Largest icefield in North America - Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks 304 Columbia Icefield What and Why The largest of the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks , Jasper National Park is famous for its spectacular ice fields scattered around spectacularly scenic mountains, gorges, waterfalls and lakes. Jasper’s landscapes emphasise scale and remoteness. Massive mountain ranges, extensive forests, and large river systems create habitats for wildlife and opportunities for outdoor expl

The ultimate photospot of the Rockies - Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks 340 Lake Louise What and Why Banff National Park , is one of the six national parks around the Canadian Rockies that form the UNESCO WHS Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks . Banff National Park is actually the first national park of Canada , established since the late 19th century, and is famous for its exceptionally picturesque landscape, especially the glaciers, glacial lakes, snow mountains and alpine fores

A gruesome cliff to kill buffaloes and bisons to feed the tribes - Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump 158 Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump What and Why It is not an over-exaggeration that this is one of the rawest, most brutal but culturally-rich WHS that I have visited. A buffalo jump is a cliff formation which Native Americans historically used to hunt bisons and buffaloes in mass quantities. There are actually quite a number of these buffalo jumps in North America and the most i

Mediaeval castle of power and the longest toponym - Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd 374 Caernarfon Castle What and Why Gwynedd is located in the northern part of now Wales , and was a kingdom by itself from the 5th till the 11th century, when it was conquered by England . The Kingdom of Gwynedd , partly a successor state to the Roman Empire (Latin: Imperium Romanum ) , built a number of fortified castles around the area of Caernarfon and Conwy . These cas

Lakes, forests, fells, Beatrix Potter & William Wordsworth - The English Lake District 422 Lake District National Park coastline What and Why The Lake District is a scenic region in Northwest England , which is a very popular holiday destination. It is famous for its lakes, forests and mountains ( fells , from Old Norse meaning 'mountain'). At the heart of this region lies Lake Windermere , the largest natural lake in England and one of the most iconic destinations within

Highest aqueduct in the world, symbolic of the Industrial Revolution - Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal 1303 Pontcysyllte Aqueduct What and Why Canal The Pontcysyllte Aqueduct is a waterbridge that carries the Llangollen Canal across the River Dee in Wales. The 18-arched stone and cast iron structure, designed by Thomas Telford, is for use by narrowboats and was completed in 1805 having taken ten years to design and build . It is the longest aqueduct in United Kingdom (UK) a

Non-royal country house that holds the title of palace once resided by Winston Churchill - Blenheim Palace 425 Blenheim Palace What and Why Blenheim Palace is a monumental country house in Woodstock, United Kingdom. It is the principal residence of the Dukes of Marlborough, and the only non-royal, non-episcopal country house in England to hold the title of palace. The palace, one of England's largest mansions, was built in the early 18th century. The palace is named for th

The largest continental ice-shelf - Los Glaciares National Park 145; Filete porteño in Buenos Aires, a traditional painting technique 01069 Perito Moreno What and Why Los Glaciares National Park ( Spanish : Parque Nacional Los Glaciares ) is a massive national park in Patagonia , Argentina that houses the gigantic ice-caps in continental land. The entire park is around 7,000 km2, which is more than six Hong Kong (Cantonese: 香港, Hoenggong ) packed together. These massive

The roaring, gigantic waterfall system - Iguazú National Park 303; Iguaçu National Park 355 Iguazú - Argentinian side What and Why Upon seeing the spectacular Iguazú , the former American First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt reportedly exclaimed, ' Poor Niagara ! '. When we were touring and told some of our friends we would be visiting Iguazú, they echoed and claimed, ' You won't need to visit another waterfall after that. '. You can imagine the sheer majepsty and greatness of thi

Quiet town with a history of colonisation - Historic Quarter of the City of Colonia del Sacramento 747; Tango 00258 Colonia del Sacramento What and Why Colonia del Sacramento , meaning 'Sacrament Colony' in Spanish, was founded in the late 17th century by the Portuguese, sandwiched in between the Portuguese Colonial Brazil ( Portuguese : Brasil Colonial ) and the Spanish Vice Royalty of the River Plate ( Spanish : Virreinato del Río de la Plata ) , which later includes Argen

Small pyramids and temples of the Kush Empire - Archaeological Sites of the Island of Meroe 1336; Date palm, knowledge, skills, traditions and practices 01509; Al-Jertiq: practices, rituals and expressions for preservation, protection, abundance and fertility in Sudan 02275 Small pyramids of Meroe What and Why I am extremely proud that as a Chinese I actually took a Sudanese to his own heritage treasure of Meroë ( Arabic : مروي) , during my recent diplomatic work. No joke, t

