exceptional and long-standing social and religious structures.
(Source: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1111)

Honghe Hani
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