Imagine what it would be like if you could walk through the streets of Europe, then take a left and be in Australia, then take a right and be walking down an American suburban street… all in the matter of a few hours. Well, right now in China you can!

These themed housing developments mostly cater to individuals who desire to live in foreign places. There is even a development just outside of Shanghai where you can walk from one themed housing development to another.

The place, fittingly called One City Nine Towns, is a virtual copy of famous places. You can literally go from Britain to Spain just by walking or riding a bike.

Aside from the one in Shanghai, there is also an Orange County in a town north of Beijing.

The Chinese have sought to perfectly replicate the settings of famous cities around the world. When you go to Thames Town, for example, you will be surrounded by traditional English-style houses, and there is even a pub where you can rest. And just in case you forget where you are, there is a statue of Winston Churchill to serve as a reminder.

Shanghai-based planner Paul Rice said that the town replication design is not just a façade, but is also based on how a traditional English town is planned.

However, these housing developments are viewed mostly as a novelty, having failed to attract the buyers that it targeted. Only a few people have so far moved in.

But this One City is famous for commercials and as a backdrop for prenuptial photos.

“Maybe half the car ads I see on the metro in the morning have Thames Town as a backdrop, or on the TV, if you pay attention to that yogurt commercial, in the background are the streets of Thames Town,” declared Rice.

Aside from China, there are other places in Asia that have copied the housing designs and styles and even used the names of famous places. These developments intend to ride on the fame and glamor of their respective famous places. Consider these: Hong Kong has a gated community named Palm Springs; Turkey has its own Orange County, but modeled the resort after a Dutch fishing village; and the Philippines has the South Forbes Golf City, where the houses are modeled after the designs of those found in Bali, Miami and the Mediterranean.

Truly, these themed housing developments want to create an impression of wealth and affluence on the general market. The buyers belong to an exclusive group of which only a few can afford to feel as if they’re living in a foreign land while staying at home.

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By Von Capulong on 21-04-2012

Weird Asia News

Weird Asia News

What would you do when you find out the Facebook friend you are chatting with is trying to kill herself?

Most people would call the police for help in stopping the suicide, but the Facebook friends of Claire Lin tried to talk her out of it instead.

In the end, they failed to save her life.

Even more bizarrely, the Taiwanese woman was posting updates about the situation and what she was experiencing as she was doing herself in.

One of the chilling photos uploaded by Lin showed her room filled with smoke from a charcoal barbeque burning next to two stuffed animals.

The terrifying event lasted more than an hour, with Lin continually chatting with friends and posting updates about her ongoing asphyxiation.

Her last sad entry read, “Too late. My room is filled with smoke. I just posted another picture. Even while I’m dying, I still want FB (Facebook). Must be FB poison. Haha.”

Apparently, Lin was unhappy with her boyfriend for ignoring her and not coming home to be with her on her birthday.

I bet the boyfriend was filled with remorse when he found her body the following day and had to explain the situation to her family.

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By Von Capulong on 05-04-2012

Weird Asia News

Weird Asia News

Weird Asia News

Weird Asia News

Weird Asia News

Jumping off mountains, swimming with sharks, walking through fire, swallowing swords and other such endeavors are not things most people would expect to do more than once in a lifetime.

Pic: Weird Asia News

For others, once would prove to be one time too many.

Swallowing a nail once certainly falls into this category, and yet consider this tale of a hapless carpenter in China who swallowed the same six-inch nail three separate times!

Currently recovering in Wuhan University Hospital, Li Xiangyang, 48, of Huangshi, Hubei Province, was holding the nail between his teeth when he suddenly coughed and swallowed it.

An x-ray revealed the nail had lodged in his right lung, as illustrated by the above image.

Doctors reacted immediately to the enormity of the danger and fed a fiber-optic bronchoscope down Li’s throat to pull the nail out.

They almost had the nail out when Li coughed again and sucked it back down his throat.

For variety’s sake, this time the nail landed in his left lung. Undaunted, doctors tried again, and at the last minute, Li involuntarily swallowed again and the nail disappeared.

This third time doctors had trouble locating the nail. It was not in either lung and had made its perilous way into the man’s stomach, where it was finally extricated via a gastro-scope clamp.

Some nails just won’t take “no” for an answer. Go figure.

And while you are at it, if you think you can stand it, check out this video depicting a man who makes a living swallowing glass and nails.

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Most people fly to Japan for medical and cosmetic procedures that might otherwise bankrupt you in the States. But people in Japan apparently stay in their country and pay to look worse.

In Japan, having perfect teeth is often frowned upon as it is often seen as intimidating to others who might be tempted to strike up a conversation. The result is “imperfect” veneers — “Tsuke-yaeba,” or “stick-on crooked teeth.”

