Destination: Asia
Beijing Park: ‘Disney Is Too Far, So Please Come to Shijingshan’
by Jim Benning | 05.18.07 | 1:57 PM ET
I’ll never forget slurping spicy noodles in a mom-and-pop restaurant in Chengdu, China and studying the meticulously painted Disney characters covering the walls. Why would anyone running a noodle joint want to decorate with Mickey Mouse and friends? Is it really good for business? Examples of piracy and copyright infringements are famously easy to find in China, and many couldn’t be more out of place or inappropriate.
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Yahoo! BuzzTrains Cross Between North Korea and South Korea For First Time in 56 Years*
by Michael Yessis | 05.17.07 | 5:30 PM ET
The test run of two five-car trains today was met with “jubilation and pride,” according to the Washington Post. One train ran from Munsan, South Korea to Gaesong, North Korea, and the other linked the Diamond Mountain resort in the North to the town of Jejin in the South, and both journeys were covered live by South Korean television networks. Each train carried 150 people from North and South and “new hopes of peace and unification,” writes Joohee Cho in the Post.
The Hot New Trend in Japanese Cuisine: 500-Year-Old Kaiseki
by Jim Benning | 05.17.07 | 2:20 PM ET
We’re talking seriously old school—and expensive. Kaiseki, the Japanese cuisine that began in Kyoto more than 500 years ago, is suddenly all the rage these days, according to the L.A. Times. With its extreme focus on presentation and seasonal ingredients, it’s captivating trend-setting Western chefs from Spain to the U.S. (Okay guys, you’re a little late, no?) “The dining experience is intimate, more like going to someone’s home than to a restaurant,” the paper reports. “Most traditionally, the meal is served in your own room at a ryokan—as most in Kyoto still do—while you are wearing a kimono and reclining on a tatami mat. It feels much that way in a kaiseki restaurant like Kikunoi, where you dine in a private room, often with a view of a serene garden, sculptured to be viewed from tatami level.”
Peter Hessler in China: Inside an Obsession With the Great Wall
by Michael Yessis | 05.17.07 | 10:15 AM ET
Of the many striking things in Peter Hessler’s terrific essay in The New Yorker, this one struck me most: “There isn’t a scholar at any university in the world who specializes in the Great Wall.” Several independent scholars, however, have taken an interest in the Great Wall of China, including a six-foot-seven-inch Harvard Law School graduate David Spindler, who has spent more than a decade hiking the wall, compiling information for what he hopes will be a comprehensive book. Hessler joined him for several wall treks, and his resulting story is typical Hessler: smart, dramatic and full of detail.
Travel Writer on Airport Stranding in Texas: ‘My Head Was in Burma’
by Jim Benning | 05.16.07 | 11:48 AM ET
Last month, in the latest in a string of widely reported passenger stranding ordeals, an American Airlines jet with 180 people on board sat on the tarmac in Midland, Texas for almost 10 hours. The flight was headed to Dallas when bad weather forced a detour to Midland, and there passengers sat, unable to leave the aircraft, growing ever more hungry and frustrated. We didn’t know it at the time, but Jeff Biggers, a World Hum contributor who was nearing the end a nationwide book tour, was among those on board. He’s quoted briefly in Joe Sharkey’s story about such incidents in yesterday’s New York Times. I wanted to learn the gory details straight from the passenger’s mouth, so I dialed up Jeff to chat about the experience, and to ask him what he thought of the proposed passengers’ bill of rights to help prevent such ordeals.
Japan’s Latest Budget Accommodation: Internet Cafes
by Jim Benning | 05.15.07 | 3:14 PM ET
Photo by Jael via Flickr, (Creative Commons).
Seriously. The nation that brought us the capsule hotel has done it again. The country’s working poor—and salarymen who don’t want to spring for a capsule after a night of drinking—are spending nights in Internet cafes, according to a Reuters story. For $12 to $20, they get a reclining chair in front of a computer, soft drinks, comics and, of course, Internet access. No word on how many low-budget travelers (also known as the backpack lunatic fringe) are spending nights in Internet cafes, but Wikitravel suggest Japanese cafes are an option, noting that some even provide a mat to sleep on and a shower.
Burning Mao
by Jim Benning | 05.14.07 | 6:14 PM ET
You have to hand it to Chinese authorities. Just a day after the giant must-see portrait of Mao Zedong hanging in Tiananmen Square was damaged when a man threw a burning object at it Saturday, they replaced it with an identical portrait. Which makes you wonder: Just how many giant Mao portraits do they have waiting in the wings? It’s downright Warholesque. According to Reuters, a man from Xinjiang has been held in the case. (Something tells me he hasn’t read China’s current best-selling book.) If he’s convicted of vandalizing the portrait and punished like one man who attacked the painting in 1989, he could go to prison for years.
