Relics of many tales

Rock art on the mountains along the Zuojiang River in Chongzuo in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. Photos by Huo Yan and Wang Kaihao/China Daily

The Zuojiang Huashan Rock Art Cultural Landscape makes the UNESCO list after more than a decade of preparations. Wang Kaihao reports in Chongzuo.

On the cliffs, reddish shadows appear as blurs in the mist. Locals call the area Huashan, which means "mountains with paintings".

The Zuojiang River flows through Chongzuo, a city along China's border with Vietnam, in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

The picturesque karst topography of the area resembles Guilin in the region's north, but few visitors are seen here.

Nevertheless, things could begin to change.

After 13 years of work, on July 15, the Zuojiang Huashan Rock Art Cultural Landscape was added to the UNESCO's world heritage list at a meeting in Istanbul.

Thirty-eight rock art sites along the river, covering an area of 6,621.6 hectares, are now part of the list.

Last week, in Yaoda village, in Chongzuo's Ningming county, villagers were performing a ceremony at the base of the mountain. Dressed in traditional attire and facing the cliffs, they chanted hymns in the language of the Zhuang ethnic group backed by traditional musical instruments.