Sunday 14 July 2013

Xinhua launches campaign to protect Silk Road heritage

BEIJING, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The Xinhua News Agency kicked off a campaign on Thursday that is intended to raise public awareness of the importance of preserving cultural heritage on the ancient Silk Road.
Supported by UNESCO, the "Cherish Dunhuang" campaign will take professional journalists, researchers and citizen reporters on an exploratory journey to major natural and culture heritage sites along the Silk Road, including the Maijishan Grottos (Wheat Stack Hill), Jiayuguan Pass and the Mogao Caves at Dunhuang.
"This campaign is an occasion to raise public awareness about cultural heritage along the Silk Road and to draw public attention toward world heritage protection in China as a whole," said Andrea Cairola, from the UNESCO China office, at Thursday's launching ceremony.
The campaign is also being supported by the Gansu Administration of Cultural Heritage and the Dunhuang Academy.
During the ten-day journey, which will begin on July 15, participants will file multimedia reports through Xinhua's traditional wire service, as well as its mobile multimedia platform "iFocus."
"iFocus" includes an Android-based mobile application and accounts on both popular instant messaging service WeChat and microblogging platform Sina Weibo, as well as a number of news feeds on some of China's biggest mobile news portals.
The Silk Road is a network of ancient overland trade routes that extends across the Asian continent and connects China to the Mediterranean Sea.
Several sections of the Silk Road were added to a list of potential future candidates for the World Heritage List this year. China currently has 45 sites that are inscribed in the World Heritage List.

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