TAIYUAN, June 26 (Xinhua) -- A sacred mountain in China that has been witness to centuries of Buddhist history was added Friday (Beijing Time) to UNESCO's World Heritage List during the 33rd session of the World Heritage Committee in Seville, Spain.

File photo taken on Oct. 4, 2008 shows the white pagoda of the Tayuan Temple on Mount Wutai in north China's Shanxi Province. Mount Wutai was approved for inscription on the World Heritage List June 26, 2009 during the 33rd session of the World Heritage Committee in Seville, Spain. (Xinhua/Yan Yan) Photo Gallery>>>

    The new addition to the heritage list is Mt. Wutai ("five terrace mountain"), comprised of five continuous mountains with flat peaks at altitudes of 2,500 to 3,000 meters above sea level.

    The site is in Wutai County, Xinzhou City in Shanxi Province, 230 kilometers from the provincial capital, Taiyuan City.

    UNESCO said Mt. Wutai was a "sacred Buddhist mountain."

Photo taken on June 25, 2009 shows a structure of the Xiantong Temple on Mount Wutai in north China's Shanxi Province. Mount Wutai was approved for inscription on the World Heritage List June 26, 2009 during the 33rd session of the World Heritage Committee in Seville, Spain. (Xinhua/Meng Chenguang) Photo Gallery>>>

    "Overall, the buildings on the site present a catalogue of the way Buddhist architecture developed and influenced palace building in China over more than a millennium," it said.

    "The success is a new burden that will spur us to better protect the mountain. I feel the pressure," said Liang Yousheng, director of the Mt. Wutai Administration Bureau. Liang said he was delighted to hear the news of the UNESCO decision.

    Buddhist temples on the mountain were built between the 1st century AD and the early 20th century.

    Numerous Buddhist constructions, including 68 temples, 150 towers, 146,000 sculptures and many frescoes and tablet inscriptions, were preserved during thousands of years on Mt. Wutai, which witnessed the development of Buddhism in China, Liang told Xinhua.

    The mountain, the highest in northern China, had been entwined with Buddhism for more than 1,600 years and appeared in many Buddhist books, Liang said.

    "Mount Wutai has been harmoniously combined with Buddhism culture, reflecting the ancient Chinese philosophy of the harmony between people and nature," said Han Jianggen, deputy secretary-general of the Wutai Mountain Buddhism Association.

    Religious activities are held in most of the temples, banned inonly a few of them for better protection, said Mater Changqing, abbot of Wuye Temple, one of the most famed temple on the mountain. His temple receives more than 3,000 people a day.

    Experts had blamed the mountain for being "too commercialized, too urbanized and too artificial," which prompted the Mount Wutai administration to improve its protection work, he said.

    The increasing population around the mountain in Taihuai Town had undermined the landscape and the religious atmosphere, said Han Ruijie, director of the world heritage office of Wutai Mountain.

    It had 6,300 people in 1986. The number increased to 7,700 in 2002 but later decreased to 6,400 in 2007 thanks to the government's efforts, Han said.

    Since 2006, the government pulled down many inharmonious constructions to protect the "Buddhism atmosphere," Han said.

    "The mountain has became more serene after the 'pulling down', which is good for religious practice," said Jamyang Molam, director of administration of the Pusading Lamasery.

    Mt. Wutai receives more than 3 million tourists annually, and the UN designation is expected to push that number higher.

    The mountain had applied to be both cultural and natural heritage but only approved to be cultural landscape, said Tang Wei, director of world heritage bureau, department of cultural heritage protection and archaeology, State Administration of Cultural Heritage.

    The UNESCO said Wutai Mountain was not qualified to be a world natural landscape, Tang told Xinhua Via phone, giving no more details about the rejection.

    Another famed mountain in China, Mount Songshan, also applied to become a world heritage site, but the result has not been released yet. The Shaolin Temple, which is the birthplace of Shaolin kungfu, is located on this mountain in central China's Henan Province.

    As of 2008, China had listed 38 world heritage sites, including27 cultural heritage sites, seven natural heritage sites and four cultural and natural heritage sites.