Continue reading at Weird Asia News

Commuting passersby on a busy road in the middle of Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China, were astonished by the sight of a man practicing yoga in the middle of the morning rush hour.

His actions brought the city center to near gridlock, and how he found the presence of mind to perform dangerous asanas while traffic whizzed by and horns blared is an amazing feat all by itself.

The man, whose name was not released by the press, reduced traffic to an annoying crawl as commuters tried to make their way to work. This is not the first time this unknown man picked this thoroughfare to take out his mat and do his yoga poses, but no one knows why he likes this particular and very dangerous spot.

The police have been forced to stop traffic so that they can move him out of the area, but he always returns. Despite numerous arrests, this strange fellow is like those swallows returning to the chapel at Capistrano, although he doesn’t wait as long as the birds do for an encore performance.

Continue reading at Weird Asia News

Although a rose by any other name is and always will be still a rose, learning how to to say the word ‘rose’ in other languages, can be difficult.

One student of the Korean language, Rhiannon Brooksbank-Jones of Beeston, Nottingham, England, was having so much trouble pronouncing some crucial sounds that she went to an amazing extreme.

She had her tongue surgically lengthened to improve her ability to speak the language that represents the culture of her unusual obsession.

“I’d been learning Korean for about two years, and my speaking level is now high, but I was really struggling with particular sounds,” said Rhiannon, who dreams of living and working in South Korea once she finishes school, even though she has never visited.

Rhiannon was born with an unusually thick flap of skin that joins the underside of the tongue to the floor of the mouth.

The condition is sometimes referred to as “tongue tie.”

According to her dentist, this is why her tongue is slightly shorter than average.

Continue reading at Weird Asia News

Heroes come in all shapes and sizes in the animal world as well as in the human realm. Perhaps those with four feet (or hooves in this case) don’t get all the attention they rightfully deserve, but in China, this has already begun to change.

Zhu Jianqiang, whose name translates to Strong-Willed Pig, survived more than a month buried under the devastating rubble of the 2008 earthquake that afflicted China’s Sichuan province.

The 8.0-magnitude quake, which occurred on May 12, 2008, claimed more than 90,000 lives and wreaked a path of devastating destruction all across Sichuan and parts of neighboring Shanxi and Gansu provinces, was considered the worst natural disaster in a generation.

Now Zhu, who is already considered a hero, is in the headlines once again, this time as the result of a successful clone.

Continue reading at Weird Asia News

The Japanese love their noodles, so it’s no surprise that they opened a museum to show this.

The museum, opened by Nissin Foods and located in Yokohama, Japan, celebrates 40 years of the popular food beloved by broke college students everywhere. On display is the history of the instant noodle, created by Momofuku Ando, who invented chicken ramen noodles way back in 1958 after witnessing people go nuts for noodles in post-war Japan.

The museum itself is 10,000 square meters and contains a “My Cup Noodle Factory,” which allows visitors to create their own flavor. This, of course, includes restaurants that serves every type of noodle imaginable.

Continue reading at Weird Asia News

Things are not always what they seem and the concept of freedom is no exception. It is sometimes an ideal that is just out of reach, like that brass ring on the whirling carousel of life. At other times, it is entangled in thoughts and dreams that seem inimical and confusing.

Maal Chaal translates into slut walk and the derisive word is meant to draw attention and elicit anger as a symbol of stereotyping based on what a woman is wearing.

The choice to wear provocative clothing isn’t always the most prudent for obvious reasons, but that does not change the fact that it is a woman’s choice to make and doesn’t give anyone else the right to attack her.

Certainly bidding for attention when it might not be wanted can lead to trouble, but no mater how a person dresses or how they act, they have the right to be safe and unharmed.

Continue reading at Weird Asia News

Reminiscent of the solidarity demonstrated by angry American colonists when they dumped gallons of highly taxed British tea into Boston Harbor, history has repeated itself in the southeastern Asian city-state of Singapore where food (a spice) has become a catalyst for a massive political campaign.

Earlier this month, tens of thousands of people in Singapore vowed to either cook or eat curry as a means of drawing attention to their growing discontent over the increasing problem of immigration.

The famous spice became a symbol of displeasure after an immigrant family from China complained about the smell of curry emanating from the home of an Indian neighbor and officials called to the scene sought a compromise.

Social media and press coverage drew massive support from almost 60,000 people who have vowed to show their sympathy with the Indian family by cooking curry.

“Because…Singapore is such a cramped place, neighbors should understand each others’ culture,” said Stanley Wong, a 37-year old accountant.

Continue reading a Weird Asia News

Most people tend to think that since coins are legal tender, they should be allowed to pay for whatever they want with them, regardless of the price. For one man in China, he learned that this is only half true.