Related on World Hum:
* ‘Confucius Craze’ Sweeps China
* China to Female Taxi Drivers: No Chunky Earrings!
* Beijing Visitors May Get Some ‘Mixed Elbow with Garlic Mud’ After All
Photo by yeowatzup via Flickr (Creative Commons).
‘Confucius Craze’ Sweeps China
by Jim Benning | 05.10.07 | 9:55 AM ET
Just how hot is the ancient philosopher in China at the moment? A new self-help book based on the teachings of Confucius is topping the nation’s best-seller list. With its time-worn wisdom, “Notes on Reading the Analects” by Beijing professor Yu Dan appeals to Chinese citizens anxious about by the economic and social changes that have swept the nation in recent years, a Reuters report suggests. But some critics in China are dismissing the book as Confucius-light.
Knife Tricks: A Blogger Goes to North Korea
by Michael Yessis | 05.10.07 | 6:19 AM ET
On his blog Knife Tricks, Paul Karl Lukacs posts a Q&A with himself and asks this: Why go to North Korea? His answer: Why not? He knows the $2,200 he paid for his trip will mostly go to subsidize Kim Jong-Il’s totalitarian regime—he went with a Beijing-based group called Koryo Tours to attend a government-sanctioned festival—but he sees a benefit. He writes: “As the Dalai Lama said about travel to Tibet, ‘Go, and tell the world what you see.’”
Chiang Mai Under Siege: The Struggle to Save Classic Thai Architecture
by Michael Yessis | 05.09.07 | 2:25 PM ET
The temples of Chiang Mai are coming apart, and more than half of its historic buildings “have come under the wrecking ball,” according to a story in the International Herald Tribune. Preservationists are taking steps to save structures dating back to the Lanna kingdom, but precisely what they can accomplish—and how they can accomplish it—remains to be seen.
U.S. Issues New Nepal Travel Warning
by Jim Benning | 05.08.07 | 3:54 PM ET
Nepal travel fans were hoping a peace agreement between Maoist insurgents and the Nepalese government in November would put an end to the violence and robberies that have plagued the Himalayan nation in recent years. No such luck, apparently. As a result of ongoing acts of violence and threats by Maoist insurgents, the State Department has issued a fresh warning to travelers considering a Nepal visit to stay abreast of security information and be ready to change plans.
Bhutan Opens Up to Tourists, Globalization and Matt Lauer
by Michael Yessis | 05.07.07 | 4:15 PM ET
Only seven years ago satellite television was banned in Bhutan. Since then, the landlocked kingdom squeezed between India and Tibet has opened itself to waves of outside influence. “Today, globalization is officially sanctioned,” Somini Sengupta writes in the New York Times, “and it is rushing in fast.” The Today Show’s Matt Lauer dropped in last week with cameras rolling during his “Where in the World is Matt Lauer?” jaunt, and Hollywood types such as Uma Thurman and Cameron Diaz are reportedly frequent visitors. Non A-listers are making their way to Bhutan, too, and Thuji Dorji Nadik, joint director in the Department of Tourism, told Reuters reporter Simon Denyer that the arrival of the masses has put the country in danger of becoming a victim of its own success.
The World Hum Travel Zeitgeist: Hawaii, Highways and One Hot Book
by Michael Yessis | 05.04.07 | 5:14 PM ET
Indians: Would Somebody Please Move the Boeing 737 in the Street?
by Jim Benning | 05.03.07 | 3:15 PM ET
A decommissioned Boeing 737 that was being towed through Mumbai five days ago has been abandoned on a busy street, the BBC reports. Apparently the driver reached an impasse in the road and simply took off, leaving the fuselage behind. It was reportedly being transported to a flight school with its wings and tail removed. While some are angry, others see the plane as an intriguing new tourist attraction. Here’s the real kicker: “The driver has not been seen since and no-one is assuming responsibility for the 737.”
‘Terminal Men’ Spend Almost Seven Weeks Living in Delhi Airport
by Michael Yessis | 05.03.07 | 7:16 AM ET
Two Bangladeshi men recently lived in the Delhi airport for 48 days after being turned away from Riyadh and having their passports held by Saudi Arabian authorities, according to a Reuters report. The duo reportedly “would often request the eatery staff to give them some work—not to earn money but to pass time.” It’s an epic stay, but no comparison to Merhan Nasseri‘s legendary residence at Charles de Gaulle Airport. Nasseri inspired the 2004 Spielberg-Hanks flick “The Terminal” and Alfred Merhan’s book “The Terminal Man.”
Related on World Hum:
* Adventures in ‘Airworld’
* Tale of a Travel Martyr
* Airports Get Their Pop Culture Close-Up
* What a Difference Between the Quality of the Items Handed Out by Air France and at the Shelters!