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Top Obscura
The 38th Reich: Korean Nazi CosplayA couple of days ago, I posted my favorite pictures of cute Korean cosplay girls -- but that's the light-hearted side of 
India’s Incredibly Cool Hand-Drawn Movie PostersVisit the Bollywood poster store now
Ramachandraiah prints movie posters for a living. He's done it ever since 1 
Outrageously Cute Korean Cosplay: The 21 FavoritesWhile sex workers were planning to set themselves on fire across town (thanks, Comrade Joe), M and I were deep in Comic 
The Creepiest Amusement Park of All Time?Singapore is bland. It's a high-priced row of shopping malls and fine eateries, with a few hawker markets thrown in. " 
Classic Chinese Torture Methods (and their cute names)From the strange reign of Empress Wu Zetian (690-705):
"Inviting the Gentleman into the Jug" - Place the victim in a 
Beijing’s incredible (and completely fake) DisneylandI was always sad Beijing didn't have a Disneyland for weekend fun, but it turns out we do. Well, a fake one. Not far f 
Castration Classes at the Beijing Eunuch Culture Exhibition HallThe first time I ever met The Professor, he told me about the eunuch museum. He didn't say much. Just that there was o 
The Cockiest Shrine in BangkokAt Bangkok's Goddess Tuptim Shrine, there's something prickly going down.
At this veritable penis park, there a 
Prosthetic Noses, Red Wigs, and Whiteface… American Characters in Chinese FilmsHollywood's never been too subtle when it comes to Asia.
Mickey Rooney, yellow-skinned, buck-toothed and slanty-eyed 
Philadelphia CheeseSteak Ice Cream"That's possibly the worst idea I've ever heard."
Michelle didn't use these words lightly. She didn't say this when 
China’s all-time favorite (and all-time darkest?) comic book: SanmaoNot many foreigners know about Sanmao. Here in China, though, he’s bigger than Disney.
He's as prone to mischief 
Nazi Fashion in ChinaThat's twice I've seen guys on my street wearing the Nazi iron cross.
The first was an office worker on lunch break. 
Hello Kitty & Cuppuccino!Shoved in a back alley of Seoul's hip Hongdae neighborhood, sandwiched somewhere between "Luxury Ho" Bar and the "F**kFa 
Another Abandoned Beijing Amusement ParkWhat is it with these half-built, then abandoned, Beijing amusement parks? We're old fans of The Romance Park of the He 
Beyond the Valley of the Dwarfs: The Strangest Theme Park Ever?"Before coming here, I was tending cattle, and feeding pigs," Xiao Cao told me. "I never even knew how to dance."
"A 
One Ghostly Cambodian Ruin
It used to be a retreat. 90 years ago, the French spent 9 months building Bokor Hill Station up as the ultimate get 
What the Fortune Teller Told Me (Hong Kong)Temple Street night market is amazing. Past the hawkers of clothes, bootleg DVDs, sex toys and octopus porn, there lies 
Porn, Rats, and Antique Projectors at Sri Lanka’s Classic CinemasWe heard there were rats in The Liberty. That it smelled like urine. That the sound was awful. But it's the most famo 
Beijing’s Dongyue Temple and Their 19 Incredible Taoist GodsSo the rapture left you behind, eh? Feeling cheated? Looking for a new deity?
Try Taoism. These gods will kick 
Disgusting, Deranged, and Totally BrilliantI’m not a great filmmaker. Or a famous one. If I was, I wouldn’t have ended up drenched in a 3AM rainstorm of the roof o 
The Sick Collector and His 1000 Pairs of ShoesYang Shaorong lives in a small Shanghai apartment. He collects women's shoes. Tiny shoes. Shoes for bound feet.
" 
Mr. Chiizu: Great New Photobooth AppI stumbled into an old karaoke pal on twitter this weekend. He's now developing iPhone apps. His latest? A stickerbooth 
Only Looking (ミテルだけ) 33> 
Medicinal Sea Horse SoupI adore TCM. But I don't know what to say about this bowl of "Pigeon Soup with Chinese Medicine" we ordered last night 
Chisney & Koreansney: Local Disney KnockoffsWe already have a Beijing ChineDisneyland, and the abandoned WonderDisneyLand. But what about these Disney knockoffs... 
