Heritage Sites Come to City

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 ◆ Heritage Sites Come to City

Want to see the wonders of the world? Well, now you don't have to travel thousands of miles to appreciate World Heritage sites like Cambodia's Angkor Wat, the Taj Mahal in India or Germany's Hanseatic City of Lubeck. You can see them, to an extent, in Shanghai - at China's first Inter-national Tourism Resources and Travel Products Development Exhibition. The three-day show, displaying pictures of about 100 World Heritage sites from five countries, began yesterday at Intex Shanghai. Some 20 culture and tourism professionals, from home and abroad, including Edmond Moukala of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, and Nils Kroesen, vice president of the German Convention Bureau, exchanged views on how to draw a balance between protecting heritage sites while at the same time developing culture tourism. "China is hosting such an exhibition for the first time. This will definitely deepen and extend international cooperation in the field of heritage protection and promote cultural diversity," said Moukala, adding that it will also make people aware of the need to protect the relics. "Culture tourism plays a crucial role in culture protection as it provides the financial wherewithal to maintain sites," he added. By the end of 2001, a total of 721 properties in 124 countries - 554 cultural, 144 natural and 23 mixed - were approved by the World Heritage Committee to be included on UNESCO's World Heritage List, among which Spain ranks first and China third. "Our World Heritages feature ancient culture, which are very important for research and education," said Luo Zhewen, director of the experts' group on ancient architecture at the State Bureau of Culture Relics. The exhibition will be held annually in the city and more countries, like Egypt, France and Malta, will participate next year, officials said.