The town of Nanxun in East China's Zhejiang Province is aiming to get itself listed as a world heritage site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Nanxun, 123 kilometers away from Shanghai and 125 kilometers from provincial capital Hangzhou, was founded in 1252 in the South Song Dynasty (1127-1279). It became famous for its silk, rice, culture and gardens in the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1616-1911) dynasties.

In 1991, it topped the list of first batch of provincial historical, cultural towns named by the Zhejiang Provincial Government.

Currently, it boasts of over 30 sites of cultural relics under the protection of different levels of governments.

In 2001, Nanxun and five others ancient towns in Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces applied to UNESCO to be listed as a World Heritage Site. They were China's first ancient towns to apply for World Heritage status.

The other five towns are Kunshan's Zhouzhuang, Wujiang's Tongli and Wuxian's Luzhi in Jiangsu Province, and Tongxiang's Wuzhen and Jiashan's Xitang in Zhejiang Province. Nanxun is the largest of the six which are the only ancient towns that remain intact today.

Close