UNESCO World Heritage Sites in China

The World Heritage List was established under the terms of the Convention Concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage adopted in November 1972 at the 17th General Conference of UNESCO.

China began making submissions to the World Heritage List in 1987. As of July 2007, among 851 World Heritage Sites listed by UNESCO in 137 states, China had 35, ranking third in the world. These sites comprise the most essential part of China's valuable and rich tourism resources:

1987 The Great Wall
1987 Mount Taishan
1987 Imperial Palace of the Ming and Qing Dynasties
1987 Mogao Caves
1987 Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor
1987 Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian
1990 Mount Huangshan
1992 Jiuzhaigou Valley Scenic and Historic Interest Area
1992 Huanglong Scenic and Historic Interest Area
1992 Wulingyuan Scenic and Historic Interest Area
1994 Mountain Resort and its Outlying Temples, Chengde
1994 Temple and Cemetery of Confucius, and the Kong Family Mansion in Qufu
1994 Ancient Building Complex in the Wudang Mountains
1994 2000 Potala Palace and the Jokhang Temple Monastery, Lhasa
1996 Lushan National Park
1996 Mount Emei Scenic Area, including Leshan Giant Buddha Scenic Area
1997 Old Town of Lijiang
1997 Ancient City of Ping Yao
1997 2000 Classical Gardens of Suzhou
1998 Summer Palace, and Imperial Garden in Beijing
1998 Temple of Heaven and Imperial Sacrificial Altar in Beijing
1999 Mount Wuyi
1999 Dazu Rock Carvings
2000 Mount Qingcheng and the Dujiangyan Irrigation System
2000 Ancient Villages in Southern Anhui - Xidi and Hongcun
2000 Longmen Grottoes
2000 Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties
2001 Yungang Grottoes
2003 Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas
2004 Capital Cities and Tombs of the Ancient Koguryo Kingdom
2005 Historic Center of Macao
2006 Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries
2006 Yin Xu
2007 Kaiping Diaolou and Villages
2007 South China Karst