China's first park to exhibit small-scale World Heritage sites recently opened to the public in Lijiang City of southwest China's Yunnan Province.

The World Heritage Park occupies 33 hectares about 2 kilometers away from Lijiang, a city with a history of 800 years in Yunnan Province. It displays a dozen scenic spots that are part of Lijiang's World Heritage sites in a proportion of one to 150 square meters.

Lijiang has been included on the World Heritage List of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization on three occasions.

The ancient city of Lijiang was listed as a World Cultural Heritage site in December 1997. The Ancient Naxi Dongba Literature Manuscripts, an encyclopedia of the ancient ethnic Naxi group, was included in the "Memory of the World" program in August 2003. And the site of Three Parallel Rivers was added to the list of World Natural Heritage sites in July 2003.

Zhou Hong, head of the Lijiang Ancient Downtown District, said the World Heritage Park serves as a window for people in other parts of the world to have a better understanding of Lijiang. Visitors will enjoy the beautiful scenery and rich ethnic culture of this ancient city in the park.

(Xinhua News Agency May 12, 2004)