Gaoqi Ling – China’s ‘Knife Edge Mountain’
Gaoqi Ling is a natural wonder in China’s Hunan Province, a mountain of perfectly smooth rock with an extremely narrow ridge that people love to traverse despite the apparent danger. China’s Danxia Park is famous for its unique landforms, particularly the multicolored “Rainbow Mountain,” but it is home to other less-known but just as intriguing […]
The World’s Widest Avenue Has 16 Lanes, Takes an Eternity to Cross
Avenida 9 de Julio in Buenos Aires, Argentina, holds the Guinness Record for the widest avenue in the world, at approximately 140 meters. It features a total of 16 lanes, so crossing from one side to the other is quite an undertaking. The history of Avenida 9 de Julio can be traced back to the […]
Japan’s Shortest Mountain Is Only 6.1 Meters High
Benten Mountain, in Tokushima Prefecture, is considered Japan’s shortest natural mountain with a height of just 6.1 meters and a diameter of under 60 meters. Located in the middle of fertile paddy fields along Tokushima’s Prefectural Road 10, Benten Mountain is the shortest mountain in Japan and one of the shortest in the world. It […]
Asia’s Most Spectacular Waterfall Is Apparently Artificially Enhanced
China’s Yuntai Waterfall is generally regarded as Asia’s most impressive waterfall and is often described as a natural wonder. However, it turns out that its spectacular water show is artificially enhanced. Yuntai Waterfall is the most popular scenic spot in the Yuntai Mountains, drawing millions of tourists annually. The tallest waterfall in Asia (a sheer […]
The World’s Smallest Prison Consists of Only Two Tiny Cells
The Island of Sark, the smallest of the Channel Islands located between France and England, is home to the world’s smallest prison still in use today – a tiny building with only two cells. There are no cars, no roads and no streetlights on Sark Island, but there is a small prison dating back to […]
China’s Pyramid-Shaped Mountains Spark Conspiracy Theories
China’s Guizhou Province is home to about a dozen conical hills known as the Anlong Pyramids because of their resemblance to the much more famous pyramids of Egypt. In recent years, Anlong County has become a popular tourist destination thanks in no small part to its pyramid-like mountains which have captured the imaginations of millions […]
The World’s Deepest Subway Station Will Clog Up Your Ears
The Hongyancun subway station in Chongqing, China is 116 meters deep and the difference in air pressure will often leave users with clogged ears when accessed via its elevator. When the air pressure outside of the eardrum becomes different than the pressure inside, you experience ear barotrauma. It occurs most often during steep declines and […]
The World’s Longest Straight Road Pierces a Desert for 149 Miles without a Single Bend
A 149-mile-long stretch of highway connecting two towns in Saudi Arabia holds the title of the world’s longest straight road. Saudi Arabia’s Highway 10 stretches 916 miles (1,474 km), connecting the town of Al Darb, in the southwest, to Al Batha, in the east. It’s quite a busy road, most traversed by trucks shipping goods […]
Camel Riding Popularity Inspires Special Camel Traffic Lights in the Middle of the Desert
During the month of May, camel riding is such a popular pastime at the Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Spring scenic spots in China’s Kumtag Desert that local authorities use camel traffic lights to avoid traffic jams. One of the last things you would expect to find in the middle of a desert is a functional […]
Costa Rica’s Cave of Death Is Lethal to Any Creature That Enters It
The Recreo Verde tourist complex in Venecia de San Carlos, Costa Rica, is home to a tiny mountain cavern that has come to be known as The Cave of Death due to its ability to kill any creature that enters it. Located on the edge of the Poas Volcano, la Cueva de la Muerte is […]
Iran’s Shazdeh Garden – A Stunning Green Oasis in the Middle of a Desert
Iran’s Shazdeh Garden, also known as the Prince’s Garden, is a surprisingly lush garden full of greenery and water fountains surrounded by arid desert. Located 6 kilometers from the city of Mahan, in Kerman Province, Shazdeh Garden is a historical Persian garden built by the Qajar Dynasty, at the end of the 19th century. The […]
The World’s Smallest National Border is Only 85 Meters Long
Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera, a small rock in northern Africa conquered by Spain in 1564, holds the title for the world’s smallest national border, measuring just 85 meters in length. Spain has almost 2000 kilometers of land borders with Portugal and France, but it also has much smaller borders with countries like Andorra, […]
Tokyo’s Spectacles Museum, the Coolest Eyewear Store That Ever Was
For 50 Years, the Rogan Megane Hakubutsukan or Spectacles Museum in Ikeburo, was the most iconic place to go shopping for eyeglasses and sunglasses in all of Japan, probably the world. Located on the Higashi-dori shopping street in Minami-Ikebukuro, Tokyo, the Spectacles Museum was one of the most Instagram-worthy places in the Japanese capital. Although […]
Babyurt – Of (D915) – The World’s Most Dangerous Road
Stretching for 65 miles (105 km) between the towns of Of and Bayburt in Eastern Turkey, the D915 is an extreme road regarded by many motorists as the most diffcult in the world. For many years, Bolivia’s Yungas Road, aka the “Death Road”, held the unofficial title of world’s most dangerous road. Photos and videos […]
This Italian Church Has a 500-Year-Old Crocodile Hanging from the Ceiling
The Santuario Della Beata Vergine Maria Delle Grazie, in Italy’s Lombardia region, is an old church famous for having a real taxidermied crocodile hanging from the ceiling. What’s the last thing you expect to see when you look up in a church? Granted, there are plenty of interesting answers one can think of, but ‘a […]