This book is enormously stimulating of travel plans. How magnificent the Three Parallel Rivers of China’s Yunnan Protected Areas look, containing 15 such areas (though one wonders what that means in reality) in eight geographical clusters. Of the cities included here, Venice (“an incomparable series of architectural ensembles”) must be preeminent for anyone who’s ever seen it, and for me, Morocco’s Fez (whose Medina was included early on, in 1981) carries powerful memories. The primeval beech forests of the Carpathians (Slovakia and Ukraine) and the Norwegian fjords both look incredibly enticing.
And there’s no reason why Taiwan’s relative modernity — its Aboriginal settlements apart — should in any way exclude its many historic sites from consideration. Australia managed to have Sydney Opera House included in the List in 2007, for instance, hardly historic, and certainly not a natural phenomenon. China, of course, has very many sites of both historic and natural splendor, but Taiwan boasts the highest mountains in East Asia, still relatively unspoiled, as well as many urban sites displaying a fascinating history of migration and cross-cultural settlement.
“Interchange of values” is the first of UNESCO’s criteria for inclusion, and it was under this head that China got the historic center of Macau included in 2005. Under this head, Tainan would be ripe for inclusion, and even the small historic area of Hsinchu — the main point of entry for Chinese immigrants for centuries — might not be exempt from consideration.
All in all, this is a marvelous book, a fact that’s hardly surprising considering the riches it catalogues. It’s easy to use, with the sites listed in order of admission to the World Heritage List, but with detailed lists for each country, plus continent maps on which all the sites are located.
In short, from now on I couldn’t conceive of embarking on any foreign excursion, however brief, without consulting this book’s voluminous but colorful pages (there are more than 650 photos) as part of my travel preparations. But I’m fortunate in not needing any introduction to Taiwan’s own marvels. Other travelers, though, won’t be so lucky.
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