Destination: Asia
Photo We Love: Two Faiths, One Prayer
by World Hum | 09.02.09 | 4:27 PM ET
REUTERS/Pichi Chuang The Dalai Lama listens to his interpreter as Cardinal Paul Shan Kuo-hsi of Taiwan’s Catholic church says a prayer during a religious dialogue in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
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Yahoo! BuzzPhoto We Love: Speeding Auto Rickshaw in Agra, India
by World Hum | 08.31.09 | 1:49 PM ET
The Bucket and the Cup
by Sophia Dembling | 08.31.09 | 10:37 AM ET
Sophia Dembling knew India would be a land of mysteries. She just didn't find the ones she expected.
McWorld Goes Local
by Jim Benning | 08.28.09 | 12:16 PM ET
Further evidence (not that we needed it) that a globalized McWorld does not necessarily mean global homogeneity: Increasingly—though it has been going on for years—fast food franchises around the world are rolling out menu items created for local tastes.
Domino’s pizzas come topped with squid in Taiwan, black beans in Guatemala and feta cheese in Greece. In China, Kentucky Fried Chicken sells rice congee, while Col. Sanders in India woos vegetarians with offerings like the Chana Snacker, a chickpea burger topped with Thousand Island sauce.
Is Ikea ‘The Disney World of China’?
by Eva Holland | 08.25.09 | 5:03 PM ET
Gawker is inexplicably bemused by an L.A. Times article about the Beijing Ikea, where—apparently this is a shock—locals go “just to hang out.” What, New Yorkers don’t like to lounge on the dining room sets with no intentions of buying? And here I thought that was something people worldwide could agree on.
Parkour in Kazakhstan
by Eva Holland | 08.25.09 | 12:56 PM ET
Kottke posts a fantastic action shot.
Paul Theroux: ‘The Cross-Country Trip is the Supreme Example of the Journey as the Destination’
by Michael Yessis | 08.24.09 | 2:37 PM ET
Yet one of the most intrepid travel writers alive had never driven across the U.S. So when the Smithsonian asked him and five other travel writers to take on their dream assignments, he picked the cross-country trip. He delivered a beautiful story. He writes:
In my life, I had sought out other parts of the world—Patagonia, Assam, the Yangtze; I had not realized that the dramatic desert I had imagined Patagonia to be was visible on my way from Sedona to Santa Fe, that the rolling hills of West Virginia were reminiscent of Assam and that my sight of the Mississippi recalled other great rivers. I’m glad I saw the rest of the world before I drove across America. I have traveled so often in other countries and am so accustomed to other landscapes, I sometimes felt on my trip that I was seeing America, coast to coast, with the eyes of a foreigner, feeling overwhelmed, humbled and grateful.
The other five writers involved are Susan Orlean (Destination: Morocco), Francine Prose (Japan), Geoffrey C. Ward (India), Caroline Alexander (Jamaica) and Frances Mayes (Poland). Here’s Jan Morris’s introduction to the project.
The Plight of the ‘Long-Neck Women,’ Continued
by Michael Yessis | 08.24.09 | 10:21 AM ET
The Washington Post’s Amit R. Paley is the latest to visit the long-neck women of the Padaung tribe in Thialand and ask: “Were tourists really being taken to see virtual prisoners? And if so, would my visit encourage slavery by paying money to human traffickers? Or would I be able to sound the alarm if I saw real human rights violations?”
Last year we blogged about several other stories about the women.
Why Japan Hearts the Amish
by Michael Yessis | 08.19.09 | 9:26 AM ET
Blame Harrison Ford. At least a bit. The movie Witness “stoked the trend” of Japanese fascination with the Amish, according to an intriguing story Jon Rutter.
Beyond that, he writes, the societies have “deep parallel currents.” Among them: “Both espouse collectivism, religious faith, hard work and frugality.” He adds: “Both exhibit marked deference to elders and have deliberately distanced themselves from the outside world.” (Via The Morning News)
Welcome to Seoul’s ‘Air City’
by Eva Holland | 08.18.09 | 4:14 PM ET
Plans are in the works to build an “air city” on the grounds at Seoul’s Incheon International Airport, USA Today reports. The complex, aimed at grabbing a bigger share of in-transit passengers in the region, could apparently include apartments, studios and runways for in-house fashion designers, a theme park, a marina and a clinic designed for medical tourists. Anyone else smell a sequel to The Terminal?
Interview with Nick Bonner: Touring North Korea
by Cullen Thomas | 08.13.09 | 10:30 AM ET
Cullen Thomas talks to the founder of Koryo Tours about his fascination with North Korea and providing tours to the land of Kim Jong Il
Welcome to ‘Queuing Day’ in Beijing
by Eva Holland | 08.12.09 | 11:04 AM ET
The Olympics might be long over, but it seems Beijing isn’t done with its campaign for civic improvement.
In the lead-up to last summer’s Games, we covered the efforts on the part of local officials to tidy up everything from small talk to restaurant menus, and now, one year later, they’re tackling line-ups too—or rather, the lack thereof. The director of Beijing’s Capital Ethic Development Office is implementing monthly “Queuing Days” to encourage waiting in line at subway and bus stops, instead of the standard mad rush. The Globe and Mail’s Mark MacKinnon has the full story.
The Luxury of Solitude
by David Farley | 08.11.09 | 11:23 AM ET
Photo by David Farley In a Mumbai greenmarket, David Farley hunts for the Indian city's most precious commodity
‘The Cove’ Takes Aim at Dolphin Encounters
by Eva Holland | 08.10.09 | 2:00 PM ET
A new documentary hopes to dampen the demand for “dolphin encounters,” the ever-popular swim-with-dolphins attractions found worldwide. “The Cove,” which won the Audience Award at Sundance before opening in theaters this past weekend, examines the killing and capture of dolphins in coastal Japan—and its star, Ric O’Barry, says explicitly that one of the filmmakers’ goals is to make tourists “think twice before buying a ticket.”
Picturing a staid moralizing tale? Think again. The movie is being billed as part “Flipper” and part “Bourne Identity”—here’s the surprisingly dramatic trailer:
Lights Out in Pyongyang
by Michael Yessis | 08.10.09 | 12:00 PM ET
Journalist Sarah Wang recently spent four days in North Korea, traveling incognito with a group of “potential investors.” Her story in Slate adds some vivid details to what we know about life in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Here’s one scene:
The men in the streets usually wore black or dark blue uniforms that looked like Mao suits, and the women wore cheap white or gray blouses with black or dark blue skirts. The most popular shoes were made of dark blue cloth, with white shoelaces and white plastic soles. The blue color ran and stained the laces when it rained.
Look for more North Korea coverage on World Hum in the coming days.