Danxia Landform Approved as World Heritage Site

The afternoon of August 1， 2010， Bernama， Brazil for many members of the Chinese delegation was a nerve-wracking ordeal. The 34th meeting of the World Heritage Committee was still considering applications.

The day before， Shaolin Temple， located in Mount Songshan of Central China's Henan province and home of Chinese kungfu and Zen Buddhism， had been approved to be part of humanity's cultural heritage.

But the destiny of the Danxia Landform of China was in question. Yang Xianping， the CPC chief of Yingtan City， Jiangxi Province and member of the Danxia delegation， was extremely worried. The Danxia Landform had not looked well for the past few days. What exactly worried Yang and his colleagues was the opinion of the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The IUCN had suggested to the meeting that the Danxia application should be put “on indefinite hold for approval”， just one small step from permanent dismissal. In a debate at the meeting， the validity of the application was being questioned and the questioning even received some applause.

The Chinese experts were given an opportunity to argue the case. They cited the UN standards and rules and explained how perfectly the Danxia Landform of China conformed to the UN requirements.

After a 40-minute debate， the application was put to vote. Sixteen of the 21-member-country committee said yes. China as a member country did not vote as it was supposed to abstain from voting for itself.

At eight minutes past six in the afternoon， the Danxia Landform of China was officially inscribed on the world heritage list. The Chinese delegation waiting outside the meeting venue burst into loud cheers.

\"Danxia Landform of China\" is the general name of a serial nomination for World Natural Heritage. This nomination consists of six geologically and geographically related Danxia Landform areas which collectively feature the outstanding universal values of Danxia geomorphology in southeast China. The six Danxia landform areas are: Mountain Langshan and Mountain Wanfoshan (Hunan Province)， Mountain Danxiashan ( Guangdong Province)， Taining and Guanzhoushan (Fujian Province)， Mountain Longhushan and Guifeng (Jiangxi Province)， Mountain Chishui (Guizhou Province)， Fangyan and Mountain Jianglangshan (Zhejiang Province).

Danxia Landform is an academic term created by Chinese scholars to describe a unique type of petrographic geomorphology formed from red sandstone and characterized by steep cliffs.

Four generations of Chinese scholars had studied the unique landform and established it as a separate scientific discipline. More people had worked over the past 17 years to put the application together and get it approved finally in 2010.

In 1928， Professor Feng Jinglan of Guangdong-based Sun Yat-Sen University named the red sandstone at Danxia Mountain in Guangdong Province as “Danxia Layer”. In 1938， Professor Chen Guoda at the same university came up with the concept of Danxia Landform. The term has been widely adopted by Chinese scholars over decades. Four generations of scholars have devoted their time and energy to study this special geological phenomenon.

Peng Hua， a professor with Sun Yat-Sen University， is the first one in China to get the idea of applying for a world heritage status for Danxia Landform. He first visited Danxia Mountain in the 1980s. Astonished by the amazing beauty of the mountain at first sight， the professor acutely felt that it was a huge underestimate to call it merely one of the four celebrated mountains of Guangdong. In 1993， Peng proposed at a national meeting to apply for a world heritage status for Danxia Mountain. The government of Shaoguan City， where the mountain is located， studied the idea several times in the following seven years and decided to shelve it after each consideration.

During this period， though， Danxia Mountain became a national geopark and acquired other national titles. In early 2004， Danxia Mountain was recognized by UNESCO as one of the 28 world geoparks. On the strength of this world designation， Peng Hua proposed to the Shanguan Government to consider a world heritage application for its precious mountain. And again， his idea went nowhere.

It was not until July 2006 that representatives from Langshan Mountain in Hunan made an application proposal at the 10th National Danxia Landform Tourism Development Symposium. They called for an application for a joint world heritage status. Their initiative received warm response. The concerted endeavor began to take momentum.

But the application ran into some snags. The experts of the IUCN pointed out that the name of Danxia Landform was a Chinese creation whereas the layer where the landform is situated had been internationally recognized as something else. Professor Peng Hua explained that it was a scientific discipline that had grown independently in China and it had not yet been recognized as a separate science discipline by the international community. IUCN experts suggested Danxia Landscape for the application. Peng objected， arguing that the word landscape does not have any geographic and geological significance and therefore would downplay the academic results achieved by Chinese scholars for nearly a century.

Now the six mountains go collectively under the heading of Danxia Landform of China. In addition to showcasing Danxia landforms in different life stages， they hold other different features. Of the six， two are world geoparks; one is the cradle of Taoism of China; one is a world of living and dead fossils.

After they are on the world heritage list， the six mountains are going to protect their newly acquired title most seriously. Other world heritage sites in China have set good examples. Tourists always flock in to take a new look after world heritage sites are designated. Booming tourism brings great fortune to locals and gives impetus to regional economic growth. All these title-bearers want to develop and protect their fortune well so that they can look forward to long-term benefits.

Li Xiaojian， magistrate of Xinning County， Hunan where Langshan Mountain is located， says that conservation and development are not necessarily a contradiction. The key is to respect science and abide by the action rules of UN so that the general public works together to protect the heritage left to us by nature and our ancestors and leave it intact to future generations. □