The Shangshan cultural sites represented by six sites in East China's Zhejiang province, including the Hehuashan site in Longyou county, Quzhou, were recently added to China's World Cultural Heritage Tentative List.

The inclusion is a prerequisite for applying for World Cultural Heritage status, as stipulated by the Convention Concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage.

The highly anticipated applications process for the Shangshan cultural sites began in 2022. Six counties and county-level cities distributing the representative sites including Longyou county have signed a joint agreement to collaborate on the heritage bid.

An aerial view of the Huangchaodun site in Quzhou. [Photo/Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology]

To date, 24 archaeological sites have been included in the Shangshan cultural sites complex – unearthed in 12 counties or districts across four cities in Zhejiang province. These sites, primarily located in the Qiantang River basin, form a cluster covering about 30,000 square kilometers. The cluster is the earliest, most extensive and most concentrated group of early Neolithic sites discovered in China and East Asia.

In addition to the Hehuashan Site, Quzhou's Shangshan cultural sites also include the Qingdui and Xiaku sites in Longyou county and the Huangchaodun site in Qujiang district. The Huangchaodun site marks the earliest rice field remains yet discovered in China and possibly the world.