Beijing prepares 14 heritage sites for UNESCO list by 2035
By Xu Ya-nan
People's Daily app
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Beijing UNESCO heritage sites.gif

Beijing (People's Daily) - Beijing said 14 heritage sites in the Central Axis of Beijing meet the requirements to be nominated to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2030, ensuring that it will be added to the list by 2035.

The heritage sites are: the Yongding Gate, Temple of Agriculture, Temple of Heaven, the Zhengyang Gate & Archery Tower, Chairman Mao Zedong Memorial Hall, the Monument to the People's Heroes, Tian'anmen Square, Tian’anmen, Altar of Land and Grain, Imperial Ancestral Temple, the Forbidden City, Jingshan Hill, Wanning Bridge and Bell Tower and Drum Tower.

The Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture Heritage said “the Central Axis of Beijing” is divided into two parts: the heritage area and the buffer zone, covering about 65% of the ancient Beijing city. The Central Axis organizes the imperial palaces, the imperial hutongs and courtyards, and important modern structures. 

By 2020, close to 100 cultural heritage sites in the heritage area will be complete restored and open to the public. Occupied units and households in the area are being vacated. Work on all five households in Zhongshan Park, where the Temple of Agriculture is located, has been completed. Seventy-five households in the Imperial Ancestral Temple are also planning to leave during the year.

The bureau also said that the quality of the residents’ lives in the area will be improved through monetary compensation, distribution of affordable housing and proximity removal. The government will help reduce population density, increase living space and improve infrastructure. "The application for world cultural heritage is not to remove local residents, but to retain the ancient Beijing and the old neighborhoods to the utmost extent,” the bureau said.

The renovation of ancient streets and alleys and environmental improvements will be done in the buffer zone, including renovation of tall buildings in the central axis that affects the overall landscape. The harmony of the buildings’ colors is also under consideration.

The bureau said it hopes that when people climb the Zhengyang Gate or the Yongding Gate, they can enjoy a panoramic view of Beijing.