Archeologists have recently concluded a two-year excavation of the site, and found the town that existed between 1135 and 1728 has an urban layout with a road network and complete drainage system.

Laosi represents the Culture of Yongshun Tusi Regime, which was a special system that China's ancient dynasties applied to rule ethnic groups in certain regions by granting hereditary titles to local leaders.

Laosi was the political and economic center of the region, which is today's Xiangxi Tujia autonomous prefecture, from the Southern Song Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty.

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A bid has begun to have the ruins of Laosi town, known as China's Pompeii for the site's well-preserved cultural landscape and relics, recognized with a UNESCO cultural heritage listing.

The cultural authority in central China's Hunan province, home to the ruins, confirmed Monday that it will urge China's State Administration of Cultural Heritage to add Laosi to a tentative list of Chinese attractions for which the central body is aiming to get UNESCO recognition.

The bureau will submit the necessary application documents to the State Administration of Cultural Heritage before Saturday, it said.

If and when the state accepts Laosi onto the list and nominates it to UNESCO, it could take several years before a decision is made on its UNESCO recognition.

The Laosi ruins, located near Yongshen county, include ancient tombs, pavilions, streets, walls and stone sculptures -- more than 12,000 relics in all.

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"The monks say the service is free, but I'm afraid they will charge us at the end of the tour, or try to get us to buy souvenirs," said Ren Juan, 43, who was visiting with her friends.

"We don't want to ruin the experience by having conflicts with monks."

A public bus driver who did not want to be identified said the number of complaints from tourists and city residents about the Shaolin Temple have greatly reduced since the warning from the tourism authorities.

"Compared with the past, the Shaolin Temple appears to have developed a completely different image in recent months," he said. "The city government has kept a close watch for any illegal or disorderly activity."

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"The monks are very patient, and their introductions always enlighten me because I believe in the Buddhist religion," he said. "It was a totally different feeling compared with the guides used by most commercial tourism companies."

Yang said the service had improved his impression of the Shaolin Temple, adding that he believes it will "shorten the distance between the monks and the public".

Despite praise from visitors, some remained skeptical that the guide service was really free, largely due to the fact that in the past they had encountered people dressed like monks who were trying to charge fees.

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"I practice martial arts every day and keep in good physical shape, so I don't feel tired," he said.

The free tour guide service was set up after a public relations crisis in December, when the temple was criticized by the National Tourism Association for its poor conditions and services.

The association said its inspectors had found disorderly parking facilities, an abundance of over-bearing souvenir sellers, as well as many people dressed like monks offering fortune-telling services or products.

After the criticism, People's Daily reported that police in Dengfeng had detained more than 63 people for violating tourism regulations, while four employees of the Shaolin Temple were dismissed. Ten tourist guides were also suspended.

However, Zheng said that the new guide service simply extended the temple's practice of asking monks to lead groups when important figures visited or during major Buddhism events.

Yang Chaofei, a college student who was led by Yan, said his guide had made his trip unforgettable.

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It is a message that is being embraced at the Shaolin Temple, where resident monks are striving to improve the holy site's image after a storm of criticism last year.

Since February, at least 20 monks at China's most famous Buddhist monastery have been working as free guides for tourists.

Among them are graduates from Buddhist colleges, and each one has received two weeks of training, said Zheng Shumin, the temple's publicity director.

"It's an honor to introduce the temple's glorious history to visitors," Yan Xin, a monk in his 20s, said on March 17.

He had already led two groups that afternoon, during which he interpreted ancient poems engraved in stone tablets, and told stories about the many calligraphy and painting works.

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One significant move was to encourage visitors to travel during the slack seasons of fall and winter. Last year, Tibet's tourism authorities and companies offered special winter tourism packages.

Meanwhile, authorities are cracking down on ticket scalpers at major destinations, including the Potala Palace.

The palace was built in the seventh century and expanded during the 17th century. It was placed on UNESCO's list of world cultural heritage sites in 1994.

This year, the palace will receive an estimated 1.3 million visitors, up from last year's 1.16 million, said Khyungda, an official with the Potala Palace administration.

Between May and October, the administration places a daily limit of 4,000 on visitor numbers for safety. This year, it has installed a 4 million yuan (US$630,000) system to monitor visitor flow.

China's central government has invested heavily in preserving heritage sites in Tibet.

In the five years from 2011 to 2015, it will spend an estimated 1.7 billion yuan on preserving Tibet's cultural heritage, at least 300 million yuan more than the total over the past three decades.

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Particularly since the 2006 opening of a railway to Tibet, visitors have flocked to these monasteries, putting unprecedented pressure on the already ramshackle structures.

"Some monasteries suffer subsidence, some have deformed walls and many of the precious frescos are damaged by temperature and humidity changes and excessive exposure to flashlights," said Tenzin Namgyal.

He believes the situation could deteriorate as the number of visitors continues to rise.

Tibet has reported an average 30 percent increase in the number of visitors annually in recent years, said Tsewang Tashi, vice president of the regional federation of industry and commerce.

In 2011, nearly 8.7 million trips were made by visitors from home and abroad to Tibet.

Meanwhile, the plateau region is planning to draw 15 million visitors annually by 2015.

"Tibet is facing a dilemma: tourism authorities want more visitors and higher revenue, while we, as heritage guardians, want fewer tourists to keep the sites safer," noted Tenzin Namgyal.

The regional government, he said, has worked hard to settle on compromises that meet the demands of both sides.

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Booming tourism in the Tibet Autonomous Region is putting the preservation of its centuries-old heritage sites under unprecedented threat, according to experts.

