Transnational job

SACH, the ministry of culture and information of Kazakhstan and the ministry of culture and tourism of Kyrgyzstan signed an agreement about the transnational nomination in Beijing last May in the first meeting of the coordinating committee for nomination of the initiating terminal and Tianshan corridor section of the Silk Road.

According to Tong, the working groups from the three countries have held three meetings to discuss the application, monitoring and management of the tentative sites. "Based on sufficient discussion and study, we have reached an agreement on the main content of the nomination dossier for the preliminary review and final dossiers," said Tong. She added that the dossier for the preliminary review of the three countries have been submitted to the World Heritage Center last September.

As UNESCO suggested, China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan plan to submit the final dossiers to UNESCO before February 1st with the hope that it will be submitted to the World Heritage Committee for examination and to be listed in 2014. At present, the workgroups of the three countries are making the final check of the dossiers.

Among the over 7,000 kilometers of the Silk Road sections, over 4,000 kilometers are in China. The Chinese government has placed great emphasis on protecting the relics along the road since the 1980s. It also listed the sections of the Silk Road in China on the preparatory list of World Cultural Heritage in 1994. Since the project was initiated in 2006, the central government has drastically increased financial support for the protection of important relics along the route.

Tong revealed to the Global Times that a total of 22 sites in China will be recommended this time, an adjustment down from the previous 24. It covers six provinces and autonomous regions including Henan, Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia and Xinjiang, with major sites such as the relics of Chang'an city in Han (206BC-220AD) and Tang (618-907) dynasties, the relics of Luoyang city in Sui (581-618) and Tang dynasties and the site of Loulan ancient city.

"There is no exact number of the sites in China yet," said Tong. "The 22 sites selected are consistent with the sites nominated in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan geographically. Most of them are key sites under national protection and managed well."

Kazakhstan will nominate eight objects in the Semirechye section of the Silk Road along the Tian-shan Mountain, according to Dmitriy Voyakin, regional facilitator for the project in Almaty. It includes Antonovka ancient settlement - medieval Kayalyk, Talgar ancient settlement, Kulan ancient settlement, which are important sites on the Silk Road dating back from the 6th to 13th centuries and earlier.

Kyrgyzstan will nominate three archaeological sites in the Chuy Valley in the north of Kyrgyzstan, including City of Suyab (Ak-Beshim), City of Balasagun (Burana) and City of Nevaket (Krasnaya Rechka). Ainura Tentieva, member of the international working group on the nomination in Kyrgyzstan, told the Global Times the nomination dossier has already been compiled and they are now conducting the final check.

Bitter first

The model of nominating cultural roads as world heritage sites is new and this is a first for China. Also, it is the first transnational nomination of so large a scale in history and that means great difficulties.

Jing Feng, an official with UNESCO's World Heritage Center, said the transnational application provides good opportunities for cooperation between countries and regions.

Tentieva told the Global Times that the project helps all the participating countries to better understand the Silk Road through mutual scientific and cultural exchange. "Since the initial project started in 2006, Kyrgyzstan has definitely enhanced communication and coordination with China and Kazakhstan in terms of relic protection."

But it also means great difficulties. It is reported that the deadline for China and the five Central Asian countries to submit the final dossiers had to be postponed several times. "A new deadline would be proposed in every meeting, but it was always delayed," Tang Wei, director of World Heritage Department of SACH, once told media.

Jing said the job went slowly because it is a very complicated project and the basis for application in these countries is uneven. "World Heritage Centre can only push the process. The concrete job relies on the coordination between different governments."