BUDDHIST WORLD: Wutai Mountain is seen as a museum of Buddhist architecture

The most famed building is the East Hall of the Foguang Temple, or Temple of Buddha's Light, built along the slope of the mountain and embraced by green hills on three sides. It is the largest wooden building of the Tang Dynasty (618-907) surviving today with life-size clay sculptures. Another important building is the Shuxiang Temple, or Temple of Manjusri Bodhisattva's Statue, built in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). It features 500 large-scale arhat statues presenting Buddhist stories. The buildings on the site show the way that Buddhist architecture developed, which has influenced the palace architecture of China for more than 1,000 years.

Apart from the wooden architecture, Cui said that Wutai Mountain is also famous for its pagodas built with various materials, such as bricks, stone, wood, iron, colored glaze, copper, silver and crystal. Big pagodas normally are around 60 meters high and the smallest one is only 0.05 meter in height. According to him, the mountain boasts 150 pagodas built in different dynasties and is seen as an exhibition for China's Buddhist pagoda architectural art.

The most famous pagoda is the Big White Pagoda, which is also the symbol of Wutai Mountain. With a base circumference of 83.3 meters and a height of 75.3 meters, the pagoda is the highest Nepalese style pagoda built in the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) found today. The sound of the wind chimes tied on the pagoda transports people into the sacred world.

Wutai Mountain got the name for its five terrace-like peaks with different shapes in the north, south, east, west and the center. The average height above sea level of these five peaks is around 2,000 meters, with the north peak being the highest at 3,061 meters.

The altitude has made the mountain an ideal resort to evade the summer heat since ancient times. In July when the surrounding regions get hot, the average temperature on the mountain is only 9.5 degrees centigrade, making it the ideal place to cool off.

Stricter protection

Now that Wutai Mountain has been listed on the world heritage list, how to preserve the sacred mountain and pass on the legacy to future generations is a top concern.

The local government and people have made great efforts to raise awareness of the importance of the heritage protection, with many regulations and policies being implemented.

According to Liang Yousheng, Director of the Administration of Wutai Mountain Scenery Area, to protect the flora of the area, any roads or facilities that would damage the vegetation and environment are strictly prohibited. Tourists are also asked to be careful where they walk, and visitor numbers are limited. Any mining or activities that would damage the air, water, vegetation, animals, environment and cultural relics are strictly prohibited.

But such a result was not easily achieved. In the 1980s and 1990s, because of the lack of a long-term protection and development plan, the development of tourism speeded up the commercialization in Wutai Mountain area. As a result, restaurants and hotels sprang up, damaging the surrounding environment.

According to statistics reported by Economic Information Daily, more than 700 hotels and 1,000 restaurants were located in the heart of the scenic area at that time, not to mention the small-scale shops and snack stands.

This trend stopped around the year 2000. The local government began to replan the development of the mountain. They have done comprehensive planning and renovation to an area of 592.88 square km by removing buildings that affect the protection of the heritage and restoring the vegetation. The environment has improved and buildings have been renovated, which helped to restore the authenticity of the site. World heritage experts acknowledged these efforts in heritage protection.

"Wutai Mountain's becoming a world-heritage site means that China made a solemn commitment to the world that it will better protect the mountain in accordance with the relevant regulations of the World Heritage Convention," said Liang in an interview with China Industrial Economy News newspaper.

"The aim of the application is to better protect the heritage under the guidance of the World Heritage Committee," said Liang. He said that in the future, the local heritage protection institutions would study and implement the suggestions provided by the World Heritage Committee and its consultative institutions and further reinforce and improve the protection management work.

"The priority of our work will be put on the protection so as to let the unique site of artistic and cultural treasures be passed down through generations," Liang said.