A girl wearing the costume of Yang Guifei, one of the Four Beauties of ancient China, performs Peking Opera in Shanghai on November 15, 2009. Photo: IC

Peking opera, along with acupuncture, was included on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity (ICHH) Tuesday.

The announcement came during the ongoing 5th session of the Inter-governmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in Nairobi.

Successfully applying for cultural heritage status is only a beginning, Ma Wenhui, head of the China delegation to the session, told Xinhua.

"We will take this opportunity and learn from the international community on how to protect intangible cultural heritage, as well as raise awareness and enthusiasm back home," he said.

The Beijing Cultural Bureau started applying for Peking opera's cultural heritage status since August last year and spent over 200,000 yuan ($30,140) on the project, Qian Rong, director of intangible heritage office at the bureau told the Beijing Daily.

Currently, the ICHH list is made up of 166 different cultural heritages registered from 77 countries. The committee is deliberating over 47 nominations from 29 nations and states.

In order to be included in the list, applicants must comply with a series of criteria, including contributions to promoting intangible cultural heritage and its importance.

Nominees must also show what protective measures will be taken to ensure their viability.

The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNCESO) conference kicked off in Nairobi on Monday, with delegates calling for more efforts to further safeguard intangible cultural heritage.

Xinhua-GT