Asia

Places in this region

Clone Factory

Japanese company creates clone dolls that reside in the "uncanny valley"

Japan is blazing the trail when it comes to developing synthetic humans. Seemingly lacking whatever it is that tends to give Westerners the willies when it comes to human replicas, the Japanese... »

Strange Science, Commercial Curiosities | Edited by Rachel

Agdam

Azerbaijani ghost town, decaying after a war left it an armed forces buffer zone

The fall of the Soviet Union left much of Eastern Europe in chaos. From the rubble of the fallen Russian behemoth, an Armenian autonomous nation called the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic arose in the... »

Ghost Towns, Incredible Ruins | Edited by serflac and atimian

Kuching Cat Museum

2,000 feline artifacts in Malaysia's "Cat City"

Tracing the history of cats back 5,000 years, the Kuching Cat Museum houses 2,000 different artifacts, ranging from a mummified Egyptian cat to strange cat headstones. Although the Cat Museum is a... »

Museums and Collections, Unique Collections | Edited by serflac and atimian

Bull Surfing in Kerala

Bold contestants slide in a rice paddy behind two charging bulls

In perhaps the dirtiest form of rodeo known to man, bull surfing in Kerala, India entails chasing down two charging bulls, grabbing on and sliding at full speed through a rice paddy. Each... »

Cultures and Civilizations , Wondrous Performances | Edited by atimian

Ajanta Caves

Rock-cut cave complex filled with ancient Buddhist artwork

Constructed over an 800 year period, the Ajanta Caves span a massive rock face in Maharashtra and are filled with ornate frescoes considered masterpieces of Buddhist art. Ajanta is split into... »

Architectural Oddities, Outsider Architecture, Subterranean Sites | Edited by serflac, atimian and others

Dwarf Empire Amusement Park

Theme park offers a new life in mushroom castles for China's little people

Dwarf Empire seems like the most exploitative amusement park on earth. Yet despite the political incorrectness of this modern day "freakshow," it offers its little people a chance to start over in... »

Cultures and Civilizations , Architectural Oddities | Edited by atimian and HJHausman

Hong Kong Cage Homes

Appalling and degrading form of low-income housing in one of Asia's richest cities

In a series of massive, Brutalist high-rises, thousands of Hong Kong's poorest residents call wire cages home. Packed 20 cages to a room, and often stacked three high, the wire cubicles barely... »

Architectural Oddities, Outsider Architecture | Edited by atimian and HJHausman

Gate Tower Building

Three floors rented out to the Japanese highway system

For the most part, 16-story buildings in Osaka do not stick out that much. That is unless of course, a highway cuts through them, allowing cars to race through the fifth, sixth and seventh floors.... »

Architectural Oddities, Outsider Architecture | Edited by atimian and HJHausman

Borobudur

Hundreds of Buddhas in a re-discovered Indonesian temple

Built in the late 8th century, Borobudur temple took an army of workers and 60,000 cubic meters of lava rock to construct. Yet despite its massive size and elaborate rows of Buddha statues, it was... »

Unusual Monuments, Giant Buddhas | Edited by tonka922 and atimian