Barely a week goes by without a barrage of news about China’s growing global dominance. But while the trade war may be winding down – or not? – the battle for hearts and minds has just begun.
Marketplaces and military might make headlines, but China’s soft power tactics will prove the cultural clincher on the world stage. And while aggressive infrastructure investment draws regional neighbors ever closer, a longer and subtler game is being played to woo support further afield.
Since hosting the 2008 Summer Olympics, China has embarked on a cultural charm offensive far beyond those controversial Confucius Institutes – which now number more than 500 in around 150 countries.
Sister-city partnerships have grown at an incredible rate, with more than 200 in the USA alone. In January, multimillion-dollar plans were announced to “Sinicise” the Buddhist religion. Exported Chinese action movies carry jingoistic messages to rival Hollywood sloganeering. There’s increasing speculation that C-pop could be the next K-pop.
But there’s one area where China’s looming dominance seems certain: UNESCO World Heritage.
Since the late 1970s, peace-promoting Paris-based UNESCO – that’s the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization – has awarded more than 1,000 sites of natural and cultural wonder as World Heritage sites. While this status officially beefs up conservation rights, in practice UNESCO certification serves as a gigantic stamp of approval that is irresistible to tourists – and a marketer’s gold-dust. Since long before I knew what the acronym stood for, those six letters have jumped out of any travel guide or blog, basically screaming: You Should Never Ever Consider Overlooking.
Unsurprisingly, Italy has long dominated UNESCO charts, its plethora of Roman historical sights, cute rustic towns, and culinary traditions an easy shoe-in. The mountainous, Mediterranean sliver of land is smaller than California, but home to 54 UNESCO-approved sights. That’s five-percent of the world total. However, Italy looks likely to soon be overtaken by China. The Middle Kingdom is currently sitting pretty just behind a haul of 53 UNESCO stamps – 19 of which were certified in the past decade alone.
“I think as China’s tourism product evolves, visitors will need reasons to venture beyond the major cities and attractions, and something like a UNESCO World Heritage designation is sort of a stamp of approval,” says Eric Moya, Destinations editor of leading industry magazine Travel Weekly. “It says, this is something culturally significant, not just in China but from a global perspective, and thus worth checking out.”
But that’s only half the story. With another 57 proposed sites sitting on the “tentative” list to be considered by the UNESCO judges, it’s not a question of if, so much as when, China achieves dominance of this cultural benchmark. And it could happen as soon as July, when the World Heritage Committee gathers in Baku, Azerbaijan, for its 43rd annual session.
Such a tally does not come without a sustained strategy of lobbying, and it seems much like China’s huge investment in sports training and orchestral infrastructure, the PRC government holds a single-minded goal to dominate in tourism, too. There’s more than pride at stake – there’s the lure of the tourist dollar.
“Conventional wisdom is that well-educated, affluent travelers tend to be more interested in vacations that include cultural and historical elements,” says Moya, “so a destination with a number of UNESCO sites might appeal to a higher-end clientele, with more time, and money, to spend on a trip.”
That may be the intent, but much of this potential remains unlocked. I’ve been lucky enough to tick off close to a third of China’s World Heritage sites on multiple visits spread over more than a decade. And while the transformation in infrastructure and accessibility has been phenomenal during that time, an independent visit to China can still be fraught: reliable information is hard to come by, Google and all mainstream social media platforms are blocked, and outside of major cities English is not widely spoken.
Even at the most mainstream tourist attractions in central Beijing, it can still feel nod-worthy to encounter another obviously international traveler. For all the UNESCO clout, on the face of it, China’s tourism revolution is currently most concerned with profiting from its domestic masses – with some 700-million newly middle-class travelers hitting the road at peak seasons.
All of this means a visit to China still feels relatively undiscovered. However much economic development has occurred, for international tourists it can still feel like the wild west, and there are plenty of riches to mine.
If you’re visiting China soon, don’t miss these five UNESCO World Heritage sites:
Zhangjiajie, Hunan – Famously the reported inspiration behind James Cameron’s groundbreaking 3D Avatar universe, the 18-square-mile Zhangjiajie National Forest Park is one of the most remarkable areas of natural beauty on the planet–a jaw-dropping panorama of hundreds of scraggly chalk-colored, tree-flecked karsts towering hundreds of feet into the sky. While in town, keep an extra day free to visit the neighboring Tianmen Mountain, a mile-high peak ascended by handy cable car and traversed via heart-stopping glass-bottomed walkways.
Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, Xi’an, Shaanxi – Home of the world-renowned Terracotta Warriors, an 8,000-member clay army that sat in three gigantic underground caverns, watching over the grave of their master undisturbed for some 2,220 years until they were discovered by a family of thirsty villagers digging a well.
Leshan Giant Buddha, Sichuan – The tallest pre-modern statue in the world and still the largest and tallest stone Buddha on the planet. Encountering the 1,200-year-old Leshan provides a genuine pinch-me moment. Arriving at sea level you meet the might of two terrifying 26-foot-long feet, with toenails big enough to sit on.
Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries – If it sounds amazing that UNESCO have basically rubber-stamped a species, then you simply haven’t been exposed to the incomparable cuteness of watching dozens of these clumsy, monochrome fur-balls bumbling about at one of Sichuan’s 16 recognized sanctuaries.
The Great Wall – It goes without saying that a visit to China needs to include a hearty trek along the iconic might of China’s incomparable Great Wall, but which stretch of its 13,000-mile expanse will you choose? Most take a bus from Beijing to the tourist-filled Badaling section. Dodge the trinket sellers and make your own way out to Mutianyu or Jinshanling if you want to capture that perfect, solitary selfie.
