Onbashira – Japan’s Riskiest Celebration
Held every six years, in the Nagano area of Japan, Onbashira Festival is believed to have continued uninterruptedly, for the last 1200 years. Onbashira, literally translated as “the sacred pillars”, is a Japanese tradition that symbolizes the renewal of Suwa Grand Shrine. It consists of two phases: Yamadashi and Satobiki, the first held in April, […]
Orangutan Boxing Matches Held in Thailand
A Thai theme-park, outside Bangkok has become a popular tourist attraction by organizing orangutan boxing matches. Huge crowds of tourists and “sport” enthusiasts gather at Safari World to watch orangutans duke it out in 30 minute-boxing matches. Forced to wear boxing gloves and shorts, the two primates have been trained to hit each other for […]
102-Year-Old Student Proves You’re Never to Old to Learn
Ma Xiuxian never had the opportunity to attend school, as a child, but she is making up for that in her later years. The 102-year old Chinese woman, from Jinan, Shandong province, began working at a cotton mill, at the age of 13, and married when she was only 18. She gave birth to nine […]
Chinese Seamstress Works with Her Feet
Born without arms, Liu Jianming has learned to sew using her feet, ever since she was a teenager. and still creates beautifully embroidered works of art. The old seamstress could never afford to rent or buy a shop, to work in, so she spends her days working on a street corner, in the Chinese city […]
Watch Out, Here Comes the Monkey Police
Santisuk a 5-year-old pig-tailed macaque is a proud member of the Thai police, doing his best to keep the streets crime-free. Well, maybe I’m exaggerating a little bit, since Santisuk is really just a mascot for the police force of Saliburi district, Thailand. He was found injured, a while back, and has since then been […]
Tuban – The Earth-Eating Village of Indonesia
In Tuban, a village in the East Java province of Indonesia, earth is used to make “ampo” a creamy snack believed to have medicinal properties. According to Rasima, the ampo cook of Tuban, there is no real recipe to making this bizarre snack. All she does is look for clean, gravel-free soil, in the village’s […]
Dress Made from One Million Meters of Human Hair Showcased in Vietnam
A unique tunic-like dress, made out of countless human hairs, was presented by a model, in the center of Vietnam’s capital, Hanoi. Human hair appears to be a popular material fro Asian artists. After a Chinese hairdresser recreated Tiananmen Square out of human square, and made a hair sculpture of Barrack Obama, Kim Do, a […]
Mallakhamb – Extreme Indian Pole Dancing
Modern pole-dancing may be attractive to look-at, but in terms of difficulty, it’s nothing to the old Indian sport of Mallakhamb. Mallakhamb originated in Maharastra, India, during the 12th century, as a form of training for wrestlers. The word “Malla” means wrestler, while “khamb” translates as pole. This old art had almost been lost throughout […]
100-Year-Old Chinese Woman Grows Horn in Her Forehead
Zhang Ruifang, a 100-year old woman, from China’s Henan Province, has a strange horn coming out of the left side of her forehead. This reminds me so much of the horned lady, but Zhang’s horn is much more…horn-like. The 1-century-old woman says her bizarre horn started growing last year, and now measures between 5 and […]
Pig Beauty Contest Held in China
The Pig Contest of Guanshan Village, Guangdong Province, China, is a centuries old tradition dating back to the Qing Dinasty. Hundreds of thousands of tourists, from all over China, travel to Guanshan, every year, to take a look at the hundreds of pigs on display at the Pig Contest. This year, around 500 oinkers were […]
Bamboo Keyboards and Mice Are the New Rage in China
Apparently, one of the globe’s biggest polluters has found an environment friendly alternative to plastic keyboards and mice. Bamboo keyboards and mice are not exactly new on the market, and I’m sure you’ve come across all sorts of wooden peripheral concepts online. Jiangxi Bamboo Technology Development Co. Ltd., the only bamboo peripherals manufacturer in China, […]
Make Your Own Edible Insects with GUMMIX
Produced by Japanese company Megahouse, the GUMMIX kit allows kids and grown-ups to make their own jelly insects, as pranks or food decorations. GUMMIX is part of the Megahouse 2010 Shokking lineup, and consists of special gelatin powder and insect molds. It’s as simple as it is fun. Just mix the gelatin with fruit syrup, […]
Two Indian Workers Weave the World’s Longest Doormat
Two workers of Travancore Cocotuft Ltd. have spent months creating the world’s longest doormat hand-woven from coconut coir. The giant mat is just 1.2 meters wide and 30 mm thick, but has a length of 101.6 meters and weighs 999 kg. Impressive numbers, but the most impressive thing about this mat is that it was […]
Chinese Use Fire as Medicinal Treatment
Oddly enough, setting a man on fire isn’t necessarily a bad thing, on the contrary, it’s actually considered curative. Although I wasn’t able to learn much about this strange medical procedure, fire treatment is apparently very popular during the winter months, in Chinese traditional hospitals. People believe this will keep them safe from illnesses like […]
Japanese Invent Bionic Potato-Chip Grabber
Yup, leave it to the Japanese to invent something completely useless, yet totally cool. This time it’s a grabbing device for potato chips. Potato chips may be delicious, but you can’t really enjoy them without getting grease all over your fingers and then the keyboard. Well the Japanese have finally come up with a solution […]