Ban’ei – The World’s Slowest Horse Race
Horse races are usually all about speed, but in Ban’ei, a form of horse racing unique to the Japanese island of Hokkaidō, it’s strength and stamina that matter most. Ban’ei race horses, also known as ‘banba’, are very different from the fast thoroughbreds we associate with horse racing. They can weigh up to 1,200 kilograms […]
The World’s Oldest Lie Detector – Licking Hot Metal in the Name of Truth
The Ayaidah, a Bedouin tribe in north-eastern Egypt is the last to practice the Bisha’h, an ancient ritual used to determine whether a suspect in a crime is innocent or guilty. They have to lick a red-hot spoon or rod in the presence of tribal authorities, and if their tongue blisters, they are guilty, if […]
Artist Uses Ancient Scandinavian Herding Call to Summon Cattle Home from Pastures
Jonna Jinton is a young blogger and photographer known for making an ancient and haunting Scandinavian herding call called “kulning” viral a couple of years ago by using it to call a herd of cattle home from the pasture. Kulning is an ancient singing technique used by women on the Scandinavian Peninsula since ancient times […]
The Country Where Burying Someone Can Take Months Or Even Years
In most countries, people are buried within a few days of their death, but in the African country of Ghana, burials are complicated affairs that can take months or even years to prepare. In some communities, speedy burials are considered downright sacrilegious, so despite the wishes of the deceased and their immediate family, bodies spend […]
Portuguese Town Encourages Children as Young as Five to Smoke on Epiphany
On January 6 the Portuguese village of Vale de Salgueiro celebrated the traditional Epiphany festival, also known as the Feast of The Three Kings. While the holiday involves such benign traditions as eating cake and singing carols, there is one tradition that causes an outcry every year – parents allow and even encourage their children […]
Meet China’s One and Only “Spider Woman”
Luo Dengping has become famous as the only woman in a group of “spider men” who climb vertical cliffs of up to 100 meters high, without ropes or safety equipment of any kind, for the entertainment of tourists in China’s Guizhou Province. Men of the Miao people, in Southwest China, have been free-climbing steep cliffs for […]
The Chinese Town Where Crickets Are Worth Much More Than Gold
Cricket fighting has been popular in China for thousands of years, and with the country in full economic boom, fans of the “sport” are investing more money into it than ever before. One town in particular has built an entire industry around the genetically-superior crickets living in the surrounding fields, and for good reason, as […]
The Annual Cow Dung Cake Battle of Kairuppala
Every year, the people of Kairuppala, a village in India’s Andhra Pradesh state, engage in an epic cow dung cake battle that often leaves dozens injured. They believe the tradition brings them good health and prosperity. Legend has it that Lord Veerabhadra Swamy, a fearsome form of the Hindu god Shiva, and the Goddess Bhadrakhali […]
The Cruel Spanish Tradition That Kills Tens of Thousands of Greyhounds Every Year
You probably already know about bullfighting and the controversy surrounding this ancient tradition, but there’s another less known tradition that claims the lives of tens of thousands of Spanish hunting dogs every year. And worst of all, nobody seems to want to do anything about it. Galgos, or Spanish greyhounds, are an ancient breed of […]
Adult Adoption – The Secret to Preserving Centuries-Old Japanese Family Businesses
Japan has one of the highest adoption rates in the world, with over 80,000 legal adoptions recorded every year. Yet when it comes to adopting children, the Asian country is lagging way behind most developed countries. That’s because around 98% of Japanese adoptees are bright young men in their 20s and 30s. At the same […]
China’s Increasing “Bride Price” Makes Marriage Virtually Impossible for Poor Bachelors
The shortage of women caused by China’s one-child policy, combined with the country’s economic boom over the last two decades have made marriage a grim prospect for poor men in rural regions. These two factors have bumped up the “bride price” to hundreds of thousands of yuan, sometimes even millions, obscene amounts that most men can’t […]
Man Spends a Full Month Decorating His Home for Christmas
People generally love decorating their homes for the winter holidays, but how many of us would actually put a whole month into making sure that the whole place is filled with Christmas decorations? Well, one man does it every year. 43-year-old Jack Baremans, from Etten-Leur, a commune in southern Netherlands, has always loved the Holidays. […]
Being a Bridesmaid in China Is So Dangerous That People Are Hiring Professionals
In the Western world, bridesmaids are also known as maids of honor, but in China, they are more like maids of dishonor. From drinking large quantities of alcohol on behalf of the bride to putting up with groping and other forms of harassment, bridesmaids often take part in traditional customs that most people would consider extremely […]
Fishing with Fire – A Mesmerizing Tradition of Taiwan
For hundreds of years, fishermen in Taiwan have been catching sardines with the help of fiery stick held over the edge of a boat. The fish are so attracted to the light that they jump out of the water and into the nets of the fishermen. Fire fishing is as simple as it is mesmerizing. […]
Picnic with the Dead in an Idyllic Greek Village
The Pontics are a group of ethnic Greeks who prospered on the shores of the Black Sea between the years of 1914 and 1923. Over 350,000 of their population perished at the hands of the Ottomans, Kemalists and neo-Turks during the Greek Genocide, and those who remained were forced to leave their homeland to seek […]