National archaeological park of China

The national archaeological park (Chinese: 国家考古遗址公园) of China is a designation created by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH) in 2009 to preserve and present large-scale archaeological sites. National archaeological parks must have previously been designated as Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level, and are considered to have high historical, cultural, and academic value. They include ancient settlements, cities and towns, palaces, temples and caves, engineering and manufacturing sites, and mausoleums and cemeteries. Many parks also have on-site museums.^[1]

The first 12 national archaeological parks were announced in 2010, and since then 24 more parks have been added to the list, bringing the total to 36. In addition, more than 60 sites have been designated as candidates for the national archaeological park status.^[2][3][4]

On 17 December 2009, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage issued the National Archaeological Park Administration Measures. According to the regulation, an archaeological site must meet five criteria before applying for national archaeological park status: it must be a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level; its provincial-level government has issued and implemented measures to protect the site; an archaeological work plan has been approved and commenced; has an archaeological park plan in compliance with the protection measures; has a specialized administration entity with corporate status.^[5]

23 archaeological sites applied for the national archaeological park designation in 2010.^[6] On 9 October 2010, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH) announced the first batch of 12 parks whose applications were approved.^[2]

In December 2013, the SACH announced the second batch of 12 national archaeological parks.^[3] In December 2017, the third batch of 12 national archaeological parks was announced.^[4] In December 2022, the fourth batch of 19 national archaeological parks was announced, bringing the total to 55.^[7]

In addition to the approved parks, the SACH has also given a number of parks the status of "candidate national archaeological parks". When announcing the first batch of 12 approved parks, it also announced 23 candidate parks,^[2] of which 11 were later approved in the second batch announced in 2013.^[3]

31 candidate parks were announced together with the second batch of approved parks in 2013,^[3] of which 9 were later approved in the third batch announced in 2017.^[4]

In December 2017, 32 candidate parks were announced together with the third batch of approved parks.^[4]

In December 2022, 32 candidate parks were announced together with the fourth batch of approved parks.^[8]

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