Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor

In 1988, UNESCO initiated a study of the Silk Road to promote understanding of cultural diffusion across Eurasia and protection of cultural heritage. At this conference, China and five Central Asia republics, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan, agreed to make a joint application in 2010. On May 2, 2008, Iran submitted a tentative list of Silk Route sites in Khorasan Province. On January 3, 2010, Turkmenistan submitted a list of 29 sites along 11 segments of the Silk Road. On January 20, 2010, India submitted a tentative list of Silk Road sites divided into 12 components. On February 19, 2010, Kyrgyzstan submitted a list of six sites and Uzbekistan submitted a list with 18 sites. Kazakhstan's tentative list was submitted on May 3, 2012. At the end of 2011, UNESCO proposed that due to the vast scale of the Silk Road project that the application be divided into corridors. Chinese organizers have said that several of the sites left out of the application may be submitted in the future. On June 22, 2014, at the 38th meeting of the World Heritage Committee in Doha, Qatar, the Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor application was approved. == Sites ==

The Silk Road's Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor, which was approved by the World Heritage Committee in June 2014 as Site No. 1442, consists of 33 newly designated sites in China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. The sites include capital cities and palace complexes of various empires and kingdoms, trading settlements, Buddhist cave temples, ancient paths, posthouses, mountain passes, beacon towers, sections of the Great Wall, fortifications, tombs and religious buildings. Collectively, the 33 sites cover an area of and have buffer zone . 1. Central China - ancient imperial capitals in the Central and Guanzhong Plains of China. • Luoyang City of the Eastern Han to Northern Wei Dynasty, Luoyang, Henan Province • Dingding Gate, Luoyang City of the Sui and Tang Dynasty, Luoyang • Hangu Pass, Xin'an County, Henan • Shihao section of Xiaohan Route, Sanmenxia, Henan • Weiyang Palace, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province • Daming Palace, Xi'an • Giant Wild Goose Pagoda, Xi'an • Small Wild Goose Pagoda, Xi'an • Xingjiao Temple, Xi'an • Bin County Cave Temple, Bin County, Shaanxi • Tomb of Zhang Qian, Chenggu County, Shaanxi • Maijishan Cave Temple Complex, Tianshui, Gansu Province Grottoes 2. Hexi Corridor in Gansu Province, connecting China Proper and Xinjiang. • Bingling Temple Grottoes, Yongjing County • Yumen Pass, Dunhuang • Xuanquanzhi Posthouse, Dunhuang • Suoyang City Ruins, Guazhou 3. North and South of Tianshan Mountains in Xinjiang, China • Qocho (Gaochang) City Ruins, Turpan • Jiaohe Ruins, Turpan • Beshbalik (Beiting) City Ruins, Jimsar County • Kizil Gaha Beacon Tower, Kuqa (Kucha) • Kizil Caves, Kuqa • Subash Buddhist Temple Ruins, Kuqa 4. Zhetysu Region of the Ili and Talas Valleys of Kazakhstan and the Chüy Valley of Kyrgyzstan • Site of Kayalyk, Almaty Region, Kazakhstan • Karamergen, Almaty Region, Kazakhstan • Talgar, Almaty Region, Kazakhstan • Aktobe, Jambyl Region, Kazakhstan • Kulan, Jambyl Region, Kazakhstan • Akyrtas, Jambyl Region, Kazakhstan • Ornek, Jambyl Region, Kazakhstan • Kostobe, Jambyl Region, Kazakhstan • City of Suyab (Site of Ak-Beshim), Chüy Region, Kyrgyzstan • City of Balasagun (Site of Burana), Chüy Region, Kyrgyzstan • City of Nevaket (Site of Krasnaya Rechka), Chüy Region, Kyrgyzstan Other sites at the Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor are the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang which had already been inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1987, and the Longmen Grottoes, which contain more than 10,000 statues with more than 2,800 inscriptions on them, in Luoyang which had already been inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 2000. == External links ==