Four sites in China, India, Iran and Spain have been inscribed on the World Heritage List, announced the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) on Sunday.

   Those sites include “Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yuan China”, “Ramappa Temple” in India, “Trans-Iranian Railway” in Iran, and “Paseo del Prado and Buen Retiro”, a landscape of arts and sciences in Spain, the UNESCO said in a press release.

   The east China’s port city of Quanzhou, once hailed as “the very great and noble city” by the Italian explorer Marco Polo, won the prestigious status and brought the total number of China’s UNESCO World Heritage sites to 56.

   Located on narrow plains along the coastline of Fujian province, Quanzhou was one of the world’s largest ports along the historic Maritime Silk Road, particularly in ancient China’s Song Dynasty (960-1279) and Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368).