Spatial Distribution and Inscribed Criteria of Cultural Landscape World Heritage Sites

As an important type of world heritage sites,cultural landscape has always been an important research subject.In order to explore the spatial distribution and evolution mode of cultural landscape all over the world,the paper systematically elaborated the historical context of cultural landscape.The distribution characteristics were analyzed by statistical methods,and the connotation and evolution law represented by cultural landscape in different regions were expounded.The word frequency of regional heritage criteria was analyzed,and the local characteristics of each case were discussed.The research shows that the spatial distribution of global cultural landscape is unbalanced,mainly concentrated in Europe,and the spatial distribution characteristics are closely related to geographical environment,social history,economic development level and many other factors.In terms of inscribed criteria for world heritage sites,most cultural landscapes are mainly based on cultural criteria,but also involve natural criteria.The recognition and protection of cultural landscapes that simultaneously meet multiple criteria will become the focus in the future.

The English Subtitle Translation of Quanzhou’s World Heritage Application Documentary: A Frame Theory Perspective

Based on Fillmore’s frame theory, this paper examines the translator’s cognitive frame operation in the English subtitle translation of Quanzhou’s World Heritage application documentary. It analyzes and discusses how the translator maximizes translation effect between the source language and the target language, so as to enhance the readability of documentary subtitles and promote the spread of traditional Chinese culture. The findings are as follows: Firstly, in the translation process, the frame operations used by the translator include frame correspondence, intra-frame operations, frame replacement, frame perspective shift and frame transplantation. Secondly, cultural documentaries are full of culture-loaded words, for which the translator usually uses frame transplantation. Thirdly, due to the instantaneous nature of subtitles, intra-frame operations and frame replacement are applied in terms of cultural background of the target language audience. Besides, in order to enhance the audience’s reading experience, there may be some changes of narrative perspective in the English translation of cultural documentaries.

Procedure for Delisting a Site From the World Heritage List： Is Delisting With Consent or Against the Wish of a State Party Possible？

As of 2015 （UNESCO, 2015）, the over-40-year-old Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage （1972） has been ratified by 191 nations, making it a universal and internationally recognised instrument for the protection of cultural and natural heritage. In the meantime, 1007 World Heritage Sites have been inscribed on the World Heritage List （as of February 2015） and two sites have been delisted. This paper discusses the delisting procedure of a site from the World Heritage List based on the Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention （henceforth OG）. First of all, the question of the possibility to delist a site from the World Heritage List, in general, is addressed. And based on this discussion, the necessity of the consent of the State Party to the WHC on whose territory the site to be delisted is located is then examined.

Measuring Recreational Value of World Heritage Sites Based on Contingent Valuation Method:A Case Study of Jiuzhaigou

World heritage possesses various kinds of use value and non-use value. Measuring the recreational value of world heritage sites is a key issue in the heritage tourism. This paper employs Contingent Valuation Method (CVM), which is an evaluation instrument on the basis of tourists′ attitude and preference, to measure the recreational value of Jiuzhaigou, one of the World Natural Heritage sites in China, and analyzes the biases in the survey. The results show that: 1) In 2009, Jiuzhaigou′s recreational value was 3.46×108 yuan (RMB), and the per capita Willingness to Pay (WTP) was 137.31 yuan by CVM. Compared with the results of other methods, this result is significantly low. 2) Among the factors that influence Jiuzhaigou tourists′ WTP, psychological perception factors have the greatest effect while demographic and socio-economic characteristics have a small effect on WTP. 3) The virtuality in CVM creates biases both from CVM itself and in the procedures that CVM was implemented. The former includes hypothetical bias, information bias, protest response bias, and strategic bias; and the latter includes the questionnaire design, population and sample definition, sampling and data processing. The paper analyses those biases and illustrates their potential in-fluences on the accuracy of CVM measurement. 4) Although there are various defects in CVM measurement, it is still an effective valuation method.

Assessment of prospective hazards resulting from the 2017 earthquake at the world heritage site Jiuzhaigou Valley, Sichuan, China

