Old tea forests in China's Pu'er listed as world heritage site

The Cultural Landscape of Old Tea Forests of Jingmai Mountain in Pu'er, southwest China, was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List on Sunday.

At its extended 45th session ongoing here in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee examined the site nominated by China and added it to the list as a cultural property, making it China's 57th World Heritage site.

The decision heralds the great vitality that lasts today of the old tea forests and related cultural landscape in Jingmai Mountain, Lancang Lahu Autonomous County of southwestern Yunnan Province, one of the regions that practiced the earliest use of tea resources and had a significant influence on the tea culture of the world.

Consisting of five ancient tea forest areas, nine traditional villages, and three protective forests, the landscape stands as an example of well-preserved and culturally rich domesticated ancient tea forests.

The forests have been well managed under a unique conservation system that respects the cultural and biological diversity and sustainable utilization of natural resources.