New UNESCO World Heritage Site (Thu Feb 24 2:21am)

New UNESCO World Heritage Site (Thu Feb 24 2:21am)

UNESCO's photographs
This is the latest six World Heritage Site by UNESCO in the Asia Pacific region.

Australia

 The British government build these prisons in the late 18th and 19th centuries. Some of these sites remind Australians of their dark past when many people from Europe came bound with chains, sentenced to punishment 'transfer' for crimes such as theft to murder. Of the 11 sites listed by UNESCO, five in Tasmania, including Port Arthur, which serves as a punitive institution until 1877.

China

Located in Henan Province, Dengfeng Historic Monuments are scattered around the Mount Song, the center of religious worship Tao. There are 13 structures of buildings and ancient sites, including the Shaolin Temple, the birthplace of Zen Buddhism and kung fu; Songyang Academy, one of the oldest learning center in China; and Songyue Temple, where the founding of the oldest brick pagoda in China. 

India 

 Jantar Mantar in Jaipur is the largest and oldest historic observatory in India. The entire building is made of local stone and marble. Built in early 1700 by Maharaja Jai Singh II, the equipment at this site to measure and predict astronomical events with remarkable accuracy. The most interesting is the Samrat Yantra, hours of sun as high as 27 meters (still accurate to two seconds) and two basins that allow observers to follow the movement of the moon.

South Korea 

 Village Hahoe and Yangdong, both in North Gyeongsang Province, was selected as the main representative historic clan culture in Korea. The homes of the aristocracy which is well maintained and landscaped, study room, and the academies reflects Confucian culture of the Joseon Dynasty, the beauty of the surrounding mountains, grasslands and rivers that inspires many an ode by the poet from the 17th and 18th centuries . Mask dance tradition is still alive until now since 500 years ago.

Sri Lanka 

Located 2500 meters above sea level, the Central Plains region was chosen as World Heritage Sites to-eight from Sri Lanka because of ecological value. Mountain area, which includes three protected areas, has a unique ecosystem. The trees are circular and 'midget' is different from the height of trees in lowland forests in the vicinity. These mountain forests storing wealth of flora and fauna, including the almost extinct mammals, such as Langur (monkey small) purple-faced, Loris Horton Plains, Sri Lanka and leopards.

Vietnam  

 Built by the Ly Dynasty in the 11th century, Thang Long Imperial Citadel is the administrative center of Vietnam for 800 years. The fort was later rebuilt by his successor dynasties, and was taken over by the French in 1888 who later added a lot of pre-colonial buildings. In 2002, when excavation for the construction of a new parliament building, found 11 foundations of the palace, about 4 feet below the soil surface, remnants of Ly dynasty court. Excavation of archaeological sites which still continues is predicted as the largest in the history of Southeast Asia.