China had made marathon journeys before having its 2,400-year-old Grand Canal and its section of the millennium-old trade route Silk Road inscribed on the World Heritage list on Sunday.
[Read more: Silk Road, Chinas Grand Canal listed as World Heritage Sites]
This dual honor has boosted Chinas national pride. But amid cheers, there is a sober reminder from scholars and officials of the disgrace of resting on past glories in a time of profound changes.
Liu Qingzhu, director of the Academic Committee of the Archeology Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, saw both historical and realistic significance in the preservation of the two relic sites.
By submitting a joint application for adding part of the Silk Road route to the UNESCO World Heritage List with Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, China has a chance to review its shared ancient memory with its friendly neighbors, he said.
Citing the period under the reign of Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.- A.D. 220) as an example, the director said the trade routes prosperity always coincided with the political stability and economic flourishing in history.
It was Emperor Wudi who sent general Zhang Qian to make Chinas first travel to the far west. The Emperors idea of seeking political contact with the countries in the far west had propelled the economic and cultural exchanges between East and West.
"In the Chinese culture, tolerance and harmony are always valued. As the Silk Road is an epitome of such culture, reviving it is of immediate significance," said Liu.
The day before the inscription was announced, Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi reiterated at a peace forum in Beijing that China would carry forward the spirit of the ancient Silk Road to work actively to build the Silk Road economic belt and the 21st century Maritime Silk Road.
Put forward by Chinese President Xi Jinping during his visit to central and southeast Asian countries last fall, the new Silk Road initiatives revealed Chinas sincerity to achieve common development for countries along the routes, he said.
In the State Councilors eyes, the Silk Road has been a synonym for peace, cooperation, openness, inclusiveness, mutual learning and mutual benefit.
The Silk Road spirits have been at the forefront of joint application, according to Chen Tongbin, chief of the Institute of Historical Research of the China Architecture Design and Research Group.
"Through close cooperation with Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, we identified differences and at the same time found ways to achieve our common goals. Also through joint application, we learn to engage different parties and broaden our horizons to focus on the integrated value of an initiative," said Chen.
For Dong Bing, chief of the Grand Canal World Heritage Application Office, putting the worlds oldest and longest artificial waterway into the World Heritage List is more like a marathon testing the applicants stamina and strength.
"Eight years has passed, the success doesnt come easily," said Dong, likening the inscription to "a solemn promise to protect the canal for not just the Chinese but the world."
Built in B.C. 486, the 1,011-km-long Grand Canal is the largest civil engineering project before the Industrial Revolution, revealing the exceptional hydrotechnics and operating capability in the Oriental civilization, according to the evaluation of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee.
As the waterway runs through six provincial regions, the application office had to coordinate a variety of stakeholder to sort out the problems in water conservation, transportation and cultural relic protection.
In ancient China, the orderly management of canal transportation provided the prerequisite to the economic prosperity as it was essential to grain supply.
Nowadays, the cargo handling capacity of the waterway is four times as much as that of the Beijing-Shanghai Railway, according to Tong Mingkang, deputy director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage.
"It is hard to imagine for the ancient China to preserve peace and solidarity without a sound management of the waterway to facilitate the communication and cooperation among different regions," said Chen Tongbin.
The secret of sound management nowadays, according to Zheng Hanxian, general manager of the Hangzhou Canal Group, is "to give back the waterway to the people."
"Our principles is protection first, ecology first, developing tourism for the people and emphasizing overall management," said Zheng.
Dong Bing said in Yangzhou, a city in Jiangsu Province where the Canal runs through, economic planning department must solicit the opinions of cultural heritage protection department in writing and may veto any project once it suspects that the relic area might be endangered.
Recalling the application work, many officials and scholars agree that an open mind and reverence to history are essential.
Wang Jianxin, an archaeologist with the Northwest University in Xian of Shaanxi Province, said that through the fate of a relic, one can feel the ups and downs in history and hold the pulse of the changing world.
The Weiyang Imperial City Relic of Han Dynasty in Xian, for instance, one of the 33 sites of the Silk Road relics, used to be the residence of royal and nobles. In Tang Dynasty (618-907), it became a reserved garden for the aristocratic. Till the later Song (960-1276) dynasty, commoners began to swarm in.
As one of Chinas earlier cultural relic sites, the 4.8-square kilometer-area was slow in development and turned into a shanty town as infrastructure facilities elsewhere in the city quickly improved in the past decades.
Now, with the 10,000-strong residents relocated, this area has been restored into a reserve where many residents would like to go for a stroll on spare time.
"No one can retain the wheel of history. The essence of relic protection
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
19/08/2026
As the cost of IP nears price parity with traditional SDI, Reynolds argues that ...
19/08/2026
A private 5G bubble was chosen instead of traditional broadcast RF for the race ...
19/08/2026
(L-R) Rafael Manuel and Isabel Sicat attend the Filipi ana premiere during the 2026 Sundance Film Festival at The Ray Theatre on January 23, 2026, in Park Cit...
19/08/2026
Studio owners invited to have their say on rates cuts
The Music Producers Guild (MPG) are inviting UK-based studios to take part in an in-depth survey that ...
