8/24-25 Optional Tour after conference

Registration before Aug 15th 

Registration below link https://forms.gle/vb3Y672LQd5Mir3YA 

Note: 

1.      Tour pick up at hotel lobby at 07:30, please DON’T late for the great tour/ 07:30在酒店大堂集合，请不要遲到

2.      The big luggage can keep in the hotel/大行李可以留在酒店。

3.      Mt. Taishan climbing need about 4 hours for 7,000 trail stairs to go up and take cable car down. You can optional take cable car up and down to easily enjoy the scenery. /泰山攀登需要大约4个小时才能登上7,000階步道，并乘坐缆车下山。 您可以选择搭乘缆车上下山，轻松欣赏美麗风景。

4.      The total cost includes transportation, accommodation and meals totaling 1,500 RMB or 230 USD. Please register and pay the fee at the venue/全程費用含交通、住宿、餐食共1500人民幣或230美金。請在會場註冊繳清費用。

Best Places to Visit in Qufu

Local in southwest of Shandong Province in China, Qufu is known as the birth place of famous philosopher Confucius. So there are a variety of historic palaces, cemeteries and temples related with Confucius culture and the best place to visit in Qufu would be those historic sites. The three most famous cultural sites of the city are collectively known as San Kong, i.e. "The Three Confucian", namely the Temple of Confucius (Kong Miao), the Cemetery of Confucius (Kong Lin) and Kong Family Mansion (Kong Fu). The three places are must see in Qufu. Other attractions like Shimen Mountain and Tomb of Emperor Shao Hao are also recommended if you have enough time.

Temple of Confucius (Kong Miao)

Located in Qufu city center, Temple of Confucius was built for the worship of Confucius, who is a famous thinker, statesman and educator in dynasties of the Spring and Autumn Period. It is a complex of ancient buildings with oriental architectural features, large-scale and imposing. First built in 478 BC and based on the former residence of Confucius, it is the largest existing Confucius Temple in China. It is recommend to stay here for 3 hours. The opening hour is 07:30 am to 4:30 pm.

Kong Family Mansion (Kong Fu)

Kong Family Mansion is located in the eastern side of Confucian Temple in Qufu, Shandong Province. It belonged to the mansion of direct descendant of Confucius, who was named "Duke Yansheng". This mansion covers an area of 240 acres, including a total of about 463 halls and rooms. The best time to visit there is from July to October. And it is recommended to spend 1 to 2 hours there.

Cemetery of Confucius or Confucius Forest (Kong Lin)

Cemetery of Confucius or Confucius Forest is the cemetery of the Confucius and his families. This cemetery is the largest, the oldest and the best preserved tombs clan’s tomb group and artificial garden. The walls are all built with gray bricks. The best time to visit there is in Spring and autumn, especially in September and October, for the weather is good and the scenery is beautiful at the time period and there are many local activities to participate in. It is recommended to spend 3 hours there.

Shimen Mountain Forest Park

Formerly known as Longmen mountain, Shimen Mountain Forest Park is located 25 kilometers northeast of Qufu City. Scenery here is quite beautiful. You can see beautiful peaks and verdant trees.

Tomb of Emperor Shao Hao

Located in the northeast of Jiuxian Village, on the eastern outskirts of the city of Qufu in Shandong Province, China, Tomb of Emperor Shao Hao is a pyramid shaped monument. The monument was built to in honor of Shaohao, the son of the first mythical Chinese emperor (the Yellow Emperor) and one of the mythical five emperors himself.

Tips:

Each year from late September to early October: Shandong Qufu International Confucius Cultural Festival. There will be large-scale Dancing Melody for Worshipping Confucius, International Confucius academic exchanges seminars, study of Confucius' hometown, classic marriage customs tourism, archaize archery and other tourism cultural and recreational activities in the festival. So it is highly recommended to visit Qufu during this period of time.

Mount Taishan https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/437/ 

The sacred Mount Tai ('shan' means 'mountain') was the object of an imperial cult for nearly 2,000 years, and the artistic masterpieces found there are in perfect harmony with the natural landscape. It has always been a source of inspiration for Chinese artists and scholars and symbolizes ancient Chinese civilizations and beliefs.

Description is available under license CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0

 Outstanding Universal Value

Brief synthesis

Mount Taishan is the most famous sacred mountain of China, with exceptional historic, cultural, aesthetic and scientific value.  Settled by humans as early as the Neolithic (a Dawenkou site is nearby), the mountain has been worshipped continuously throughout the last three millennia.  A large and impressive rock mass covering 25,000 ha and rising to 1,545 m above the surrounding plateau, Mount Taishan is considered one of the most beautiful scenic spots in China and was an important cradle of oriental East Asian culture since the earliest times. The mountain was an important object of the cult worship of mountains even before 219 BCE, when the Qin Emperor, Huang Di, paid tribute to the mountain in the Fengshan sacrifices to inform the gods of his success in unifying all of China. On the mountain there are 12 historically recorded imperial ceremonies in homage to Heaven and Earth, about 1,800 stone tablets and inscriptions, and 22 temples, which together make Mount Taishan the most important monument in China, a world-renowned treasure house of history and culture.

The key monument, the Temple to the God of Taishan, contains the Taoist masterpiece painting of 1,009 CE “The God of Taishan Making a Journey”. Inscriptions include the Han Dynasty stelae of Zhang Qian, Heng Fang and Madam Jin Sun; the Valley of Inscribed Buddhist Scriptures inscribed in the Northern Qi Dynasty; the Eulogium on Taishan by Tang Xuanzong, and the Parallel Stelae of the Tang Dynasty. There is also a number of ancient and significant trees, including six cypresses of the Han Dynasty planted 2,100 years ago; Sophora japonica of the Tang Dynasty planted 1,300 years ago, and the Guest-Greeting Pine and the Five-Bureaucrat Pine, both of which were planted some 500 years ago.  All the architectural elements, paintings, in situ sculptures, stone inscriptions and ancient trees are integrated into the landscape of Mount Taishan.

