Connecticut Turkey Farm Always Colors Its Birds for the Holidays
Every holidays season for the past six decades, Gozzi’s Turkey Farm in Guilford, Connecticut, has been drawing visitors young and old with its host of decorative turkeys dyed in bright hues of purple, orange, yellow and green. Bill Gozzi, the farm’s third generation owner, says that the tradition of putting live colored turkeys on display […]
Taiwan’s Betel Nut Beauties – Scantily-Clad Girls Peddling Nuts on the Side of the Road
If you ever happen to visit Taiwan, you might be greeted to the sight of scantily-clad women in neon-lit glass kiosks by roadsides, waiting for men to pull over. Well, they’re not what you think! These women are ‘Betel nut girls’ who peddle small snacks of tasty, stimulative betel nuts wrapped in betel leaves. They […]
Chiara Vigo – The World’s Last “Sea Silk” Seamstress
The ancient Italian art of spinning ‘sea silk’ is all but lost, save for one woman who still knows how to produce the incredibly rare, almost magical fabric. While modern silk is spun from silkworms, Chiara Vigo can harvest the saliva of a rare variety of clam and spin it into a shiny, gold-like material […]
The Chinese Farming Village Where Everybody Knows Kung Fu
Ganxi Dong, a small village hidden deep in the mountains of Tianzhu in central China, is gaining worldwide attention for its unusually skilled residents. Apparently, everyone who lives in the self-sustaining village is a martial arts expert! The Dong people, one of the 56 recognised ethnic minorities in China, pride themselves for having shunned the […]
Couple Married for 60 Years Celebrate Every Anniversary by Eating a Piece of Their Original Wedding Cake
For the past 60 years, this Florida couple have been celebrating their anniversary by eating a piece out of their wedding cake – not a replica, the original one! Ann and Ken Fredericks were married on 19 August, 1955 and Ann’s grandmother had baked a three-layer fruitcake for the occasion. The top layer of that […]
Colombians Celebrate Iconic Jeeps by Loading Them with Everything They Can Get Their Hands On
The Yipao is a unique annual tradition in Colombia’s Coffee Triangle dedicated to the Willys Jeeps, the iconic American car the locals have been relying on since the 1940s. For the people of Quindío district, Jeeps have been a source of livelihood and a significant part of daily life since the 1940s. The unpaved roads of the […]
In Some Parts of the World Ant Heads Were Once Used as Stitches
Remember the gut wrenching scene from Apocalypto, where Jaguar Paw’s wife uses ants’ pincers as sutures on her young son? Turns out it was inspired by a real medical treatment used in part of Asia, Africa and South America. According to survival expert Cody Lundin, who starred on the Discovery reality show Dual Survival, army ants – soldiers that […]
Men Shower Themselves with Molten Iron During Fiery Chinese Celebration
Every year, during the Lantern Festival, the Chinese village of Nuanquan hosts one of the most spectacular pyrotechnics show in the world. Called Da Shuhua (Chinese for “tree flower) the tradition involves experienced blacksmiths showering themselves with molten iron. Da Shuhua is believed to have originated over 300 years ago, when local blacksmiths came up […]
Shocking Mexican Drinking Game Has People Electrocuting Themselves for Fun
‘Toques’, an increasingly popular Mexican drinking game, is both literally and figuratively shocking! Played among friends who want to affirm their macho status, the bizarre game involves participants electrocuting themselves while drinking to see how much they can handle. “The drunker people get, the more voltage they can generally handle,” said Javier Rodriguez, who conducts the […]
Indian Village Plants 111 Trees Every Time a Girl Child is Born
While a vast majority of Indians continue to prefer sons, a small village in the Indian state of Rajasthan has its own unique tradition of celebrating their daughters. Since 2006, the residents of Piplantri village, in southern Rajasthan’s Rajsamand district, have been planting a whopping 111 trees to celebrate the birth of a girl! Given […]
Male Belly Dancers Are All the Rage in Turkey These Days
If you thought belly dancing was exclusive to women, you’re in for a surprise. Believe it or not, male belly dancing is a real thing in Turkey, and it’s totally in vogue. Sporting designer stubbles and dressed in skirts decorated with coins and shimmering tassels, the dancers jerk their hips to Turkish tunes, enthralling their […]
Buying Love at Bulgaria’s Roma Bridal Market
The Romani people, who constitute one of Bulgaria’s largest ethnic minorities, have a unique marriage tradition – a ‘bride market’. Held four times a year on various religious holidays, the market is a chance for poor families in the community to arrange financially beneficial marriages for their children. The families that gather in the city […]
Humane Bullfighting in Costa Rica – No one Can Hurt the Bull but the Bull Can Kill Anyone
While the bullfights of Spain and Mexico generally don’t end well for the bull, Costa Ricans prefer to do things differently. Since cattle are revered as a source of income for thousands of farming families in the nation, they don’t consider it practical to kill bulls for sport. Although bullfights are a main event at Zapote […]
Indian Priests Smash Coconuts on Devotees’ Heads in Bizarre Good Luck Ritual
Every year, thousands of devotees travel to a remote village in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu to put themselves through a gruesome ritual that they hope will bring them good health and success. Believe it or not, men, women and even children willingly permit priests to smash hard coconuts on their skulls! Breaking […]
The Eerie Smoked Corpses of Papua New Guinea
For centuries, the Anga tribe of Papua New Guinea’s Morobe Highlands have practiced a unique mummification technique – smoke curing. Once smoked, the mummies aren’t buried in tombs or graves; instead, they are placed on steep cliffs, so that they overlook the village below. The very sight of a string of charred, red bodies hanging […]