A cross-civilisation dialogue between the Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City in China’s Zhejiang province and the historic town of Samarkand in Uzbekistan was held on July 6 to promote exchanges between the two UNESCO World Heritage sites, Xinhua Silk Road reported on July 9.
The event marks a deepening of cultural diplomacy along the Silk Road corridor, as China extends its heritage cooperation into Central Asia and offers its conservation model to partner cities in a region central to its Belt and Road ambitions.
The dialogue drew more than 100 participants from China and Uzbekistan, discussing heritage values, conservation and management, and approaches to revitalising cultural heritage, according to the report. It formed part of the “Liangzhu and the World” programme and marked the first time the programme has partnered with an Asian world heritage site.
Participants discussed heritage revitalisation among Silk Road cities, China-Uzbekistan cooperation in archaeological research, earthen-site conservation, digital technologies and the integration of culture and tourism.
The Uzbek delegation visited the Liangzhu ruins and a world heritage monitoring centre ahead of the dialogue, exploring the site’s conservation and public engagement approach, which uses digital technologies including AI-powered smart glasses.
Samarkand deputy mayor Farhod Nishonov praised Liangzhu’s systematic conservation model, saying it offered valuable experience for managing Samarkand. He said Samarkand would draw on the practices and, using its sister-city relationship with Hangzhou, promote joint exhibitions, two-way cultural and tourism exchanges and youth exchange programmes.
“We hope not only to share Liangzhu’s experience in heritage conservation but also to learn from Central Asian cities in heritage operation and management,” said Yang Xiaoping, deputy director of the management committee of the Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City. The Liangzhu ruins, first discovered in 1936 in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2019, while Samarkand was listed in 2001.
Why it matters for the trade
The substantive line here is the commitment to two-way cultural and tourism exchanges between Hangzhou and Samarkand. That is a signal worth reading for operators working Central Asia and China, because sister-city agreements backed by heritage cooperation tend to precede route development, package building and visa facilitation rather than follow them.
Uzbekistan has spent recent years courting the Chinese outbound market, and Samarkand is its strongest heritage proposition; a formalised relationship with a major Chinese heritage authority creates the institutional scaffolding for group travel, joint exhibitions and youth programmes that operators can eventually sell against.
For the trade, the interesting practical detail is what Samarkand said it would take from Liangzhu: systematic conservation management, digital monitoring and public engagement technology.
Heritage sites in emerging destinations often struggle to convert visitor interest into managed, revenue-generating experiences, and the technology transfer here, including the AI-assisted interpretation tools the Uzbek delegation was shown, points at a Samarkand that could offer a more structured, higher-yield visitor product within a few seasons. Tour operators selling Silk Road itineraries should expect the on-the-ground experience at Samarkand’s monuments to change.
The wider context is that China is exporting a heritage-management model alongside its infrastructure, and destinations that adopt it will increasingly be shaped to Chinese visitor expectations. That is an opportunity for operators serving the Chinese market and a consideration for those selling Central Asia to Europeans and Americans who may value a different kind of encounter with these sites.