2003年7月，中国云南省的三江并流、北京市的明十三陵和江苏南京市的明孝陵一起列入《世界遗产名录》。其中，作为自然遗产被列入《世界遗产名录》的三江并流，是指源自青藏高原唐古拉山的金沙江、澜沧江、怒江三条大河流入云南省西北横断山脉纵谷地区，奔流400公里结伴而行的罕见景观；而北京市的明十三陵和南京市的明孝陵被作为明清皇家陵寝的一部分收入《世界遗产名录》。截至2003年底，中国已拥有各类世界遗产29处，其中文化遗产21处、自然遗产4处、文化和自然双重遗产4处，居世界第三位。从2004年开始，北京的六项世界文化遗产——明十三陵、长城、故宫、天坛、颐和园和周口店“北京人”遗址将进行首次大规模修缮，计划于2008年前完工。中国还是世界上无形文化遗产最丰富的国家之一，昆曲和古琴艺术均获得联合国教科文组织“人类口头和非物质遗产代表作”称号。2001年，联合国教科文组织还将世界上最长的史诗——中国藏族史诗《格萨尔王传》列入世界千年纪念名单。
In July 2003, the Three Parallel Rivers in Yunnan Province, the Ming Tombs of Beijing Municipality and the Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum of Nanjing were added to the World Heritage List of Cultural Sites as part of Ming and Qing Imperial Mausoleums. (See Land and Natural Resources chapter for China's World Heritage List of Natural Sites.) By the end of 2003, there were 29 World Heritage Sites in China, of which 21 were cultural heritage sites, 4 were natural sites and 4 cultural and natural sites. In 2004, China will make the first large-scale renovations on six world cultural heritage sites in Beijing — the Ming Tombs, the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, the Summer Palace, and "Peking Man" Ruins at Zhoukoudian, which will be completed before 2008 as planned. Apart from that, China has a rich non-material cultural heritage, one of the richest in the world. Kunqu Opera and the art of playing the guqin, a seven-stringed zither, are among UNESCO's list of masterpieces of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. UNESCO also designated 2002-2003 as the year to celebrate the millennial anniversary of the Chinese Tibetan epic King Gesar, the longest epic in the world. |