On August 8, 2017, a Ms = 7.0 magnitude earthquake occurred in the Jiuzhaigou Valley, in Sichuan Province, China(N: 33.20°, E: 103.82°). Jiuzhaigou Valley is an area recognized and listed as a world heritage site by UNESCO in 1992. Data analysis and field survey were conducted on the landslide, collapse, and debris flow gully, to assess the coseismic geological hazards generated by the earthquake using an unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV), remote-sensing imaging, laser range finders, geological radars, and cameras. The results highlighted the occurrence of 13 landslides, 70 collapses, and 25 potential debris flow gullies following the earthquake. The hazards were classified on the basis of their size and the potential property loss attributable to them. Consequently, 14 large-scale hazards, 30 medium-sized hazards, and 64 small hazards accounting for 13%, 28%, and 59% of the total hazards, respectively, were identified. Based on the variation tendency of the geological hazards that ensued in areas affected by the Kanto earthquake(Japan), Chi-chi earthquake(Taiwan China), and Wenchuan earthquake(Sichuan China), the study predicts that, depending on the rain intensity cycle, the duration of geological hazard activities in the Jiuzhaigou Valley may last over ten years and will gradually decrease for the following five to ten yearsbefore returning to pre-earthquake levels. Thus,necessary monitoring and early warning systems must be implemented to ensure the safety of residents,workers and tourists during the construction of engineering projects and reopening of scenic sites to the public.

Ecological Risk Assessment of World Heritage Sites Using RS and GIS:A Case Study of Huangshan Mountain, China

Ecological risk assessment(ERA) is an indispensable method for systematic monitoring of World Heritage Sites(WHSs) exposed to various anthropogenic factors and natural disasters. Remote sensing(RS) and geographical information systems(GIS) can eliminate many limitations in traditional ERA methods. In this study, changes in ecological risk at Huangshan Mountain, the first mixed WHS in China, over the period of 1984–2019 were explored using remote sensing images and products by considering both natural disasters and human disturbance. Results show that of the four land cover types in Huangshan Mountain, namely water, forest, building and farmland, the main land cover type is forest. During the 35 yr, lands categorised at low or relatively low ecological risk levels are dominant in Huangshan Mountain, with the lowest and highest ERIs(ecological risk index) in 1990 and 2010, respectively. The areas at the five ecological risk levels have declined as follows: relatively low > low > medium > relatively high > high. Changes in ecological risks are closely related to changes in land cover and natural disasters. Even though major natural disasters may affect the ecological risk level in the whole region, changes in land cover caused by human activities will shift the ecological risk level in some areas. Our attempts can be modified and applied to other sites, and offer policy implications for protection and preservation of WHSs.

A bi-scale assessing framework for aesthetic ecosystem services of villages in a world heritage site

The relative spatial scale relationship of observers and ecosystem and their aesthetic dynamic interaction process are fundamental to evaluation and optimization of aesthetic ecosystem service(AES).A comprehensive and efficient framework for the assessment of AES is lack in the integration of scale relationship and dynamic process.This study took 9 villages in 4 different developmental stages(traditional,folk,rapidly changed,newly built)in Honghe Hani Rice Terraces,a world heritage site,as the research object.From two scales,viewing from inside and outside,the bi-scale assessing framework was established,which includes the three components of interaction process,connection area(as precondition of interaction),quality(as result of interaction),and influencing factors of quality(elements’characteristics of villages).Among them,the connection areas were evaluated with visual and traffic accessibility along the route.The quality and influencing factors were evaluated through participatory preferences methods by expert group.The influencing factors include 9 characteristics,such as,space size,architecture layout,vegetation species richness,color diversity.The results suggested that villages with high AES quality and low accessibility need to be optimized,and the key influencing factors are space size,architecture layout,color harmony and surrounding sanitation.Therefore,the bi-scale assessing framework can provide important references for decision making and visual protection regulations on the villages.

Protecting the national parks and the world heritage sites in China: challenge and strategy

About 70% of its land area as mountains and plateaus, China is the largest mountain country in the world. Thanks to its vast territory (9.6 million km2), outstanding relief and varied climates, China boasts extremely plenty of ecosystems and landscapes. From south to north, it traverses almost all the temporal zones from tropical rainforest in the southernmost to frigid-temperate needle-leaved forest in the northernmost; from east to west, it sees a gradual transition fro humid forest landscape to extremely arid desert landscape; vertical change of landscapes is most striking owing to the existence of many high mountains (above 6000-7000 m, e.g., the Himalayas, the Kunlun, the Tianshan, the Hengduan, etc.) and plateaus, especially the immense Tibetan Plateau (averagely 4500 m above sea level). All of this give rise to the richness and diversity of ecosystems and landscape in China. Some of the ecosystems are endemic to China, e.g., alpine desert and alpine steppe in the Tibetan Plateau. As a result, China bears a great responsibility in the protection of global ecosystems and landscape.

