National archaeological park of China


The national archaeological park of China is a designation created by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage in 2009 to preserve and present large-scale archaeological sites. National archaeological parks must have previously been designated as Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level, and are considered to have high historical, cultural, and academic value. They include ancient settlements, cities and towns, palaces, temples and caves, engineering and manufacturing sites, and mausoleums and cemeteries. Many parks also have on-site museums.
The first 12 national archaeological parks were announced in 2010, and since then 24 more parks have been added to the list, bringing the total to 36. In addition, more than 60 sites have been designated as candidates for the national archaeological park status.

Regulation

On 17 December 2009, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage issued the National Archaeological Park Administration Measures. According to the regulation, an archaeological site must meet five criteria before applying for national archaeological park status: it must be a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level; its provincial-level government has issued and implemented measures to protect the site; an archaeological work plan has been approved and commenced; has an archaeological park plan in compliance with the protection measures; has a specialized administration entity with corporate status.

List of national archaeological parks

23 archaeological sites applied for the national archaeological park designation in 2010. On 9 October 2010, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage announced the first batch of 12 parks whose applications were approved.
In December 2013, the SACH announced the second batch of 12 national archaeological parks. In December 2017, the third batch of 12 national archaeological parks was announced, bringing the total to 36.
, Beijing
, the mausoleum of Emperor Jing of Han
National archaeological parkProvinceBatch
Old Summer Palace Beijing1
Zhoukoudian Beijing1
Ji'an Gaogouli Jilin1
HongshanJiangsu1
LiangzhuZhejiang1
YinxuHenan1
Luoyang of Sui–Tang DynastiesHenan1
SanxingduiSichuan1
JinshaSichuan1
Han Yang LingShaanxi1
Mausoleum of the First Qin EmperorShaanxi1
Daming PalaceShaanxi1
NiuheliangLiaoning2
Zhongjing of BohaiJilin2
Shangjing of BohaiHeilongjiang2
Yuyaochang Jiangxi2
Qufu, Capital of LuShandong2
Nanwang Hub of the Grand CanalShandong2
Luoyang of Han–Wei DynastiesHenan2
XiongjiazhongHubei2
Tongguan KilnHunan2
ZengpiyanGuangxi2
DiaoyuchengChongqing2
Beiting CityXinjiang2
Zhongdu of YuanHebei3
Dayao Longquan KilnsZhejiang3
Shanglin Lake Yue KilnsZhejiang3
Zhongdu of MingAnhui3
WanshouyanFujian3
ChengziyaShandong3
Jizhou KilnJiangxi3
Zheng–Han CityHenan3
PanlongchengHubei3
ChengtoushanHunan3
Weiyang PalaceShaanxi3
Western Xia MausoleumsNingxia3

Candidate parks

In addition to the approved parks, the SACH has also given a number of parks the status of "candidate national archaeological parks". When announcing the first batch of 12 approved parks, it also announced 23 candidate parks, of which 11 were later approved in the second batch announced in 2013.
31 candidate parks were announced together with the second batch of approved parks in 2013, of which 9 were later approved in the third batch announced in 2017.
In December 2017, 32 candidate parks were announced together with the third batch of approved parks.