Discover China

West Lake is the most famous feature of Hangzhou, capital city of eastern China’s Zhejiang Province. I had the pleasure of a very brief visit in 2009 and hope to return again to experience more of this delightful city. James Baquet introduces another of the city’s features in his Shenzhen Daily article Jingci Temple, Hangzhou.

Hangzhou’s famous West Lake gained World Heritage listing at a UNESCO meeting in Paris. Find out more in the CNTV News story West Lake Cultural Landscape inscribed on World Heritage List.

Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang Province in eastern China, has been dubbed the “world of smiles, and the city of happiness” in a new BBC documentary. Heavenly Hangzhou’s slow life tempo and beautiful natural surroundings for many centuries has made it the tourist toast of the nation. Find out more about Hangzhou and it’s five must-see attractions – West Lake, Lingyin Temple, Xixi Wetland, Hefang Street and Thousand Island Lake – in the China Daily Hangzhou article City dubbed the ‘world of smiles’.

Yunnan province’s Chengjiang fossils site and the site of Inner Mongolia’s Yuan Dynasty Upper Capital have both made application to UNESCO to make the coveted World Heritage list in 2012. Find out what makes these sites so special in the CNTV Culture Express story Two new applications for UNESCO World Heritage list. Last year’s two applications, the Hangzhou Westlake and Five Linked Lakes in Heilongjiang province, will be reviewed at the World Heritage Conference this June.

UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee has decided at its 34th meeting in Brazil to add the historic monuments of Dengfeng and the Danxia landform to the World Heritage list.  To find out more visit the CCTV9 Special Feature.

The historic monuments of Dengfeng are situated in and around Songshan (Mount Song) in Henan Province in central China. Songshan, known in Chinese as Zhongyue, is one of the five sacred mountains in China. The monuments consist of 13 ancient structures and sites including the Shaolin Temple and Pagoda Forest that we visited during our 2009 trip to Henan, Anhui and Zhejiang Provinces – read the story and see the pictures.

The Danxia landform consists of red sedimentary rock located across six Chinese provinces. It is characterised by spectacular cliffs and a range of erosional landforms, including dramatic natural pillars, towers, ravines, valleys and waterfalls. These rugged landscapes have helped to conserve sub-tropical broad-leaved evergreen forests, and host many species of flora and fauna, about 400 of which are considered rare or threatened. For some pictures see this slideshow on the Sina website (click on the photos to advance the slideshow).

For a full list of World Heritage properties in China visit the UNESCO World Heritage website. West Lake in Hangzhou city, which we also visited on our 2009 trip, is planned for nomination for World Heritage listing next year.