Visitors are expected to pay dearly when visiting the six UNESCO world cultural heritage sites in Beijing.

The six the Summer Palace, the Forbidden City, the Badaling section of the Great Wall, the Temple of Heaven and two of the Thirteen Ming Tombs -- will likely hike their entrance fee after Tuesday's hearing.

For example, in the busy season, the ticket price of the Forbidden City will be to chalk up from 60 yuan (US$7.23) to 100 yuan (US$12.05), entry to the Summer Palace will jump from 30 yuan (US$3.61) to 80 yuan (US$9.64).

A huge rise, indeed, but are they justified?

The move in part has been designed to outprice thousands of potential visitors so as to better protect our cultural heritage.

And it is this that has sparked public criticism.

The managers of the parks believe the current ticket prices are too low and do not mirror their world heritage status. They want to use the price hikes for maintenance of these treasures left by our ancestors.

There is no doubt the sites are historical and cultural treasures whose value can not be measured just from ticket prices. The up-and-down pricing does not strengthen or weaken their attractiveness.

Investigations show that about 90 per cent of the visitors touring these parks are from other parts of the country. The price leverage may not effectively control the overload of visitors in these parks.

The government is responsible for preserving the world heritage sites after it collects taxes from its citizens. Ticket revenues are not enough for maintenance and should not be the main source for cash funds. That is why many foreign countries have gradually cut the ticket price of their world heritage sites and set some periods for free visits.

Limiting visitors to a certain number every day is a common practice taken by most countries in the world to preserve their cultural relics. As for the groups with large number of travelers, they need to book in advance. Simply raising the ticket price is obviously not the best solution. It will turn them into profit-pursuing ventures for some travel companies.

In China, the management rights of some world heritage sites outside of Beijing has been sold to travel companies. Some of them have used ticket price hikes to pool money but neglect investment into their protection and maintenance. This is an insult to our people, to our cultural heritage and to our country.

(China Daily December 2, 2004)