In the 40th session of UNESCO's World Heritage Committee held in Istanbul on Friday, the ancient rock paintings of Mt. Huashan in Guanxi Zhuang Autonomous Region has been included in the roster of UNESCO's World Heritage List.
The petition for this site to be included in the list started in March 2008 when the State Administration of Cultural Heritage passed its application to UNESCO to include the paintings in the Cultural Heritage category. After deliberation, it is now included in the roster.
In the official page of UNESCO regarding the site, the rock paintings were made 2,000 years ago by the now extinct Luoyue group. The paintings showed the way of life of the minority group, their sacrifice rituals and even frog-shaped people common in Zhuang art. This is the only record in existence verifying the ethnic group's origins as they are considered the ancestors of today's Zhuang minority. The biggest mystery behind this site are the painted rock faces above the paintings as they are 130 meters high.
The Zhuang minority celebrated with the inclusion of the site to the UNESCO list as it introduced their proud culture and history, as well as gained recognition from the world.
