Destination: Asia
The Shanghai Qi Pao Club
by Kellie Schmitt | 08.06.09 | 2:36 PM ET
Photo by Kellie Schmitt They gathered to celebrate the sexy, figure-hugging traditional Chinese dress. Kellie Schmitt joined them for a journey into the country's past -- and future.
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Yahoo! BuzzFreed U.S. Journalists Return Home From North Korea
by Eva Holland | 08.05.09 | 11:15 AM ET
Laura Ling and Euna Lee arrived in Los Angeles this morning after months of imprisonment. In the Daily Beast, World Hum contributor (and resident expert on Korean prisons) Cullen Thomas sheds some light on how the happy ending came to be.
Does the Taj Mahal Need a Ferris Wheel?
by Eva Holland | 08.05.09 | 10:43 AM ET
The Telegraph’s Michael Kerr doesn’t think so. Kerr is unimpressed by the news that the Agra Development Authority is contemplating the addition of ropewalks, cable cars and a Ferris Wheel at the most famous mausoleum in the world, all in the name of “enhancing the visitor experience.” He writes: “The Taj Mahal, has, of course, long been a tourist trap, one of those sights that we can take in only as part of a swarm of camera-clicking visitors. Nearly three million people a year are drawn to visit it. Somehow, 360 years on, it is still surviving the swarm. The threat to it now has less to do with improvement than with greed, a greed that infantilises rather than enhances experience.”
Moon-Gazing Around the Globe
by Alicia Imbody | 08.03.09 | 10:32 AM ET
From Puebla to Paris, 12 photos by moonstruck world travelers
See the full photo slideshow »
Kimchi Burgers Bring Sweet Taste of Freedom to Pyongyang
by Alicia Imbody | 07.31.09 | 10:41 AM ET
Just when we were beginning to think that isolated North Koreans might never enjoy the greasy spillover of the expanding McWorld, the first-fast food restaurant in Pyongyang opened yesterday. The Daily Press reports that the Samtaeseong Restaurant—which serves burgers, fries, beer and, of course, kimchi—is already proving a runaway hit with locals and foreigners, and plans to expand are in the works.
‘The Hangover’ Gets Bollywoodized
by Eva Holland | 07.29.09 | 4:18 PM ET
Publicity still via IGN Here’s an unexpected bit of cross-cultural synergy. This summer’s funniest travel movie involving a Vegas bachelor party, Mike Tyson, and a tiger—OK, OK, this summer’s only travel movie involving all of the above—is getting its very own Bollywood remake.
After he had time to think it over, Get the Big Picture’s Colin Boyd decided he approves. “You’ve seen ‘The Hangover,’ right? It’s full of non sequiturs from Mike Tyson to the chicken to the tiger in the bathroom to the baby to the missing tooth,” he writes. “And where better to find humorous non sequiturs than Bollywood?”
Photo We Love: Unruly Umbrella in Mumbai
by World Hum | 07.29.09 | 11:25 AM ET
REUTERS/Arko Datta
A woman tries to control her umbrella along a stormy seafront in Mumbai, India.
A Traveler’s Fine Whine
by Eric Weiner | 07.29.09 | 10:28 AM ET
On the intersection of place, politics and culture
Love and Marriage on the Shatabdi Express
by Eva Holland | 07.27.09 | 11:19 AM ET
iStockPhoto Eva Holland hoped for a romantic boy-meets-girl story from the woman on the Indian train. She didn't get one.
Rory Stewart on our ‘Dystopian Vision’ of Afghanistan
by Eva Holland | 07.20.09 | 11:25 AM ET
In a long piece on the future of Afghanistan, Rory Stewart makes a point about the country’s usual image in the media:
“We are accustomed to seeing Afghans through bars, or smeared windows, or the sight of a rifle: turbaned men carrying rockets, praying in unison, or lying in pools of blood; boys squabbling in an empty swimming-pool; women in burn wards, or begging in burqas,” he writes. “Kabul is a South Asian city of millions. Bollywood music blares out in its crowded spice markets and flower gardens, but it seems that images conveying colour and humour are reserved for Rajasthan.”
It’s not the first time the author of “The Places in Between” has spoken out on the subject. (Via Andrew Sullivan)
Living Among Incompatibles
by Pico Iyer | 07.20.09 | 10:46 AM ET
Why Japan has the best mind Pico Iyer has encountered in a lifetime of traveling
Photo We Love: Beach Day in Karachi
by World Hum | 07.17.09 | 12:36 PM ET
REUTERS/Athar Hussain A man collects shells on Clifton Beach in Karachi, Pakistan.
How to Stay at a Love Hotel in Japan
by Lisa Gay | 07.17.09 | 11:20 AM ET
Want a memorable pay-by-the-hour experience? Lisa Gay explains the ins and outs of a stay at the famous Japanese love nests.
Bombs Hit Two Jakarta Hotels
by Eva Holland | 07.17.09 | 10:38 AM ET
Grim news from the Indonesian capital, where a pair of apparent suicide bombers attacked the JW Marriott and the Ritz-Carlton hotels last night. According to the BBC, nine people are confirmed dead, and around 50 injured.
Parking Fees Around the World
by Jim Benning | 07.16.09 | 3:22 PM ET
The Economist has a great chart on parking fees around the globe. Among the highlights from its report: “European cities have some of the highest daily parking rates, with Amsterdam and London coming out on top. Tokyo is the most expensive place to leave your car outside Europe.”
Cheap travel tip: You’ll find great rates in Chennai, India. Um, road trip!
(Via the Idea of the Day blog)