Published : 26/06/2025

On June 26, 2009, the 33rd session of the World Heritage Committee was held in Seville, Spain. During the meeting, it was approved to officially list Mount Wutai (五台山) in Shanxi Province, China, into the World Heritage List.

Mount Wutai is located in Shanxi's Xinzhou City, and is one of the four sacred Buddhist mountains in China.

The reason China applied for Mount Wutai to be recognised as a World Cultural Heritage site is due to its unique sacred mountain environment and Buddhist architecture spanning from the 4th century to the 19th century (Northern Wei, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties).

These reflect the outstanding achievements and characteristics of architectural art and techniques from various periods, the long-standing Buddhist cultural traditions, and the harmonious unity of nature and humanity.

Cultural landscapes are an important type of cultural heritage.

The World Heritage Committee unanimously agreed that Mount Wutai meets multiple criteria of World Heritage standards, including well-preserved and well-managed heritage with high authenticity and integrity.

Therefore, it decided to list Mount Wutai as a cultural landscape in the World Heritage List.

Upon hearing that Mount Wutai had been officially listed in the World Heritage List, the Chinese government highly appreciated and thanked the World Heritage Committee, advisory bodies, and relevant countries for their understanding and support of the Mount Wutai project.

The government stated that it would seriously study and implement the important recommendations of the World Heritage Committee and its advisory bodies regarding the protection and management of Mount Wutai, to strengthen and improve the protection and management of this heritage, ensuring its proper preservation and sustainable transmission.