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Beijing Central Axis has been successfully listed as a World Heritage Site! Today, at the 46th UNESCO World Heritage Conference held in New Delhi, the capital of India, my country's application for "Beijing Central Axis - A Masterpiece of China's Ideal Capital Order" was officially included in the World Heritage List. So far, the number of my country's World Heritage sites has reached 59.

The Chinese delegation celebrated the successful application of Beijing's Central Axis for World Heritage status at the 46th World Heritage Conference

As an important innovative achievement of the digital application of Beijing's Central Axis for World Heritage, the "Digital Central Axis·Microcosm" built based on game technology will also be launched soon. The project took three years and was jointly created by the Beijing Municipal Cultural Relics Bureau, the Beijing Central Axis World Heritage Application Protection Office and Tencent. It is the world's first super-large urban historical landscape immersive experience product.

As early as September 2021, the Beijing Municipal Cultural Heritage Bureau and Tencent reached a strategic cooperation on the Central Axis World Heritage Application Project, clearly using digital technology capabilities to promote the protection, inheritance and utilization of the Central Axis' cultural heritage, and also set a precedent globally for the full participation of digital technology in the application for World Cultural Heritage.

During the application process of Beijing Central Axis for World Heritage, the "Digital Central Axis" used digital technology to participate in the application process for World Cultural Heritage, which was the first time in the world. Digitalization has become an important innovation and key label for Beijing Central Axis' application for World Heritage.

The world's first use of digital technology to participate in the entire process of World Cultural Heritage application

The Beijing Central Axis starts from the Bell and Drum Tower in the north and ends at Yongdingmen in the south. It is 7.8 kilometers long and includes 15 heritage elements. After more than 700 years of development and change, it has formed an orderly and magnificent urban building complex, which is the epitome of the central axis of ancient Chinese capitals. Architect Liang Sicheng once praised it as "the longest and greatest north-south central axis in the world."

In order to systematically and completely explain the rich physical, historical and cultural information behind the Beijing Central Axis, Tencent took the lead and worked with many institutions to use high-definition photo scanning, digital engines, cloud games and other game technologies, and iterated 542 versions to create the "Digital Central Axis·Micro Universe" product.

In accordance with the World Heritage application document, the product has meticulously restored and reproduced the 7.8-kilometer core heritage area of ​​the central axis - the complex five-level map mode covers an area of ​​200km x 200km, including 300,000 species of plants and 2.2 million buildings, as well as various hills and waterscapes, and the production volume of three-dimensional data assets exceeds 15TB. At the same time, "Little Universe" also uses game interaction technology to allow users to experience the value behind cultural heritage in a more panoramic, three-dimensional, rich and immersive way.

Previously, the Tencent Digital Central Axis team also cooperated with the Beijing Municipal Cultural Heritage Bureau and the Beijing Central Axis World Heritage Protection Office to launch a series of digital products in strict reference to the World Heritage application text, to more intuitively showcase the unique urban planning style and cultural value of the central axis to the international community.

Lyu Zhou, director of the National Heritage Center of Tsinghua University, person in charge of the application text of the Beijing Central Axis, and academic chief consultant of the Digital Central Axis, said that the official website of the Beijing Central Axis, the Cloud Central Axis applet, and the Mini Universe and other products have created the world's first digital immersive interactive experience of a super-large urban historical landscape, which is the best platform for interpreting the application text and the best experience platform for public participation. "Digital technology has become a bridge for the application, spanning different cultural backgrounds and presenting this architectural treasure that connects the past and the present to the world." Lyu Zhou said.

The official website of Beijing Central Axis created by Tencent

In addition, the "Digital Central Axis" explores the activation and application of digital resources of the Central Axis in multiple scenarios such as music, video, animation, and games, and continues to promote the creative transformation and innovative development of the IP of the Beijing Central Axis. A digital resource library was built based on the various digital resources accumulated in the early stage of the construction of the Digital Central Axis. In the past three years, many Tencent self-developed game products, including "Tian Ya Ming Yue Dao", "Peace Elite", "Yuan Meng Zhi Xing", and "Tencent Kou Ding", have attracted tens of millions of users, especially young users, to participate in the inheritance, protection, and innovative development of the Beijing Central Axis through various methods such as IP activation and content co-creation.

"We are exploring innovative ways to immortalize cultural heritage in the digital world," said Shu Zhan, head of the Digital Culture Lab at Tencent's Sustainable Social Value Division. "The 'Digital Axis' project proves that digital technology can not only provide technical support for the protection of cultural heritage, but also explore new models for revitalization, utilization, inheritance and innovation. I hope that in the future these technologies will allow more world cultural heritage to be 'immortalized' in the digital world."

All citizens become "digital night watchmen" to participate in the protection and inheritance of the central axis

According to the requirements of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee's "Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage" and its "Operational Guidelines", the public needs to participate in the protection and inheritance of cultural heritage, which is also an indispensable measure when applying for a new world heritage site.

However, the area covered by the Beijing Central Axis is very wide and the difficulty is greater. To this end, the Beijing Central Axis World Heritage Protection Office has joined hands with Tencent and other institutions to build a "digital night watchman" volunteer system. Citizens and tourists can use the "Cloud Central Axis" applet, scan the QR code, take photos and upload the inspection reports of the buildings and cultural relics around them. While traveling through time and space to appreciate the charm of history and culture, they can also contribute to the protection of Beijing's Central Axis.

In August 2023, during the inspection of the Central Axis World Heritage Site, an international heritage expert scanned the QR code to experience the "Cloud Central Axis" applet and spoke highly of its convenience and innovation. He believes that through the combination of QR codes and digital platforms, the "digital night watchman" not only improves monitoring efficiency, but also enhances the enthusiasm of public participation, providing strong support for heritage protection.

After the inspection of the central axis, the public's enthusiasm for participation remained high. In just one summer vacation, 7,000 inspection data pictures were formed, most of which were completed by young people aged 10-16. The "Digital Night Watchman" volunteer system has become a must-check-in project for primary and secondary school students.

Users use the Digital Night Watchman applet to upload monitoring photos

He Junde from Class 32 of Ruishi Branch of Beijing No. 80 Middle School said: "Through visits, learning and research, we are moved by the spirit of the ancient night watchmen who stayed up all night, reported time on time and never missed a day. We call on more people to protect historical relics and monuments together."

So far, the "Cloud Central Axis" applet has nearly 800,000 registered users, more than 70,000 inspection photos have been submitted, and the number of volunteers is nearly 17,000. Through a combination of online and offline methods, the "digital watchmen" are lighting up the landmarks of the central axis.

"The application of the 'Central Axis' for World Heritage status is not only a matter of concern to the government, but also to society," said Chen Juhong, vice president of Tencent and head of the Sustainable Social Value Division. "We hope to strengthen the participation and outreach of the public and social forces and find a sustainable way to revitalize and utilize cultural heritage."