The Gulangyu Island of Xiamen, Fujian province, along with nine other Chinese cultural relics sites, will compete to be candidates for the World Heritage list in 2016, which might be released by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage in the following weeks.

Gulangyu Island, a well-known scenic spot in Xiamen renowned for its beaches, winding lanes, and varied architecture, has been applying to be a World Heritage Site for six years since 2008.

Following China’s Silk Road and Grand Canal’s success of being listed as world heritages at a UNESCO conference in Doha, Qatar on Sunday, Gulangyu Island is currently waiting for its qualification of representing China to apply as a world treasure.

Previously, all Chinese cultural relics including the Grand Canal and Silk Road that obtained this qualification have eventually been enrolled as a UNESCO world heritage site.

If successfully nominated as a world treasure, Gulangyu Island will be better empowered to protect its rich cultural legacies and strengthen Fujian’s soft power.

So far, over 40 Chinese relics are on the country’s UNESCO World Heritage Tentative list, and 10 of them including Gulangyu Island and Liangzhu Archaeological site in Zhejiang province, will together seek to acquire their candidacies of the World Heritage list in 2016.