Zoë Sheng Profile
I'm Zoë.
Recent Reviews Zoë Sheng
Mount Wutai
Zoë Sheng Chinese-Canadian in NZ - 12-Apr-19
I had finally made it: Wutaishan. It's not the last one for my China WHS but certainly one that should have been visited earlier than a few odd ones on the list especially seeing that it's only a <5h ride from Beijing (west 2nd ring road even but rush hour would add another hour for sure). Personally I had always put this off because I wanted to go via public transportation or at least a long-distance bus but in spring there is only one bus from Beijing daily, the train arrives at the nearby town of Shahe at midnight, the return train (requiring to buy a ticket from Taiyuan but can be boarded anywhere) is a sleeper - altogether this doesn't sound so bad but then you take a minivan to the Wutaishan area, pay for the green bus routes to get around, return to the main town
Read OnLumbini
Zoë Sheng Chinese-Canadian in NZ - 31-Mar-19
This may be my last review seeing that I will receive all the wrath from Buddhists reading this and...but wait according to Alan Partridge the only religion allowed to be made fun of are Buddhists because "they don't fight back"... besides the comical quote and the fact that real Buddhists would indeed not show anger, plenty of them may not be happy to see I'm not writing something unholy about their sacred place. Would I rate the Church of Nativity equally low? Probably not, besides the fact that the church is not even the place where JC was supposed to be born but at least you a) see a church and b) have the mythology as well
Read OnAl-Hijr
Zoë Sheng Chinese-Canadian in NZ - 27-Mar-19
Mada'in Saleh is currently closed for ... getting ready for tourists? It says "closed for development" and the guide told me they will open it up for the general public sometime in 2020 but most of the places were available for visit with a few "renovation" piles of lights, planks, etc, and some areas are maybe off-limits and I didn't notice. A true marvel to visit nonetheless and harsh for them to close this off entirely. Comes to show that the Kingdom currently does not give a **** about tourism. However, you CAN visit if you are with a guide. They will arrange a visit for you and then it's even better because none of the visitors are here to spoil the fun - so maybe NOW is the time to try and visit?!
Read OnÇanakkale (Dardanelles) and Gelibolu (Gallipoli) Battles Zones in the First World War (T)
Zoë Sheng Chinese-Canadian in NZ - 25-Mar-19
Uhhhh, "battle zones", that alone will not bode well with any committee reviewing it for inscription into the WHS list. On my attempt to cover all three war tentative site in one year (the other two in Belgium and France are rather easy to visit anyway) I drove through Gallipoli on my way to Troy. The scenery here is beautiful. It made me think about the Mel Gibson movie a lot but actually none of the scenes were filmed in Turkey. This is an important part of ANZAC history.
The first section I came across was a cemetery. There are lots of these around the area, often split into ANZAC and Turkish cemetery sites
Read OnDzongs: the centre of temporal and religious authorities (Punakha Dzong, Wangdue Phodrang Dzong, Paro Dzong, Trongsa Dzong and Dagana Dzong) (T)
Zoë Sheng Chinese-Canadian in NZ - 21-Mar-19
I only visited the Paro Dzong and I found it adequate to get an idea of them. You would have to be blind to miss it: a massive structure not in height a la Manhattan skyscrapers but wide, sloping along the relative large hill and compared to the small modest houses Bhutanese live in it looks like a palace. You can see it from the plane, from the airport, probably from EVERY house in Paro, maybe from space? ;) It is, however, not a palace but the government office.