Learn How to Speak North KoreanOn our recent trip to Pyongyang, we picked up this incredible guide to speaking Korean -- clearly with a northern bent. 
AsiaObscura is Moving to IndiaIn a bit of a fit of madness, Michelle and I have decided to move to India. Instead of doing things in a long, planned o 
Incredible Chinese Stamp Museum (first of two)I'm not a stamp geek. My dad is, my nephew is... but to be perfectly honest, I had some low expectations for the Beijin 
18 Terrible Moments from a Taoist HellA few weeks ago, I posted about the Incredible Taoist Gods -- cool court officers tasked with enforcing rules of life an 
Sweet gruesome statue asking for donations(Also known as "The most bad-ass 'donations please' advertisement ever conceived" - io9)
Halfway between the hippie-m 
A Postcard from ErenhotTwo small dogs are attacking a homeless man, while I'm nursing my lingering fever with sidewalk kebabs and a bottle of Y - North Korean StampsTwo different directions.
(I think these were sent to me by the awesome David & Michelle F, who we met in a t
The Chinese Taxidermy Diaries: The First Day"Was he killed?" asked Xiao Li, as he was carefully slicing around the ear, trying to get at the tendon inside.
"No," s 
Strange TCM #3: Eating a deer’s penis… some people swear by it!Every time I pass by one of those classic Chinese pharmacies, I can't help but stop and wonder... why on earth would som 
Plants vs Zombies, The Chinese Knockoff ToysZombies -- along with time-travel -- are banned in China. (So don't watch my Beijing zombie music video, Zombie Girl.
Category Archives: Animal Stuffing
Animal Stuffing, Our Weird Projects, Shameless Promotion
CityWeekend Covers AO’s Taxidermy Efforts
Yesterday morning, I exploded with glee when I realized our Pyongyang Too book had been covered in the wonderful Drawn & Quarterly -- a whopping year ago! Now if that wasn't good enough, yesterday was also the release of the new issue of CityWeekend magazine, their back page a very fun article devoted to WooLand, me, ...
Animal Stuffing
The Chinese Taxidermy Diaries: The Last Few Days
The taxidermy school days ended as they began: just plain weird. On day seven, Teacher Liu defrosted four squirrels, patchy black and white rodents frozen together in a block of ice. They looked a little like they were caught spooning in an ice storm. But as they defrosted, and we worked on them, their hair fell ...
Animal Stuffing
The Chinese Taxidermy Diaries: Day Seven
I finished my first animal!!!"Mommy, why can't I go outside and play?"
Animal Stuffing
The Chinese Taxidermy Diaries: Days Four to Six
Mr Zhou's a generous man. He loves to hand out smokes. As Michelle and I were working on our sheep heads, he shoved pre-lit cigarettes in our mouths. "Smoke," he insisted, in his thick northern accent, then pounded from the room. There we were: fags in mouths, scalpels in hands, like real professionals. Later, I ...
Animal Stuffing
The Chinese Taxidermy Diaries: Day Three
Day One started with flaying a dog, and Day Two started with flaying a baby dog. So when day three started with Teacher Liu saying, over breakfast, "I think you'll do a sheep's head today," I cheered with glee. I almost spilled my bowl of fresh soy milk & nescafe. Little did I realize, ...
Animal Stuffing
The Chinese Taxidermy Diaries: The Second Day
That first day was a trial. We'd flayed a dog's legs, and worked the bones from the feet. But that was nothing compared to the second. "We've got two squirrels for you this morning," Teacher Liu said at breakfast. I was thrilled -- a squirrel sounded like something I could do all of, myself. But when ...
Animal Stuffing
The Chinese Taxidermy Diaries: The First Day
"Was he killed?" asked Xiao Li, as he was carefully slicing around the ear, trying to get at the tendon inside. "No," said Teacher Liu. "He just died a few days ago." "Died of what?" "I don't know. Don't ask me." "He must have died of something." "He just died. He was old. Really old." "Was he a pet?" "Yes. But he's ...
Animal Stuffing
Off to Taxidermy School
Woo and I have long shared a love of stuffed animals, so it's time to make it true. This morning, we're driving off to Songzhuang Artists Village with two lads from Harbin for a 10-day taxidermist training workshop. A couple of Woo's preview snaps, from our visit last weekend. I just hope my stomach ...