World Heritage sites are selected carefully by United Nations via some strict procedures. According to the UNESCO Convention Concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage, a property is justified as world heritage if it is of outstanding universal value from the point of view of history, art, science, aesthetics, ethnology, anthropology, natural beauty, conservation etc. In other words, a world heritage belongs to humankind in general rather than merely the local people of the territory. A World Heritage is a masterpiece of human ancestors or nature itself, which helps deepen our understanding of the world and human as well as the interaction between nature and human.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) seeks to encourage the identification, protection and preservation of cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity. This is embodied in an international treaty called the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. UNESCO's World Heritage mission is to: encourage countries to sign the World Heritage Convention and to ensure the protection of their natural and cultural heritage; encourage States Parties to the Convention to nominate sites within their national territory for inclusion on the World Heritage List; encourage States Parties to establish management plans and set up reporting systems on the state of conservation of their World Heritage sites; help States Parties safeguard World Heritage properties by providing technical assistance and professional training; provide emergency assistance for World Heritage sites in immediate danger; support States Parties' public awareness-building activities for World Heritage conservation; encourage participation of the local population in the preservation of their cultural and natural heritage; encourage international cooperation in the conservation of the world's cultural and natural heritages.

One of the four greatest ancient civilizations of the world, China is a country with a rich, long hisotry and a vast territory. A large number of sites may lay proper claim to the title of world heritage, either cultural or natural, or both. Since its accession to the UNESCO World Heritage Convention in 1985, China has constantly nominated its properties for inscription onto World Heritage List. And by end June 2011, twenty-nine properties in China have been inscribed on the World Cultural Heritage List, eight on the Natural Heritage List, and four on the Mixed (both cultural and natural) Heritage List, ranking China as the State Party with the third most World Heritages. Besides, China has a further fifty-three properties on the Tentative List and thirty World Intangible Cultural Heritages.

 

 

 

 

 

Mt. Taishan (Tai'an City, Shandong Province) (1987) Mt. Huangshan (Huangshan City, Anhui Province) (1990) Mt. Emei Scenic Area and the Leshan Giant BuddhaScenic Area (1996) Mt. Wuyi (Wuyishan City, Fujian Province) (1999)