Chinese Sculptores Create Avatar Mud Figures
Avatar fever is infecting everyone these days and a big country like China wasn’t going to be spared. 15 talented sculptors spent 10 days working on two 3-meters-tall sculptures from James Cameron’s blockbuster movie. One of them is of Corporal Jake Sully and the other of his main Na’Vi squeeze, Princess Neytiri. The Avatar mud […]
China Opens Chocolate Theme-Park in Beijing
Located inside the Olympic Stadium, in Beijing, the World Chocolate Dream Park is an Asian version of Willie Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, in real life. Announced last year, as a way of pleasing the increasing number of Chinese chocoholics, the World Chocolate Dream Park is finally open to the public. As promised, the chocolate theme-park features […]
South Korean Balloons to Free North Korea
In an attempt to undermine Kim Jong Il’s authority in North Korea, members of South Korean nongovernmental organizations constantly send balloons filled with leaflets into North Korea. On January 10, 2010 activists for the freedom of North Korea and the unification of the peninsula, from Paju, 51 km north of Seoul, sent two helium-inflated balloons […]
Tibetan Sky Burials Are Super-Creepy
All funerals are sad and creepy, but they’re way better than feeding the corpse to a bunch of hungry eagles. Sky burials are often practiced in the mountains of Tibet, both for religious and practical reasons. Basically, the corpse is placed on a mountain top and sliced open in various places, to attract the birds […]
South-Korean Special Forces Winter Training
Every year, South Korean special-forces undergo serious winter training to strengthen their minds and bodies and to make sure the cold doesn’t affect them on live missions. More than 200 rangers take part in the grueling winter training session, in Pyeonghang, 180 km east of Seoul. They do gymnastics, swim in icy water, hurl snow […]
Mass Ice-Fishing at Hwacheon Ice Festival
Each winter, Hwacheon county, in South-Korea, draws-in over one million people to the Hwacheon Sancheoneo ice festival, held on a frozen river. Hwacheon Festival hosts sledding, ice-soccer and snowman-building events, but the highlight of the event is the ice-fishing for fresh mountain trout. Under the thick ice, abundant quantities of fish are waiting for skilled […]
Korean Winter Camp Turns Kids into Men
That’s right, at Ansan military camp for children it doesn’t matter if you’re a boy or a girl, they’ll make a manly man out of you. Located about 25 miles from the capital of Seoul, the Ansan military camp gives civilians the chance to strengthen their minds and bodies, by training in extreme conditions. The […]
Finally, a Women-Only Car Park
Sure, some women have been known o have trouble parking, but it’s safe to say the Chinese did a pretty sexist thing here. These photos were taken at Wonder Mall, in Shijiazhuang city. According to a mall official, the parking spaces in the women only car park will be one meter wider, so women can […]
China’s Most Graceful Ballet Dancers
Sure, they’re not exactly members of the Balsoi ballet, but you have to admit fat guys never looked better in a tutu. In an effort to raise awareness to the protection of Pinglu Wetlands, five Chinese members of the workers’ union dressed in ballet costumes and danced gracefully in front of the cameras. I have […]
Boxing on Floating Ice
Boxing in the hockey ring seems dangerous enough, but the Chinese take it one step further. Wearing nothing but a pair of shorts and sneakers, a group of winter swimmers entertained passers-by during a series of boxing matches performed on a block of floating ice. Held in Harbin City, the wacky competition had contestants punch […]
Heineken Presents Tastiest Christmas Tree
Heineken has unveiled its original Christmas tree, made out of 1,100 FULL beer bottles, in Shanghai, China. Created by stacking Heineken beer bottles on a custom-made armature, the beer-bottle Christmas tree has Nanjing Street passers-by drooling when they look it. It may not look like a traditional Christmas tree and beer is definitely not as […]
The Wishing Spheres of Singapore
Every year, the people of Singapore celebrate the coming of the New Year by launching wishing spheres in the Singapore River. The tradition of the wishing spheres was launched years ago by Singapore’s authorities as a way to bring people together and now it’s become an international event. People travel from all over the world […]
World’s Largest Solar-Power Hotel Opens in China
Using thousands of permanent solar panels to harvest energy, the Solar Valley Micro-E Hotel is the largest solar-power hotel on Earth. Built by Himin Group, China’s leading solar products manufacturer, the Solar Valley Micro-E Hotel opened its gates Dezhou City, eastern China. It covers 75,000 square-meters and features thousands of solar panels and solar heat […]
World’s Fishiest Wedding Cake
I’m all for originality, but replacing a wedding cake with a smelly tuna seems a bit too much. But in a country like Japan, where people fight each other with neon lamps, anything goes. A wedding-planning company in Kanagawa has been offering tuna fish instead of traditional wedding cakes for over ten years now. The […]
Man Sleeps with Dead Wife for Five Years
They say love knows no boundaries, but this is taking it a little too far. A Vietnamese man has been sleeping next to his wife’s corpse for the last five years. Le Van, a 55-year-old man from Quang Nam province, Vietnam, lost his wife in 2003. Because he couldn’t go to sleep at night without […]