This post will be brief as I have mentioned it before, but 1001 Wonders>Earth documents in some wonderful panorama photography older cultural heritage sites throughout the world. I naturally gravitate towards Korea and Africa to see what they have and it is considerable.

What is interesting is that an old Korean kingdom going by the name of Goguryeo (고구려), which existed from 37 BC to 668 AD, stretched far into modern day China. The borders between Korea and China have been fluid over the years and this has been the source of controversy as either side tries to assert some sort of historical claim to the land, or at least suzerainty. To read more about this ongoing controversy, go to this article from Yonhap. History in this neck of the woods is often subverted to suit political tastes, just ask North Korea. That isn’t exclusively an Asian phenomena, however; it just seems more overt there.

The 1001 Wonders site, perhaps reasonable from a geographical standpoint, places the ruins of the Goguryeo heritage site firmly in modern China. This is valid from a modern viewpoint, but the map of Goguryeo would establish this site as being Korean. Either way, kudos for the site.

The furthest expanses of the Goguryeo Kingdom (고구려) stretching well in Manchuria; a source of considerable historical/political friction to this day.

Be sure to head to their site and give it a look if only to whirl around the panoramas using your mouse. Good fun.

By Michael Gallagher

My name is Michael Sean Gallagher. I am a Lecturer in Digital Education at the Centre for Research in Digital Education at the University of Edinburgh. I am Co-Founder and Director of Panoply Digital, a consultancy dedicated to ICT and mobile for development (M4D); we have worked with USAID, GSMA, UN Habitat, Cambridge University and more on education and development projects. I was a researcher on the Near Futures Teaching project, a project that explores how teaching at The University of Edinburgh unfold over the coming decades, as technology, social trends, patterns of mobility, new methods and new media continue to shift what it means to be at university. Previously, I was the Research Associate on the NERC, ESRC, and AHRC Global Challenges Research Fund sponsored GCRF Research for Emergency Aftershock Forecasting (REAR) project. I was an Assistant Professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (한국외국어대학교) in Seoul, Korea. I have also completed a doctorate at University College London (formerly the independent Institute of Education, University of London) on mobile learning in the humanities in Korea.

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