The Sanxingdui Museum in Guanghan, southwest China's Sichuan
Province, is the third tourism destination in China to be
granted the Green Globe 21 certificate.
Located in Canberra, Australia, Green Globe sets the global
benchmark for certification of environmentally friendly tourism
sites. Certification is based on Agenda 21 - principles for
sustainable development endorsed by 182 countries and regions from
around the globe during the United Nations Rio de Janeiro Earth
Summit in 1992.
The other two Chinese tourism destinations, which have received
the Green Globe 21 certificate, are also in Sichuan, said Richard
Hooper, managing director of Green Globe.
They are Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong, two sites on the World Heritage
List of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization, he said. The sites are located in the Aba Tibetan and
Qiang Autonomous Prefecture in western Sichuan. Jiuzhaigou features
transparent alpine lakes and Tibetan culture while Huanglong is
famous for its large expanse of karst formations and colored ponds.
In a bid to achieve sustainable travel and tourism, the
Sanxingdui Museum started applying for the Green Globe 21
certificate last December.
Since then, it has invested a hefty sum of money to mitigate
greenhouse effects and handle debris, witnessing great improvement
in its environment, said deputy curator Zhang Yaohui.
About 40 kilometers from Chengdu, the Sanxingdui Museum, located
in Guanghan, a small city in the fertile Chengdu Plain, houses
almost all the relics from the Sanxingdui Ruins.
The excavation of the Sanxingdui Ruins, which was hailed as one of
the most significant archaeological discoveries in China last
century, is believed to have changed Chinese history.
Before the excavation of Sanxingdui, it was believed that
Sichuan had a history of about 3,000 years. Thanks to the
excavation, it is now generally believed that civilized culture
appeared in Sichuan 5,000 years ago and has continued uninterrupted
until today, said Chen Xiandan, deputy curator of Sichuan
Provincial Museum.
(China Daily December 15, 2003)