A man named Wang purchased a car at a dealership in Xianyang City, located in the Shaanxi province of Northwest China on August 1. Instead of depositing the coins he’s earned as a flour wholesaler over the past year, he rolled all of them up and used a van to bring them to the dealership.

Continue reading at Weird Asia News

A relatively new medium, Chinese leaf art symbolizes the universal need for artists to constantly seek new mediums to imprint their skillful images upon.

Mother Nature has been the source of a multitude of artistic inspiration down through the ages, but few representations are as intricately beautiful and fragile as leaf carving.

Considering how long mankind has been dabbling in artistic expression and how much longer than even that trees have been an integral part of the human experience and landscape, it is somewhat odd that no one ever thought of this before, but then again, who’s to question the source of artistic whimsy?

The Chinar tree, which is native to India, Pakistan and China, is the most commonly used, as the distribution of veins in these leaves greatly resemble maple leaves and are well suited for sculpting.

While this art form may appear young as a genre, in many ways it does fit in with other artistic customs exclusive to China.

Continue reading at Weird Asia News

Dating shows are horrible, horrible things. In China, they’re horrible, horrible things that apparently feature murderers.

39-year old music teacher Liu Hao was a contestant on the Chinese dating show “Happy League” in Heilongjiang province in northeast China. Using his remarkable singing talents to win the favor of a young woman, he beat out seven other bachelors, finally swaying them with his rendition of the running man to techno music.

Unfortunately for the “lucky” woman who chose him, Liu Hao is actually (well, probably) Wu Gang, a suspected serial killer responsible for the stabbing death of a man outside a restaurant in Jilin thirteen years ago.

Continue reading at Weird Asia News

Animal hybrids are awesome, especially when they’re given funny names, like cock-a-poo and zonkey. While a cock-a-poo is relatively common among breeders of “fancy” dogs, the zonkey is relatively rare.

In China, however, one has been born and is now on display at the Xiamen Haicang zoo where it was born. Formed from the mating of a female zebra and a male donkey, this “zonkey,” also known as a zebonkey, zebrinny, zebrula, zebrass (my personal favorite), and zedonk, weighed about 4.7 stone when it was born.

Continue reading at Weird Asia News

Thanks to a bizarre new practice in China, you can have your very own Hobbes! Well, kinda.

A recent development in China involves taking ordinary dogs and dyeing their fur to make them resemble wild animals. For example, chow chows have dyed black and white to resemble pandas, while retrievers have been dyed to resemble tigers.

Chinese-domesticated animal relations have come a long way since the days of cooking and eating canines. Now instead of eating dogs, people are entering them in competitions, such as the dog dyeing competition at Pets Show Taipei.

Continue reading at Weird Asia News

Not even sumo wrestling is free from controversy. A few years back, a number of sumo wrestlers and trainers – 25 in all – were fired over accusations of match-fixing and other charges, such as gambling, drugs, assault, and gang crime.

Now that the sport is coming back, Japan Sumo Association chairman Hanaregoma stated that sumo wrestlers will not be able to play golf during the tournament, and they must adhere to strict traffic laws. The former is most likely due to sumo wrestler Asashoryu, who was once caught “break(ing) every rule in the book,” such as playing soccer when he was supposed to be injured, “swanning around” in Hawaiian shirts, and…. brawling naked in communal bathrooms. He was eventually forced out of sumo wrestling after getting into a fight outside a Tokyo nightclub in 2010.

Continue reading at Weird Asia News

Themed hotels really aren’t anything new, so to call a “Jurassic Park”-themed hotel – in Japan of all places – weird is a bit of a stret… wait, what’s that? It’s a sex hotel? Okay, that’s pretty weird.

In the Ōita Prefecture in the city of Beppu lies Hotel Jzauruss, a puntacularly named short-term hotel that offers secret lovers a discreet place to go and get it on, only with the added bonus of getting it on surrounded by “Jurassic Park”-themed decor.

The place is affordable, too! If the seedy motel with a burnt out sign down the street is a little too low brow for your taste, Hotel Jzauruss offers a room for an hour and a half for only the equivalent of $ 30.

Continue reading at Weird Asia News

In America, bloggers are typically protected by the First Amendment when it comes to writing bad reviews of establishments. Websites such as Yelp! allow users to say pretty much whatever they want, provided it’s not horrendously libelous. Bloggers in Taiwan, however, are apparently afforded such a luxury, as one woman in Taiwan is being fined the equivalent of US$7,000 for criticizing a noodle shop.

Liu Ying-hui was fined Tw$200,000 for saying in 2009 that a noodle shop she attended was “unclean” and its food was “really bad.” She went on to say that food was “too salty,” the owner a “bully,” and the restaurant itself was “unclean with cockroaches.”

Clearly not the worst thing you can say about a restaurant, but this simple rant, which would have likely gone unseen by most, landed the woman in court.

Continue reading at Weird Asia News