The local tourism administration is expecting a record 10 million visitors to Tibet this year, a "real challenge" for Tenzin Namgyal, deputy chief of Tibet's cultural heritage administration.

"The boom will certainly bring wealth, but it will also put the safety of Tibet's heritage sites to the test," he said, ahead of the start of the tourist season in May.

Tibet has 4,277 major cultural heritage sites, mostly monasteries.

"These are often centuries-old mud and wood structures that are extremely vulnerable and need immediate protection," he said.

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Thailand's popular tourism destination Phuket Island is hosting a unique auction for couples to marry on Dec 12, 2012, at the five-star resort Paresa.

Situated atop the stunningly sculpted cliff tops of Kamala, overlooking the azure waters of the Andaman Sea, Paresa anticipates unprecedented demand for wedding bookings on Dec 12 - because of the date sequence 12/12/12.

Bidding is starting at a minimum of $3.16, plus taxes and service charges, for Paresa's unforgettable 2012 dream wedding.

Bidding will close on March 31. The highest bid will win Paresa's Magical Wedding Bliss package on this special date.

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A group of Chinese Shaolin monks on Tuesday performed Chinese Kung Fu at New York City's Grand Central Terminal to promote a new circus show.

Together with performers from the Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey circus, 18 Shaolin monks from China's central Henan Province staged a sneak preview of a new circus show "Dragons" with performance of twisting metal rods with bare hands and breaking six-foot-long wooden poles with the force of their own strength.

Many passengers at the Grand Central Terminal stopped to watch the magic from the Orient when one Shaolin monk was lifted by others high into the air with his body balanced on the tips of spears.

"I think the dragon represents so many different things to different cultures all over the world. Our 'Dragons' show means strength, courage and wisdom and our performers are bringing a bigger and better show than ever before," said Alana Feld, producer of the Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey circus.

The "Dragons" show will officially kick off on March 1 in New Jersey and will tour around the United States this year.

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Construction on a Confucius museum recently began in east China's Shandong province, local authorities said Tuesday.

With an investment of 500 million yuan (79.4 million U.S. dollars), the museum, located in Confucius' hometown, the county-level city of Qufu, which is administered by the city of Jining, will cover 56,135 square meters, according to the Jining Tourist Information Center.

A total of 110,000 pieces of cultural relics and 260,000 archived materials about Confucius and his families will be showcased when the museum is completed in three years.

Confucius (551-479 BC), an educator and philosopher, founded a school of thought called Confucianism that deeply influenced later generations. He was also the first Chinese person to set up private schools and enroll students from all walks of life.

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The Ministry of Culture on Tuesday released a cultural development plan that includes a goal of doubling the added value of the cultural industries under its administration by 2015.

The plan specifies guiding principles, strategies, goals and policy support for the cultural industry under the Ministry of Culture during the 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011-2015), Vice Minister of Culture Li Xiaojie said.

Cultural industries under the ministry include opera houses, libraries, art galleries and art troupes.

The industry is expected to see an annual growth rate of over 20 percent during the period, increasing the gross added value of the industry to between 800 and 900 billion yuan (127 to 142 billion U.S. dollars), Li said.

The development plan came days after China published a detailed cultural reform outline for the 12th Five-Year Plan period. Li explained the development plan is a practical implementation of the outline issued by China's central authority earlier this month.

The added value of cultural industries under the ministry amounts to nearly 400 billion yuan, almost one third of the total added value of the nation's cultural industries, said Li.

"People's vigorous demands for cultural products is the biggest impetus for realizing the 'doubling goal,'" the vice minister said.

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The Crow Post House village gives onlookers the false impression that it is deserted, and though residents remain in the village, their situation is far different from that of the past. Nearly all of the current residents are senior citizens or children; a stark contrast to the situation some 700 years ago when the village was considered a crucial strategic post.

Regarded as a major stop for horse riding messengers and traveling officials during the Ming dynasty, the village expanded from a few simple inns to the largest Post House within range of the nation's capital; as the village's military and postal significance increased.

Located in Hebei province, some 150 miles away from Beijing, it's as if time stands still in the Crow Post House village. Commercial tourism has not yet blighted the area, apart from an entrance fee of 30 yuan. But visitors will often find that they are free to wander into the village, especially if the person tasked with minding the entrance goes home early or is engaged in idle chitchat with his neighbors.

Taking in a panoramic view of the village, one will see that it is made up of clusters of low-rise clay houses huddled together in the embrace of the remaining city walls. The internal structure remains unchanged from that of its heyday, with two gate towers situated to the east and west, stables in the northwest and barns in the northeast. Five straight-cut streets, bordered by shops and warehouses, cross each other in four directions.

Until 1913, The Crow Post House village was a prosperous area where businessmen would regularly gather. Every year during the Spring Festival, the small village would be packed with people from nearby regions who would come to sample the village's sensational temple fairs. But after the introduction of the modern postal system, a gradual decline set in and the village stepped back from its earlier glory days.

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Wangzhima Hutong is a typical quiet residential alley, a peaceful respite from the surrounding buzz of the downtown area. Peking Yard Hostel has made its home here for two years, a welcome addition to the city's array of hostels.

Peking Yard is a thoughtfully renovated Qing dynasty courtyard. The feeling of tradition and history is blended with modern design. Peking Yard prides itself on its comfortable environments, which would not look out of place in the latest Ikea catalogue.

Although many hostel mattresses hardly seem suitable for sleeping, the Yard recognizes that after a full day on the great wall, people need their rest. The thick and plump mattresses are among the comfiest to be found in any hostel or high end hotel. The rooms are painted in soothing hues, decorated with a focus on modern minimalism as opposed to Chinese tradition.

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