Huangshan City became a member of the Wanli Tea Ceremony Protection and Joint Declaration of the World Cultural Heritage City Alliance

At the Qimen County venue on the 16th, representatives from 9 provinces (autonomous regions) attended the meeting Liu Hao

Hefei, December 16 (Xinhua) -- The Wanli Tea Ceremony World Cultural Heritage Value and Application Strategy Seminar and The Promotion Meeting for The Application for Heritage were held in Beijing and Qimen County, Huangshan City, Anhui Province, on the 15th to 16th.

On the 16th, at the Qimen venue, the Wanli Tea Ceremony Joint Application Office informed that Anhui Province has officially become a province that has jointly applied for the Wanli Tea Ceremony, and Huangshan City has officially become a member of the Wanli Tea Ceremony Protection and Joint Declaration of World Cultural Heritage Cities Alliance.

The "Wanli Tea Ceremony" is another important international trade route that has emerged in Eurasia after the "Silk Road". From the end of the 17th century to the beginning of the 20th century, Chinese tea from the Wuyi Mountains in Fujian Province in the south, passing through Jiangxi, Anhui, Hunan, Hubei, Henan, Shanxi, Hebei, Inner Mongolia and other places, crossing the Mongolian Plateau, and finally reaching St. Petersburg, Russia, a total distance of more than 14,000 kilometers.

At the meeting on the same day, cultural relics experts from 9 provinces (autonomous regions) such as Fujian, Hubei and Inner Mongolia jointly discussed and shared the heritage value of the Wanli Tea Ceremony and the promotion of the application for heritage in various provinces (autonomous regions).

In March 2019, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage officially included the "Wanli Tea Ceremony" in the "Preliminary List of China's World Cultural Heritage" and established the "Wanli Tea Ceremony Declaration World Cultural Heritage Office". In December 2020, the "Wanli Tea Ceremony Protection and Joint Declaration of World Cultural Heritage Cities Alliance" was officially established in Wuhan, Hubei Province.

Qimen County, Huangshan City, is rich in black tea, Keemun black tea (referred to as Qi Hong) through the Zhangjiang River to Poyang Lake in Jiangxi, and then to Jiujiang, and then transferred to Wuhan, embarked on the Wanli Tea Ceremony, exported to home and abroad.

According to the relevant person in charge of the Wanli Tea Ceremony Joint Application Office, in May this year, the technical team of the application for heritage carried out an in-depth investigation of the relevant historical sites in Qimen County for nearly a week, analyzed the history and current situation of the remains, and extracted the overall characteristics of the remains. After argumentation and evaluation, it is believed that the historical sites of the modern Keemun black tea trade reflect the historical facts of the production, production and sales of Qi black tea in the late Wanli Tea Ceremony, show the activity of the tea production area community represented by Huishang, show the promotion of tea ceremony trade to the social and economic development of urban and rural areas in the production area, and also show the industrial practice of modern China to strengthen and save itself, which has the overall value of supporting the Wanli Tea Ceremony.

Cheng Hong, vice mayor of Huangshan City, said in his speech at the meeting that Qi Hong has been continuously exported to more than 80 countries and regions such as Germany, Britain, the United States and Russia through the Wanli Tea Ceremony, and Huangshan is one of the important tea sources of the Wanli Tea Ceremony.

"Huangshan is both an explorer and a beneficiary of the results of the world heritage." Cheng Hong said that Huangshan City has 2 World Heritage Sites, Huangshan Mountain, and ancient villages in southern Anhui (Xidi and Hongcun). She said that in the future, Huangshan City will continue to solidly promote the investigation, demonstration and protection work in accordance with the requirements of the leading group and office of the joint application for heritage, and strive for the early success of the application for heritage. At the same time, Huangshan City will take the "Wanli Tea Ceremony" as the starting point, deepen cooperation and exchanges with cities along the route, based on the authenticity and integrity of the World Heritage, promote the inheritance and sustainable development of the historical context, carefully guard the "soul" of the World Heritage, and make the splendid culture rejuvenated under the blessing of the World Heritage brand.

It is reported that the event was jointly sponsored by the Hubei Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism (Hubei Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau), the Anhui Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism (Anhui Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau), the Wuhan Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, and the Wanli Tea Ceremony Joint Declaration World Cultural Heritage Office. (End)

Source: China News Network