Protecting world heritage in China by enacting laws:Sustainable tourism development

Chinese scholars have been debating how to best protect and utilize world heritage.This study discusses three key perspectives on this issue,which are“conflict-focused”,“compromise-oriented”,and“coordination-oriented”.Some typical incidents,which involve damage to heritage resources,are analyzed before a coordination model is presented that maximizes the compatibility of sustainable tourism development and world heritage protection.Finally,this study explores the possibility of constructing a legal system that engages all the stakeholders in protecting world heritage.Chinese lawmakers,for example,should seize the opportunity to create a law concerning national parks,which will modify and integrate existing laws and regulations in order to produce a comprehensive legal system that embodies the fundamental values of world heritage protection and sustainable tourism development.This system should implement the following:(1)maximize the complementary aspects of and mutual benefits derived from both tourism development and world heritage protection;(2)pay special attention to the various restraints that are inherent in the fundamental requirements for world heritage protection;(3)make world heritage protection sustainable while supporting sustainable tourism development;and(4)emphasize the public-interest nature of profits that are obtained by tourism developers while ensuring that the income from tourism is proportionately allotted to heritage protection.

Study of living fossil of historic cities--taking historic city Ping Yao in world heritage list as an example

World Heritage belongs to all the peoples of the world, irrespective of the territory on which they are living. The world heritage list draws attention to the wealth and diversity of the Earth's cultural and natural heritage. Historic cities in world heritage list agglomerates the elite of the noblest stage in human civilization history, whose outstanding historic, artistic and scientific values make them the living fossils of urban historic study.

Response of tropical avifauna to visitor recreational disturbances: a case study from the Sinharaja World Heritage Forest, Sri Lanka

Background: We investigated the impact of human recreational disturbances on the distribution of birds along a popular nature trail in Sinhararja World Heritage Forest, Sri Lanka. It was hypothesized that visual and noise stimuli caused by the presence of humans affect the distribution of avifauna associated with this nature trail.Methods: Nine circular plots of 25 m fixed-radius laid along the trail(0 m), and 18 plots laid perpendicular to the trail at 75 and 150 m intervals, were studied from March 2013 to January 2014. The degree of human recreational disturbances was assessed in terms of visitor group size(visual disturbance) and their noise level(sound disturbance). These disturbances were categorized along a four-point scale(no human disturbance, low, medium and high disturbance). The relationship between disturbance levels and the abundance of birds was statistically tested.Results: ANOVA results revealed that the abundance of birds differed significantly under various intensities of recreational disturbances at each distance level. A significant negative correlation between abundance of birds and intensity of disturbance at 0 m distance suggests an avoidance of edge habitats by birds in the presence of humans. Abundance of birds increased at the 75 and 150 m distance levels with increasing disturbances occurring at the trail. Significant negative correlations were further observed between disturbance level and the abundance of birds in ground/understory and sub-canopy vertical strata of the forest at 0 m distance.Conclusions: Under high levels of recreational disturbance occurring at this trail, the abundance of birds near the trail declined significantly, while bird abundance in the interior of the forest increased. The sensitivity of individual bird species to visitor disturbances varied with the vertical stratum of the forest they usually occupy. Birds occupying the ground, understory and sub-canopy are particularly sensitive to recreational disturbances while bird species occupying the canopy and above are less vulnerable to recreational disturbances.

Ticket Price of World Heritage Scenic Areas in China

This paper investigated ticket price system of 48 world heritage scenic areas in China, and discovered that ticket price of world heritage scenic areas in China was generally high. Disadvantages of this phenomenon were analyzed, influence factors of the ticket price were explored, and then practical countermeasures were proposed.

Study on the Protection of Sites of“Maritime Silk Road”in Haikou from the Perspective of World Cultural Heritage

The sites of Maritime Silk Road in Haikou City are composed of sites of navigation and trade,religious temples and stone monuments,urban construction and coastal defense scattered on the south bank of the Qiongzhou Strait.They played a key role in the formation and shaping of the settlements in Haikou City,recorded the process of intercommunication and integration between Chinese civilization and other regional cultures,and witnessed the germination,flourishing and inheritance of Haikou’s unique marine culture.The mixture of points,lines and planes blends with the urban area and coastline of Haikou City in spatial distribution.In this paper,from the perspective of world cultural heritage,some suggestions for the protection planning of sites of Maritime Silk Road in Haikou City were proposed based on the analysis of historical and geographical background,comparison of domestic and foreign similar sites,and evaluation of cultural heritage value.

Constructing a Teaching Evaluation Model for the Course of Beijing World Cultural Heritage Based on Dynamic Assessment Theory

The rapid development of international tourism has led to an increasing demand for English professionals. In order to meet this demand, universities have placed greater emphasis on the quality and level of teaching in the courses of tourism English. This paper proposes a dynamic evaluation model for tourism English courses, based on the principles of dynamic assessment theory, such as process-orientation, evaluation-teaching integration, and multiple interactions. Taking the course of Beijing World Cultural Heritage as an example, the model is instantiated to demonstrate the feasibility of applying dynamic assessment theory to tourism English courses and this model helps to provide a reference for the evaluation methods of English courses.