Another Portuguese fort with a grandiose cistern - Portuguese City of Mazagan (El Jadida) 1058 Portuguese cistern What and Why El Jadida ( Tamazight : ⴰⵍ-ⵊⴰⴷⵉⴷⴰ ) , old name Mazagan, was registered as a UNESCO WHS in 2004, on the basis of its status as an 'outstanding example of the interchange of influences between European and Moroccan cultures' and as an 'early example of the realisation of the Renaissance ideals integrated with Portuguese construction technology'. The c

Gateway to Sahara - Ksar of Ait-Ben-Haddou 444; Date palm, knowledge, skills, traditions and practices 01509 Ksar of Ait-Ben-Haddou What and Why The ksar (Arabic: قصر, qṣar ) of Aït Ben Haddou ( Tamazight : ⴰⵢⵜ ⴱⴻⵏⵃⴰⴷⴷⵓ) is fortified village along the former caravan trade route between the Sahara (Arabic: الصحراء الكبرى‎) and Marrakesh (ⴰⵎⵓⵔⴰⴽⵓⵛ, Amurakuš ) , as blogged in Marrakesh (ⴰⵎⵓⵔⴰⴽⵓⵛ) . There are a handful of families still living in the ancient village. Inside

Lush and water of royal beauty - Studley Royal Park including the Ruins of Fountains Abbey 372 Royal Studley Park overview What and Why An absolute delight to the eye and camera, the Studley Royal Park is a huge beautiful park of green, water and a Cistercian (Latin: Cisterciensis) abbey ruin. It is located in Ripon and offers an enjoyable day of picnic and outing. The abbey ruins go as far as the 12th century while the park is largely built during the 18th century. The pa

Park of fire and water; and perhaps the origin of the end of the world - Yellowstone National Park 28 Yellowstone signboard What and Why The fact that I have to do a Part II of this UNESCO WHS shows how much is there to offer from this Park. The Yellowstone volcano is the largest volcanic system in North America and is termed as a ' supervolcano ' because the caldera was formed by exceptionally large explosive eruptions and is one of the seven in the world. The magma chambe

Park of fire and water; and perhaps the origin of the end of the world - Yellowstone National Park 28 Prismatic Spring What and Why Yellowstone National Park possesses two firsts in history: the first national park in the world in 1872 (this might be disputed depending on definition) and the first UNESCO WHS together with 11 others, inscribed in 1978. The park is well known for its geothermal features and extensive wildlife and is so huge (close to 9000 km2, around the siz

One of the world's best bird parks, ironically came from a duck-shooting range - Keoladeo National Park 340 Keoladeo National Park (from internet) What and Why Here is a very ironic fact that pauses me every time I think about it: Keoladeo National Park (Hindi: केवलादेव राष्ट्रीय उद्यान, Kevalaadev Raashtreey Udyaan), a UNESCO WHS, home to more than 300 bird species, probably the world's greatest migratory man-made bird sanctuary that hosts thousands of birds, was originally

Japanese symbol of exceptional beauty and sacredness - Fujisan, sacred place and source of artistic inspiration 1418 Fujisan from Kawaguchiko What and Why Mount Fuji or Fujisan ( Japanese : 富士山) needs no introduction. It is the highest and active volcano in Japan (日本, Nippon ) and at 3,776.24 m, seventh highest island-peak in the world. It is a dormant stratovolcano that last erupted in 1707. Mount Fuji lies about 100 km south-west of Tokyo (東京, Tōkyō ) , and can be se

Triangular shaped village houses in a beautiful snow mountain - Historic Villages of Shirakawa-go and Gokayama 734; Washoku, traditional dietary cultures of the Japanese, notably for the celebration of New Year 00859; Washi, craftsmanship of traditional Japanese hand-made paper 01001; Traditional skills, techniques and knowledge for the conservation and transmission of wooden architecture in Japan 01618 Shirakawa-gō What and Why Shirakawa-gō ( Japanese : 白川郷) is located in a

One of the most scenic and cliff-hanging coastal landscapes in Europe - Costiera Amalfitana 830; Mediterranean diet 00884; Italian cooking, between sustainability and biocultural diversity 02093 Amalfi coastline What and Why The Amalfi Coast ( Italian : Costiera Amalfitana ) is the scenic 50-km stretch of coastline on the northern coast of the Gulf of Salerno ( Golfo di Salerno ) , which clearly possesses unrivalled sceneries and dramatic landscapes. The winding drive along