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Published: November 15th 2009
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Temple of Heaven
This is where the Chinese Emperor prays for good harvest every year in the past. Managed to get this nice photo as it was very cold on that day with few visitors. As at 2010, China has the most World Heritage Sites in Asia (40) and is No 3 in the world after Italy and Spain. These sites are selected because of their cultural or/and natural values to the world.
This entry is a summary of the UNESCO World Heritage sites in China that we have visited. You can look at the descriptions in the photos to understand the place.
We think the sites are one of the best to visit in China. Every visit is very educational and you get to know a little bit more about China. We will add on as we visit more sites. We are writing about the trips in seperate entries.
We are staying in Beijing so those sites in the city are easy for visiting. For the rest, we plan the travelling schedules around visiting these sites.
The 19 sites visited so far.....
Beijing
1) Summer Palace
2) Imperial Palaces of the Ming and Qing Dynasties
3) Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties
4) Temple of Heaven
5) The Great Wall
Macao
6) Historic Centre of Macao
Henan
7) Longmen Grottoes
8) Yin Xu
Jiangsu
9)
Great Wall of China
Its acutally the old borders of ancient China Classical Gardens of Suzhou
Shandong
10) Temple and Cemetery of Confucius and the Kong Family Mansion
11) Mount Taishan
Shanxi
12) Ancient City of Ping Yao
13) Yungang Grottoes
14) Mount Wutai
Shaanan
15) Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor
Sichuan
16) Mount Qingcheng and the Dujiangyan Irrigation System
17) Mount Emei Scenic Area and Leshan Giant Buddha Scenic Area
Chongqing
18) South China Karst
19) Dazu Rock Carvings
Update: Dec 09, No 20 site visited
We visited the Peking man site at Zhoukoudian, Beijing. Quite difficult to find the place if you did not have your own transport. This is one of the smallest World Heritage site so far but good educational tour. Besides, the show the location where the Peking man skull was found and the Peking man's enviroment at the time, they also show you the others places where there were other such significant in China.
Update: Jan 10, No 21-24 visited
Our holidays this Dec 09 / Jan 10 in Jangxi and Anhui give us the chance to visit 4 World Heritage sites Lushan Mountain, Sanqingshan Mountain, Xidi / Hongcun Villages and Huangshan.
The 2
Imperial Palace of Ming and Qing Dynasties
The place where decisions are made by the Chinese Emperors of the last two dynasties. mountains were difficult to climb as it was winter and both places were snowing before our visit. We managed to visit both but the pace was very slow as the ground were covered with ice.
Lushan was still covered in snow and the view from the top was pretty with the mountains above the clouds at the spot where Chairman Mao had visited and taken photo.
Sanqingshan Mountain has many interesting natural granite sculptures resembling gods, animals and other features. These were easy to recognise while walking up the mountain.
Xidi and Hongcun village tour was easy and interesting to understand the lifestye and thoughts of the community around the region the last 100 years which the 2 villages represents. The Anhui merchants were at one point playing a key economic role in the country.
Huangshan Mountain is famous for its scenic spots with the landscape dotted with pine trees. We went through the north entrance. There is lots of climbling to do and the cable car do not help much. We took a shorter route because the longer route covering about 5.5 km will be too tough for the chiuldren. Luckly, this shorter route do
Summer Palace
250 years old royal garden of the Qing Dynasty have a few famous spots like the "welcoming guest pine tree", so the visit was still worthwhile.
Update April 2010. No 25 is the Mountain Resort and its Outlying Temples, Chengde
This is the place where the Qing dynasty emperors live and work during the hot summers months. Around the area are temples which were constructed under the royal order.
Update Aug 2010. Site No 26-27
The World Heritage Committee held its 34th session meeting in Brasilia from 25 Jul - 3 Aug 2010. 2 sites we have previously visited was inscribled. The 2 sites are China Danxia and Historic Monuments of Dengfeng in "The Centre of Haven and Earth".
Update:No 28 is the Ancient Building Complex in the Wudang Mountains and Wulingyuan Scenic and Historic Interest Area
Wudang Mountain is adisplay of chinese architectural over the last 1000years while Wulingyuan is famous for its sand stone pillars spread over the landscape similiar to what we see in chinese paintings.
Note: The contents (text and photos) of this article remain the copyright of the Author, Jenny. Under no circumstances should the photos or text be used without the express written
Leshan Buddha and Mt Emei
Leshan Buddha is the largest in the world and Mt Emei is one of the holy Buddhist sites in China permission of the Author. Please contact the Author by leaving a message if you wish to use or publish photos or text from this article.
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