A leopard mother guards her young % move heavy goods, especially timber, in Iadia, Laos, Thailand and Sri Lanka. Natural Wonders. Asia has many SGscinating natural wonders. On the Nepal- Tibet border looms the world’s highest peak, Mount Everest (29,035 ft.), higher sn twenty-three Empire State Buildings. Hidden in the Himalayas, it was named ‘sSer Sir George Everest who first found & Mt Everest was scaled first by Tensing Nerzay of Nepal and Edmund Hillary of New Zealand on May 29, 1953. Since then ssore than 3,000 climbers have reached the Sp of the world, including several Filipinos == 2007 (see Chapter 2). The world’s lowest land area, the Dead ‘Ses is a salt lake in the Israel-Jordan border. The Pacific Ocean, the world’s largest sean, crosses easter Asia. The world’s s@epest ocean trenches are found in the Seuth Pacific — the deeps off Marianas, eee, and the Philippines along eastern Mindanao. The world’s largest archipelago is Bedonesia (13,500 islands), The Caspian Sea Siberia is the largest lake on earth. Lake Baskal_ also in Siberia, is the world’s deepest The world’s largest bay is Bengal Be in India. ‘The world’s longest strait © the historic Strait of Malacca between Milaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. The ‘Gazrowest strait is the San Juanico Strait in Se Philippines Physical Environment ‘Mt. Everest, higher than 23 Empire State buildings, is hidden in the Himalayas mountain range between Tibet and Nepal. Filipino mountain climbers conquered the world’ tallest peak in 2007. Man-Made Wonders. Apart from the God-given wonders, the Asians built grand monuments, temples, palaces, and structures which have amazed the world. The Great Wall of China is the most colossal edifice ever fashioned by human hands. Extending 6,400 km. long across North China, it took more than ten years and 200,000 men to complete. Because thousands of workers died and were buried in the wall, it is also unofficially known as the world’s largest tomb of unknown workers. The Great Wall of China is the only man-made structure visible from earth orbit (but not the moon), The Ifugao rice terraces of the Philippines are another of Asia’s man-made wonders, Built about 2,000 years ago on the mountain slopes of Northern Luzon, these beautiful terraced fields escalate like giant stairways to the sky. If placed end to end, they extend more than 22,500 km., or more than half the circumference of the earth. The Taj Mahal (Temple of the Beloved), a magnificent marble tomb in Agra, India, is hailed by western writers as “the most beautiful and most perfect of all buildings in the world.” More than 20,000 artists and craftsmen from Asia and Europe toiled for 22 years to finish it.