The first time is on the obligatory tour. I say obligatory but actually you can select the itinerary if you have a private tour and this is just one of the must-do things in town and it is totally worth it. The dzong is still in use by the government, or religious government, and you cannot visit anything but the entrance hall and courtyard plus one of the temples. If you think stepping through the gates is already impressive just wait for the view from the terrace. Of course the guides can tell you everything you want to know. Try asking something about the place you think they wouldn't know after the hundredth or thousandth tour they have done - they will maybe not be able to tell you due to the language barrier but not because they don't know
Read OnProfile Data
- Name
- Zoë Sheng
- Country
- Chinese-Canadian in NZ
- Most Impressive
- Abu Simbel
- Proposal
- Mariana Trench
Recently Visited WHS
- Update 10.04.19
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Visited WHS
Rating StatsCalakmul 5Petra 5Huanglong 4.5Shirakami-Sanchi 4.5Shiretoko 4.5Victoria Falls 4.5Al-Hijr 4Le Morne 4Red Fort 4Sanchi 4Agra Fort 3.5Alto Douro 3.5Golestan Palace 3.5Hiraizumi 3.5Koguryo Kingdom 3.5Mogao Caves 3.5Mount Hamiguitan 3.5Pico Island 3.5Potala Palace 3.5Québec 3.5Rideau Canal 3.5Wadi Rum 3.5Bisotun 3Hampi 3Ivrea 3Sigiriya 3Vat Phou 3Ajanta Caves 2.5Byblos 2.5Fujian Tulou 2.5Gelati Monastery 2.5Grand Pré 2.5Koguryo Tombs 2.5Lut Desert 2.5Mahabalipuram 2.5Mount Wutai 2.5Nan Madol 2.5Palenque 2.5Pattadakal 2.5Qinghai Hoh Xil 2.5Sian Ka'an 2.5Anjar 2Bagerhat 2Camagüey 2Paquimé 2Pearling 2Shushtar 2Susa 2Tyre 2Vigan 2Ban Chiang 1.5Campeche 1.5Cienfuegos 1.5Gonbad-e Qâbus 1.5Historic Jeddah 1.5Kaesong 1.5Levuka 1.5Maymand 1.5Nalanda 1.5Robben Island 1.5Tabriz Bazaar 1.5Wudang Mountains 1.5Qalhat 1Aapravasi Ghat 0.5Abu Mena 0.5Al-Ahsa Oasis 0.5Battir 0.5Kuk 0.5Lumbini 0.5Reviewed WHS
- Mount Wutai
- Lumbini
- Al-Hijr
- Tarnowskie Góry Lead-Silver Mine
- Koguryo Kingdom
- Safi al-Din Ensemble in Ardabil
- Susa
- Robben Island
- Fossil Hominid Sites
- Barberton Makhonjwa Mountains
- Takht-e Soleyman
- Ancient Thebes
- Lake Malawi
- Gonbad-e Qâbus
- Abu Mena
- Maymand
- Pasargadae
- Qinghai Hoh Xil
- Rock Art in the Hail Region
- Qalhat
- Champaner-Pavagadh
- Petra
- Puerto-Princesa Subterranean River
- Xidi and Hongcun
- Al-Ahsa Oasis
- Khangchendzonga National Park
- Nalanda
- Manas Wildlife Sanctuary
- Chengjiang Fossil Site
- Alto Douro
- Hubei Shennongjia
- Struve Geodetic Arc
- Zuojiang Huashan Rock Art
- Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region
- Chief Roi Mata's Domain
- Gunung Mulu
- Sigiriya
- Phong Nha - Ke Bang
- Sites of Japan's Meiji Industrial Revolution
- First Coffee Plantations
- Yakushima
- Wood Buffalo National Park
- Papahanaumokuakea
- Mount Hamiguitan
- Medina Azahara
- Fanjingshan
- Okinoshima Island
- Mount Wuyi
Visited TWHS
Reviewed TWHS
- Çanakkale (Dardanelles) and Gelibolu (Gallipoli) Battles Zones in the First World War (T)
- Dzongs: the centre of temporal and religious authorities (Punakha Dzong, Wangdue Phodrang Dzong, Paro Dzong, Trongsa Dzong and Dagana Dzong) (T)
- Early Farmsteads of the Cape Winelands (T)
- Ramagrama, the relic stupa of Lord Buddha (T)
- The monasteries of the Arab Desert and Wadi Natrun (T)
- Voormalige Nazorgkolonie en Sanatorium Zonnestraal (T)
- Sungai Buloh Leprosarium (T)
- The Hadrianic city of Italica (T)
- Huangguoshu Scenic Area (T)
- The Natural-Historical Landscape of Izeh (T)
- The Cultural Landscape of the Central Region in the Emirate of Sharjah (T)
- Sacred Sites associated with Phajo Drugom Zhigpo and his descendants (T)
