A tour site featuring mountain landscape and imperial tombs
dating back to the Western Xia Dynasty (1032-1227) in northwest
China's Ningxia
Hui Autonomous Region has been inscribed on the State Natural
and Cultural Heritage list.
Together with the Reserve of Helan Mountain-Western Xia Imperial
Tombs, a total of 13 sites of natural attractions and cultural
relics are among the first group of the country's top-level natural
and cultural heritage, according to the Ministry of
Construction.
He Jide, administration director of the ancient sites, said that
the government will give priority to these sites when applying for
the World Natural and Cultural Heritage.
Helan Mountain Nature Reserve, listed as a natural site under
state-level protective in 1988, lies between the Yinchuan Plain in
Ningxia and the vast grassland in Inner Mongolia Autonomous
Region.
With rich ecological and mineral resources, Helan Mountain is
home to some 685 kinds of plants and it is also a habitat of 179
species of wild animals, in which 16 kinds of vertebrates are under
state-level protection.
Meanwhile, the area is famous for its cultural and art relics, such
as cliff paintings, ruins of ancient temples and unique custom of
ethnic villages.
Known as "pyramids of China", the most prestigious cultural site
is the Western Xia Imperial Tombs, which include nine mausoleums of
emperors and 207 tombs of noblemen over the 200-yearreign of the
nomadic kingdom.
(Xinhua News Agency February 15, 2006)
