Destination: Asia
Of Memory and Chinese New Year
by Julia Ross | 02.07.08 | 7:33 AM ET
The Year of the Rat begins today, and I’m missing the firecrackers outside my window at 6 a.m. A year ago, I was living in a fourth floor walk-up above a night market in Taipei, taking in the full clamor of Chinese New Year for the first time.
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Yahoo! BuzzAn Expat Journalist and His Servant
by Joanna Kakissis | 02.06.08 | 12:59 PM ET
Expat stories about maids and servants who come with a house abroad almost always make me wince. Alternately condescending, clueless and gloating, the stories are often never more than apologist reactions to a complicated cross-cultural issue.
R.I.P. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
by Jim Benning | 02.06.08 | 11:50 AM ET
The 1960s icon and one-time Beatles guru helped put Rishikesh on the counterculture map and inspired countless young Westerners to wander East across the Hippie Trail. He died Tuesday at his home in the Netherlands at the age of 91. Just how great was his influence on travel?
The Ryugyong Hotel: ‘The Worst Building in the History of Mankind’?
by Michael Yessis | 02.05.08 | 10:14 AM ET
Longtime World Hum readers will be familiar with the Ryugyong Hotel, a sad icon of North Korea. “It’s a hotel that stands 105 floors, has 3,700 rooms and is crowned with five revolving restaurants,” we wrote in 2005. “No one has ever stayed in it. In fact, it has stood derelict since 1989.” Esquire recently dubbed the building the worst in the history of mankind.
Under the Banyan Tree
by Adam Karlin | 02.04.08 | 11:34 AM ET
Photo by Adam Karlin. The dictators call it Myanmar. For the first time since they crushed the Saffron Revolution, Adam Karlin traveled to the country he calls Burma -- and home.
China Plans ‘Weather Modification’ for Olympics
by Jim Benning | 01.31.08 | 1:05 PM ET
We’ve already reported that Chinese officials are toiling to rid Beijing of troublesome mixed elbow with garlic mud in time for the Olympics. Now comes word they also want to rid the city of rain—at least for a short while. According to the Los Angeles Times, meteorologists will be working to ensure that nary a drop falls during the Aug. 8 opening ceremonies. Writes Barbara Demick: “Chinese scientists believe they have perfected a technique that reduces the size of the raindrops, delaying the rain until the clouds move on.” Too bad they can’t delay some snow right now.
Photo by Ingsoc via Flickr, (Creative Commons).
How Bad is Travel in China Right Now?
by Jim Benning | 01.31.08 | 9:50 AM ET
It’s hard to imagine it getting worse. On Tuesday, we noted the bullhorn-wielding prime minister’s apology to travelers. Now, as a result of the worst winter storms in half a century, Chinese officials are asking migrant workers to cancel their trips home for Lunar New Year celebrations—no small request.
Sipping Starbucks, From Bloomington, Indiana to Shanghai, China
by Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom | 01.30.08 | 11:00 AM ET
Photo by Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom Westerners often assume that a Starbucks is a Starbucks is a Starbucks, but are they right? Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom recalls the big green coffee machine's arrival in two very different cities.
Searching for the Perfect Cup of Chai
by Eva Holland | 01.30.08 | 10:43 AM ET
Last week’s post about eating patatas bravas in Washington D.C. made my mouth water—and it also got me thinking about those meals that I’ll always associate with a particular place and time. I inevitably come back from a trip with a new favorite food or drink, and just as inevitably my attempts to re-create it at home, whether in a local restaurant or my own kitchen, fail miserably. Case in point: my search for the perfect cup of chai.
Chinese PM to Train Passengers Through Bullhorn: ‘I Apologize’
by Jim Benning | 01.29.08 | 1:35 PM ET
That’s right. In what reporters are terming a rare move, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao visited a Hunan train station and apologized for the travel chaos caused by historic winter storms and power outages around the nation. He used a bullhorn.
The Road to Happiness
by World Hum | 01.29.08 | 11:41 AM ET
Frank Bures gets lost in Eric Weiner's "The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Place in the World"
Is Nepal Embracing Sex Tourism?
by Michael Yessis | 01.29.08 | 11:05 AM ET
As unlikely as it sounds, signs abound, according to a story in the latest issue of The Economist. The Nepal Tourism board has encouraged travel for stag weekends and put “beautiful Nepali belles” at the center of at least one campaign.
The Critics: ‘Rambo’ and the Plight of the Burmese People
by Eva Holland | 01.28.08 | 10:30 AM ET
A few months back I wrote about Sylvester Stallone’s latest addition to the “Rambo” series. Sly had wrapped up filming on the Thai-Burmese border right around the time that the military junta began cracking down on protesting monks, and he told the media that he wanted his new flick to help expose the cruelty of the ruling generals. “It would be a whitewashing not to show what’s over there,” he said at the time. “I think there is a story that needs to be told.”
Photo: Preparing for the Year of the Rat
by Jim Benning | 01.24.08 | 1:35 PM ET
A photographer caught children in Hong Kong making radish dim sum—well, at least one of them was working on it—in preparation for Chinese New Year celebrations. Meanwhile, elsewhere in the city, Disneyland officials are boldly re-branding the year of the rat, which begins next month. In an effort to appeal to local traditions, the Wall Street Journal reports, “Disney is suiting up Mickey and Minnie in special red Chinese New Year outfits, and declaring 2008 the Year of the Mouse.” The Main Street parade features a dragon dance and an appearance by none other than the god of wealth. (No, not Robert Iger.)
Video: ‘Money for Nothing’ at Koh Phangan’s Full Moon Party
by Jim Benning | 01.23.08 | 2:33 PM ET
Peter Delevett’s latest World Hum story, The (Full Moon) Party’s Over, captures the scene at Koh Phangan’s famous (or infamous) Full Moon Party, but I was still curious what I might find from the parties on YouTube. The video offerings are many, and they are remarkably similar: farangs on a wide beach, drinks in hand, hooting and bopping to thumping disco music. The videos are amusing—for a couple of minutes. It’s not hard to see why Peter concluded the party was, at least as far as he was concerned, over: