| Tea-Horse Trail in SW-China was merely brought on science research board for no more than a decade. With a booming development locally, increasing efforts have being made to apply it to the UNESCO for World Heritage enlistment consideration. Once it could become a certain type of acknowledged item on World Heritage List, its original place in the China mainland would boast over its pomp and make it an inviting tool for more tourists. Undeniably, many bigwigs and eggheads see the angle and are so eager to manage to get a World Heritage laurel for Tea-Horse Trail by hook or by crook. To these guys, the World Heritage Centre in Paris, is, of course a hard nut for cracking, since international codes & visions are involved while most of them still in totally dark even about the format of application form. It is a challenge to them that the universal value of this wanna-be must be properly presented in line with the international practice, regardless the patriotism or the money these Chinese intend to impress others. However, there is no such a thing as to try getting the UNESCO bribed for the Tea-Horse Trail's eligibility of being a World Heritage.This paper reflects some evolution details of the Tea-Horse Trail in China's history through a general description over its raise & fall. But it is like a tip of the iceberg on seeing most of the Tibet-oriented studies are unavailable to the outsiders besides the Tea-Horse Trail is actually a trade route network changing with many influential factors all along since its use. Considering the extreme natural environment plus man-made harms and damages to it, hardly could the author prove the authenticity & integrity of the entire Tea-Horse Trail. Therefore, Sichuan-Tibet Official Route under it is sampled chiefly to make sense of how difficult it would be, if use the Operational Guidelines for Implementation of the World Heritage Convention as a reference to support the Tea-Horse Trail's eligibility. Random cultural values, improper classification, un-interpretable name label, overlapped space distribution with other trade routes, and groundless protection & management measures if any, all makes such eligibility doubtful to the rest of the world. Better get the right data ready for appraisal in accordance with the standards set out in the Operational Guidelines for Implementation of the World Heritage Convention, and save breath of beating the bushes. This paper is of no intention to criticize anything with the Tea-Horse Trail, except to caution the previous blind applications to World Heritage Centre by deceiving those applicants themselves. Driven by varied desires from a number of interest groups, there are still more world heritage would-be besides the Tea-Horse Trail nowadays, which eventually forces the World Heritage Centre to take a tightened control of its assessment.There is significance for the Tea-Horse Trail to apply with the World Heritage Centre since there are many peers also agitated to jump on the wagon, so that lessons might be learnt, be the cost dear or not. Success or fail, this world heritage trial well serves a touch-stone for the rest of Chinese candidates. Moreover, it urges the Chinese as an encouraging example to open the door and embrace the global value. World heritage application is like a craze to the Chinese, and the Tea-Horse Trail need to display itself in the first place that guided by the right frame of reference. Eligibility of world heritage lies in concrete evidences and logical ways of expression. It would be never too late for the Chinese to learn on things including cultural routes. |
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