Central Asia: Six Nations Back Silk Road for UNESCO's World Cultural Heritage List.
The Silk Road, a 2,000-year-old trade route between China and Europe, may soon be granted the same status as the pyramids thanks to a six-nation bid to get it included on UNESCO's World Cultural Heritage List.
China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are partners to the joint application, the first of its kind to be submitted to UNESCO, Chinese media outlets report on June 10.
"A multinational application is the better choice if we want to aptly present the historical culture of the ancient Silk Road for such status," said Jing Feng, an official with the UNESCO World Heritage Center's Asia-Pacific Region Program.
"It is a good choice for China to unite with other Silk Road countries to jointly apply for World Cultural Heritage status," added Qiao Ran, vice director of The Silk Road Team at the Chinese National Tourism Administration. If successful, the Silk Road may be added to the UNESCO list in 2011.
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