19/08/2026
Vintage-inspired desktop interface revealed
Harrison's latest hardware offering sees them head into the world of audio interfaces, delivering a 10-in/12...
19/08/2026
Granular effect remains locked to scale and tempo
Described as your dream granular effect , Minimal Audio's latest creation is capable of turning any s...
19/08/2026
First polyphonic SWAM instrument incoming
Audio Modeling's latest physical-modelling orchestral instrument is just around the corner, and is now availab...
19/08/2026
World Cup Games Generate 84 Billion Minutes Across FOX, Fox Sports 1 and NBCU...
19/08/2026
July brought typical peak-holiday drops in viewership, driven primarily by viewers stepping away from screens and a visible decline in reach across both traditi...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Henry joins BCE as the company accelerates its commercial strategy and expands its international presence across the media, broadcast and technology markets. He...
19/08/2026
iWedia, a leading provider of software solutions for connected TV devices, today announced a major milestone in Android platform optimization with the successfu...
19/08/2026
NTP Technology announces that ST 2110-30 audio-over-IP connectivity with AES67 and RAVENNA capabilities is now available for the brand's world-class audio i...
19/08/2026
Net Insight has been selected to provide its Nimbra platform by the service provider Big Blue Marble, formerly ORS Group, as the core media transport solution f...
19/08/2026
LiveU has supported Coventry City FC and several other top-flight UK football clubs through one of their most demanding live production challenges of the year, ...
19/08/2026
Nature Seekers Documentary Shot with Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K LF
Brie Clayton August 18, 2026
0 Comments
Filming endangered turtles required camera...
19/08/2026
Neyrinck Brings D-Control Consoles Back to Life on Apple Silicon with D-Control ...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Riedel Communications today announced that Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Perth, Australia, implemented a comprehensive communications infrastructure that brin...
19/08/2026
QuickLink, a leading provider of award-winning video production and remote guest contribution solutions, will spotlight a major leap forward in remote guest con...
19/08/2026
Integrated platform melds media asset management, playout automation and newsroom workflows
EMAM, PlayBox Neo and SNEWS have officially launched Nuvex, a conne...
19/08/2026
Screen Australia releases the Private Investment Toolkit to strengthen screen in...
19/08/2026
Do Aussies truly value local content? Unpacking Screen Currency 2026 with Deirdr...
19/08/2026
There's an early Christmas gift for Bookish fans, as UKTV confirms the re-commission of the hit U&alibi drama, created by and starring Mark Gatiss. Viewers ...
19/08/2026
Wednesday 19 August 2026
Sky gives sports fans the chance to watch multiple liv...
19/08/2026
On Saturday September 5 Katie Taylor will step into the ring for the fight of her life against Flora Pili in front of 80,000 fans in Croke Park. A legendary fig...
18/08/2026
SportStream 2026, a free three-day virtual event, will take place September 15-17. One registration provides access to all three days of live programming and on...
18/08/2026
BeckTV will introduce BeckFlow to the European market at IBC2026, demonstrated on the Providius stand (10.F53).
BeckFlow is a web-based schematic documentation...
18/08/2026
Boland Communications will introduce a SMPTE ST 2110 input option for its 4K monitors at IBC2026, along with a new 55-inch super-narrow bezel display for video ...
18/08/2026
Dolby Laboratories and the Seattle Seahawks have announced a partnership integrating Dolby OptiView into the Seahawks' live streaming coverage, making the S...
18/08/2026
For BMG Executive Producer of Sports Production, Graham Taylor, producing live s...
18/08/2026
TMRW Sports has appointed Rufus Hack as President of Golf, a newly created role in which he will lead the company's golf businesses including TGL presented ...
18/08/2026
SMT will provide race technology for FOX Sports' coverage of the Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C. on August 23, when the NTT INDYCAR SERIES races ...
18/08/2026
The live, YouTube-native roundtables combine fan voices, credentialed reporters,...
18/08/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, includ...
18/08/2026
The industry legend sounds off on replacing the Heat's iconic Medusa score...
18/08/2026
William F. Rasmussen, the sports fan-turned broadcaster and entrepreneur whose out-of-the-box idea of a 24-hour cable sports network, ESPN, changed forever the ...
18/08/2026
DAZN Group has completed its acquisition of ViewLift, a provider of streaming and digital solutions for sports content owners. The acquisition was first announc...
18/08/2026
The American Association of Professional Baseball (AAPB) has added SI TV, Sports Illustrated's 24/7 streaming channel, as a broadcast partner for the remain...
18/08/2026
The Esports Foundation has announced that the inaugural Esports Nations Cup (ENC), originally scheduled for November 2026 in Riyadh, will be postponed to Novemb...
18/08/2026
Diversified has announced a new Global Managed Services Practice, consolidating the company's managed services capabilities into one organization. Rob Mello...
18/08/2026
Appear has completed a proof of concept with Thoroughbred Racing Productions (TRP), demonstrating multi-camera remote live production over bonded 5G cellular an...
China had made marathon journeys before having its 2,400-year-old Grand Canal and its section of the millennium-old trade route Silk Road inscribed on the World Heritage list on Sunday.
