Ancient tea groves likely to be listed as world heritage

A seminar involving more than 30 world-heritage experts was recently held in southwest Yunnan’s Lancang County, discussing further conservation efforts and heritage status applications for the ancient tea groves on the Jingmai Mountain in the county. They aim to make the tea woods a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site.

The Jingmai Mountain highlights the ever-lasting eco-ethic and wisdom of local folks. They understand, respect and make good use the nature. The ancient tea groves there could be listed as a cultural landscape heritage because it showcases harmony between the environment and human beings in agriculture production, said Chen Yaohua, a professor at Peking University. 

“The sites concerning agriculture just account for 3.2% among the total world heritages,” echoed Professor Du Xiaofan, director of the Center for Land and Cultural Resources Research at Fudan University.

Currently, the Longjing tea garden near the West Lake in east China’s Hangzhou is only tea site listed among the cultural heritages, added Du Xiaofan. “The tea-related cultural heritage is rare scarce, so the Jingmai tea groves will enrich the heritage categories.”

To further preserve the tea groves, the shabby houses of local ethnic folks need to be renovated, while maintaining their original architectural style cultural landscape,” a worker with the preservation team said.

The landscape will then be managed through joint efforts by local authorities and folks. “Locals should be responsibility to tend and advocate their culture,” Said Guo Zhan, deputy dean of China Cultural Relics Academy.

The Lancang county government has signed an agreement on monitoring the tea trees with the Chinese Academy of Culture Heritage, saying they will try their best to make the application a success.

Source: Yunnan Daily; trans-editing by He Lin and Wang Shixue