Criterion (i): The landscape of Mount Taishan as one of the five sacred mountains in traditional China is a unique artistic achievement. The eleven gates, the fourteen archways, the fourteen kiosks and the four pavilions, which are scattered along the flight of 6,660 steps that rise between heaven and earth are not just simple architectural achievements, but are the final touches by human hands to the elements of a splendid natural site. Its very size places this scenic landscape, which has evolved over a period of 2,000 years, among the most grandiose human achievements of all time.

Criterion (ii): Mount Taishan, the most venerated of mountains in China, exerted for 2,000 years multiple and wide-ranging influence on the development of art.  The Temple to the God of Taishan and the Azure Cloud Temple, dedicated to his daughter, the Goddess Laomu, were prototypes built on Mount Taishan and subsequently used as models during the imperial period, throughout all of China. The conceptual model of a mountain bearing the traces of man, where graceful structures – bridges, gateways or pavilions – contrast with sombre pine forests or frightening rocky cliffs, could only have originated by referring to Mount Taishan.

Criterion (iii): Mount Taishan bears unique testimony to the lost civilizations of imperial China, most particularly in relation to their religions, arts and letters.  For 2,000 years it was one of the principal places of worship where the emperor paid homage to Heaven and Earth in the Fengshan sacrifices, conducted by the Son of Heaven himself.  Since the time of the Han Dynasty, it has been one of the five mountains symbolizing the Celestial Kingdom, in accordance with the Doctrine of the Five Elements, a fundamental premise in Chinese thought.

Criterion (iv): Mount Taishan is an outstanding example of a sacred mountain. The Palace of Heavenly Blessings (1,008 CE), located inside the Temple to the God of Taishan, is one of the three oldest palaces in China.  The Azure Cloud Temple, also constructed under the Song Dynasty, is typical of a mountain architectural complex in the arrangement of its courtyards and buildings,  and the Divine Rock Temple with its Thousand Buddhas Hall are  outstanding and complete examples of great temples. Together they illustrate the cultural and religious aspects of the Tang and Song periods.

Criterion (v): The natural and cultural ensemble of Mount Taishan comprises a traditional human settlement in the form of a cult centre dating from the Neolithic (Dawenkou) period, which has become an outstanding example of traditional culture under the impact of irreversible change wrought by increasing visitation and tourism.  

Criterion (vi): Mount Taishan is directly and tangibly associated with events whose importance in universal history cannot be minimized. These include the emergence of Confucianism, the unification of China, and the appearance of writing and literature in China.

Criterion (vii): With nearly 3 billion years of natural evolution, Mount Taishan was formed through complicated geological and biological processes, which resulted in a gigantic rock mass covered with dense vegetation towering over the surrounding plateau. This dramatic and majestic mountain is an outstanding combination of a beautiful natural landscape dominated by the cultural impacts of thousands of years of human use.

Integrity

Due to its long-standing status as a sacred place, Mount Taishan has been preserved with little alteration. The ensemble of elements enables Mount Taishan to entirely and accurately represent its harmonious combination as a natural landscape modified and enhanced by human agency to become the embodiment of ancient Chinese belief and culture. 

A cable car was built before the property was inscribed as World Heritage but most visitors reach the summit area by climbing the 6,660 steps. The integrity of the property has been impacted little by tourism and associated facilities, however there needs to be a definite limit of the extent of development of such facilities. There are substantial and impressive areas free of both historic and modern features such as the very impressive Rear Rocky Basin. Much of the mountain has a grandeur and wilderness that belies its thousands of years of human use.

Authenticity 

The elements of the cultural heritage of Mount Taishan meet all requirements of authenticity: form and design, materials and substance, use and function, traditions and techniques, location and setting, spirit and feeling. The humanistic and ecological environment of Taishan has been well preserved through all the dynasties. The age-old geological relics, ancient architectural ensembles, stone tablets and inscriptions, and ancient and rare trees all have been carefully protected and maintained. 

Protection and management requirements

Mount Taishan has been protected and managed for over 3,000 years. The present administrative organization is the Management Committee of Scenic Spots and Historic Sites of Taishan, Taian City, and comprises representatives of the National World Heritage Office, the Bureau of Cultural Relics and Religions, the Bureau of Hygiene and Environmental Protection, and other functional departments and administrative units. Financial resources for the maintenance and protection of Taishan are allocated from the government and supplemented by entrance fees to scenic areas.

In 1982, Taishan was designated as the National Top Scenic Spot by the State Council of the People’s Republic of China. According to the law on the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage and other relevant laws and regulations of the People’s Republic of China, a document laying out the Overall Planning of Protection of Taishan was adopted in October 2000 by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of Shandong Province, which provides a legal basis of effective operations for the integrated management of protection of Mount Taishan.  In 2004, the government of Taian City gazetted the World Heritage property area for highest-level protection within which any construction project must be approved by relevant administrative departments according to established laws and procedures.

Management and protection issues included the concept of adopting a carrying capacity and designing facilities to be used to control access, and to consider proposals to progressively remove or replace incongruous buildings with those of an appropriate architectural style. The location, number and type of small scale photo and refreshment operations also need to be rationalised and controlled to reduce adverse impact on visitor appreciation of natural and cultural values. Finally, a proper resource inventory of the natural features of the site is needed in order to better document the full value of the park. The specific long-term management objective for the property is to control business and tourist activities within the protection zone in order to safeguard both integrity and authenticity of the property.