BEIJING, June 28 (Xinhuanet) -- "Developing tourism and protection of the World Heritage sites do not contradict each other at all," said Geng Liutong, a famous expert of cultural relics and development of tourism, with the Beijing Tourism Society.

    "There is no inevitability that one will win and the other will lose," said Geng, who regards tourism as the best human beings' activity highlighting cultural exchanges.

    By traveling around, people expand their living space, widen their horizons and learn more about the history and culture of a certain World Heritage site, Geng said.

    China now boasts 29 World Heritage sites, the third largest number in the world. All of the sites have been famous tourism spots.

    The Forbidden City, or the Palace Museum, situated in central Beijing, used to be the power center of the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties from 1420 to 1912. Twenty-four emperorsof the Ming and Qing dynasties ruled the country from there.

    The Forbidden City was put under state protection in 1961 and listed as part of the world's cultural heritage by UNESCO in 1987.

    The Forbidden City attracts over 7 million tourists annually and it even hosts as much as 130,000 tourists daily during travel peak periods. While the appropriate number of tourists to the Forbidden is about 30,000 daily.

    Luo Zhewen, expert of architecture with the prestigious QinghuaUniversity, said excessive visits increase the possibility of unexpected damages to the ancient buildings, and the exhaust gas generated by human activities will change the temperature and humidity inside the ancient buildings, thus imposing irremediable effect on color paintings and carvings that have survived for hundreds of years.

    Many World Heritage sites face the same problems that the Forbidden City does, said Luo, adding that valid development and use of these sites were needed for the purposing of bettering protecting them.

    It is learned that the management office of the Forbidden City plans to restrict the number of visitors for the purpose of reducing damages to the ancient architectures.

    Yu Changjiang, director of the Beijing Municipal Tourism Bureau,said the World Heritage sites belong to the whole mankind, so it is imperative to understand and study of the value of the sites while developing them as tourists sites.

    Efforts are needed to educate the general public to have a better understanding of the World Heritage sites and to raise their awareness of protecting the sites, Yu said.

    Protecting and making use of the World Heritage sites go beyondthe sole exploitation of their tourism value, said Geng, the expert with the Beijing Tourism Society.

    World Heritage sites, such as the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace and the Temple of Heaven, are not only tourism spots, but also major contents of Beijing as a world renowned cultural city, symbolic sights of Beijing as a national political and cultural center and ideal venues for Beijing to hold major events and conduct exchange with other countries around the world, Geng said.

    They also constitute a major index of the quality of the livingof foreigners in Beijing, Gang said.

    To better protect the World Heritage sites, Geng suggested, people should take a responsible attitude toward history and ancestors who created human civilizations, and should be responsible for people living today, because the World Heritage sites do not just belong to the Chinese people, but also belong tothe people of the whole world.

    People should also take a responsible attitude toward the future, by working hard to pass on well-preserved heritage to the future generations, Geng stressed.

    "We work for the historic and artistic value of the World Heritage sites, not for economic returns," Geng noted. Enditem