- Augustow Canal (T)
- Sultan Bayezid II Complex: A Center of Medical Treatment (T)
- Aizanoi Antique City (T)
- Phra That Phanom, its related historic buildings and associated landscape (T)
- Ayvalık Industrial Landscape (T)
- Historic quarters and monuments of Rosetta/Rachid (T)
- Wooden Structures of Liao Dynasty - Wooden Pagoda of Yingxian County, Main Hall of Fengguo Monastery of Yixian County (T)
- ShuDao (T)
- Ngwenya Mines (T)
- Welwitschia Plains (T)
- Human Rights, Liberation Struggle and Reconciliation: Nelson Mandela Legacy Sites (T)
- Hyrcanian Forest (Caspian Forest) (T)
- Yıldız Palace Complex (T)
- Nuruosmaniye Complex (T)
- al Dimaniyyat Islands Nature Reserve (T)
- Alisadr Cave (T)
- Trans-Iranian Railway (T)
- Seljuk Caravanserais on the route from Denizli to Dogubeyazit (T)
- Hamoun Lake (T)
- Ras al Had Turtle Reserve and the Heritage Site of Ras al Jinz (T)
- The Persian House in Central plateau of Iran (T)
- Persian Caravanserai (T)
- The Collection of Historical Bridges (T)
- The Zandiyeh Ensemble of Fars Province (T)
- Zozan (T)
- Salt Domes of Iran (T)
- Asbads (windmill) of Iran (T)
- Group of Monuments at Mandu, Madhya Pradesh (T)
- Royal Manas National Park (RMNP) (T)
- Monuments and Forts of the Deccan Sultanate (T)
- Al Bidya Mosque (T)
- Evolution of Temple Architecture - Aihole-Badami- Pattadakal (T)
- Ekamra Kshetra - The Temple City, Bhubaneswar (T)
- Ancient Ruin of Drukgyel Dzong (T)
- Iconic Saree Weaving Clusters of India (T)
- Worship wooden architecture (17th -18th centuries) in Polesye (T)
- Sites Megalithiques de la province de Xieng Khouang (T)
- Tr’ondëk-Klondike (T)
- Gombak Selangor Quartz Ridge (T)
- Mining Historical Heritage (T)
- Mediterranean Wind Mills (T)
- Pharaon Island (T)
- Fagaloa Bay - Uafato Tiavea Conservation Zone (T)
- Liangzhu Archaeological Site (T)
- Ring of cenotes of Chicxulub Crater, Yucatan (T)
- Yukon Ice Patches (T)
- Limes Romanus - The Roman antique monuments on the Middle Danube (T)
- Prehistoric Cave Sites in Maros-Pangkep (T)
- Gaya Tumuli (T)
- The Ipolytartnóc Fossils (T)
- Kangjingun Kiln Sites (T)
- Ras Mohammed (T)
- Valle Salado de Añana (T)
- Qinghai Lake (T)
- The Wine in Iberia (T)
- Monastery of Santa María de La Rábida and the Columbus Memorial Places in Huelva (T)
- Amami-Oshima Island, Tokunoshima Island, the northern part of Okinawa Island and Iriomote Island (T)
- The Ancient Waterfront Towns in the South of Yangtze River (T)
- Vertical Vegetation Landscape and Volcanic Landscape in Changbai Mountain (T)
- Cultural landscape of the stud farm at Kladruby nad Labem (T)
- SanFangQiXiang (T)
- Žatec – the Hops Town (T)
- Maijishan Scenic Spots (T)
- Kvetera Church (T)
- The Dunejec River Gorge in the Pieniny Mountains (T)
- Salterns (T)
- The Four Sacred Mountains as an Extension of Mt. Taishan (T)
- Ancient Porcelain Kiln Site in China: The Yue-Kiln Site at Shanglin Lake (T)
- The President Coolidge (T)
- Jinfushan Scenic Spot (T)
- Marine Protected Areas of American Samoa (T)
- The Complex of Yen Tu Monuments and Landscape (T)
- The Djavolja Varos (Devil's Town) Natural Landmark (T)
- Baiheliang Ancient Hydrological Inscription (T)
- Asuka-Fujiwara : Archaeological sites of Japan's Ancient Capitals and Related Properties (T)
- Stone Buddhas and Pagodas at Hwasun Unjusa Temple (T)
- Hua Shan Scenic Area (T)
- The Sado complex of heritage mines, primarily gold mines (T)
- The Alligator Sinensis Nature Reserve (T)
- Sites of Hongshan Culture: The Niuheliang Archaeological Site, the Hongshanhou Archaeological Site, and Weijiawopu Archa (T)