Exploring factors of disaster preparedness in UNESCO-designated heritage sites

Increased hazards threatening the United Nations Educational,Scientific and Cultural Organization(UNESCO)-designated sites and endangering cultural heritage and community well-being require attention and action.Con-sidering the pivotal role of UNESCO sites in conservation and development,this study assessed their levels of disaster preparedness.The absence of studies assessing disaster awareness,risk perception,and preparedness among UNESCO site actors,as well as the pivotal place of preparedness within the Disaster Risk Management(DRM)cycle justifies this research.Applying the tenets of the Person-Relative-to-Event framework,we hypothe-sized that a strong positive correlation exists between perceived risks,resources,and disaster preparedness.To collect pertinent data,we employed an embedded mixed-method design and conducted an online questionnaire survey yielding 141 responses from 59 countries.From the results of relevant analyses,wildfires,floods,and droughts are top hazards occurring frequently in UNESCO sites,with significant concerns about pollution and habitat loss during future events.Smartphones emerged as the most available crucial DRM resource,with higher availability of DRM resources correlating positively and significantly with sites’preparedness.Our findings con-tribute valuable insights to address missing links for disaster-ready and resilient UNESCO sites,promoting their preservation for future generations.

Landscape Aesthetic Characteristics of Wulingyuan World Natural Heritage Property and Realization Path of Aesthetic Education Value

Wulingyuan is a world natural heritage property mainly dominated by rare quartz sandstone peak forest landscape at home and abroad and supplemented by karst landscapes,with a large number of geological and historical sites,biological and ecological landscape and unique cultural landscapes.Preserving the secluded and beautiful scenery environment,biological environment and ecosystem of subtropical zone,Wulingyuan presents a splendid and magnificent landscape,with high aesthetic value,and becomes an important practice base of aesthetic education.The aesthetic education value of Wulingyuan World Natural Heritage Property can be realized by systematically studying and presenting the aesthetic education value of Wulingyuan World Natural Heritage Property,developing a series of aesthetic education courses to lead tourists into the world of Wulingyuan aesthetic education,carrying out a series of popular science activities of“Wulingyuan World Natural Heritage Property Entering Campus”,and incorporating into the aesthetic education curriculum system of schools,etc.This paper analyzes the landscape aesthetic characteristics of Wulingyuan World Natural Heritage Property thoroughly,which indicates the direction for realizing the aesthetic education value of the property,and also provides a reference for realizing the aesthetic education value of similar world natural heritage property.

Exploration of Nature Education Path for Teenagers:A Case Study of Yancheng Wetland Nature Education Based on the World Natural Heritage Site

Nature education is the trend of the current social development.By gradually improving the awareness of ecological civilization among the whole people,the achievements in ecological civilization are jointly built and shared by the whole people.Yancheng Yellow Sea Wetland is a characteristic natural resource and the name card of Yancheng City,and also an important part of the natural education of teenagers in Yancheng.As one of the main resources of nature education in Yancheng,the Yellow Sea Wetland World Natural Heritage resources play a more important role in the cultivation of youth ecological civilization values and legal awareness of environmental protection.Based on the protection and utilization of the Yellow Sea Wetland World Natural Heritage resources,this paper explores the methods and approaches of nature education for teenagers in Yancheng.

Set Relationships between Tourists' Authentic Perceptions and Authenticity of World Heritage Resources

Tourists’ authentic perceptions are crucial for the development of world heritage resources. The paper focuses on exploring the relationships between tourists’ authentic perceptions and authenticity-based tourism development of world heritage. Through the empirical study on the Forbidden City in Beijing, we find that the relationships between the above two factors can be simulated by the model of set theory in algebra. As a result, five types of set relationships are proposed： “separation relation”, “intersection relation”, “inclusion relation I”,“inclusion relation II” and “superposition relation”. According to sample distribution rules, the set relationships can be further divided into primary set relationships and secondary set relationships. The study on set relationships based on demographic characteristic of tourists by using two-way analysis of variance method shows that the tourists in different groups of gender, ages, levels of education, visit frequencies and levels of early perspectives have different perceptions for the set relationships. The ifndings in this paper are helpful for identifying effects of the authenticity-based exploitation of world heritage resources and proposing future strategies for world heritage resources from tourists’ authentic perspectives.