ZUNYI, China, July 8, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The government of
Huichuan district, Zunyi, plans to invest 2
billion RMB to upgrade Guizhou's first World Heritage site,
Hailongtun Castle, to a 5A tourist destination, the highest rating
by China National Tourism Administration.
Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150707/231678
The 39th session of the World Heritage Committee closed in Bonn,
Germany on July 4th. During the conference, three Chinese
Tusi cities - Hailongtun castle in Zunyin of Guizhou, Yongshun in Hunan and Tangya in Xianfeng County of
Hubei - were added to the World
Heritage List. To date, the list includes 48 sites in China, which ranks 2nd in the
number of sites on the list.
At the opening ceremony, China's Vice Minister of Education, Hao Ping,
gave a presentation on future preservation solutions and proper
management of heritage sites. Mr. Ping suggested that Hailongtun
Castle was full of potential and would hold a promising future. An
international management team will work on the development of
Hailongtun. The team will draw lessons from castle heritage sites
in other countries.
Hailongtun castle served as a military citadel, administrative
offices and temporary imperial palace of the Yang family in Zunyi,
a town formerly named Bozhou. It witnessed patrimonialism by the
Yang family till the death of Yang Yinglong, the last local Tusi
ruler. The castle has extremely high research value and offers
insights in how central governments in ancient China developed, how it manipulated and
managed minority ethnic groups in the frontiers, and how the
minorities had integrated with the Han majority over time.
In the second stage of preservation efforts, archeological
excavations led to significant discoveries: the compilation and
documentation of folk legends about Hailongtun and Yang Yinglong;
the functions of the ancient buildings.
The Hailongtun showroom, the cultural heritage exhibition area,
and the Qianbei rural traditional life center, are now open to the
public. Future development includes establishment of online museums
and a 3D holographic projection display of the entire site. High
speed Internet and other modern technologies will make Hailonglun
Castle and Tusi culture available to a global audience.