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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: AO Events
AO Events, Extraordinary Eats, Lost in Translation
Forgotten Perfume’s Sheep Placenta AIDS Soup (aka Ugliest Menu of 2012?)
Sure, every restaurant may have a maggot-filled dish called Insect Story, and what's a Chinese restaurant without a Jacopetti-inspired Monkey Head offering (even if it is just a bowl of fried mushrooms). I don't know, however, of a single other Beijing restaurant that boasts acquired immune deficiency syndrome sheep placenta soup. That's right: AIDS soup, the most ...
AO Events, Theme Parks
Return to Fake Disneyland? Sweeeeeet!
This past weekend, AO hosted our third BeijingObscura outing: a return to the magnificent Copyright Infringement Park, aka Fake Disneyland! Thanks to everyone who made it--it wouldn't have been the same without you, and your absolute awesomeness!!!
AO Events
Sat July 30: Join us at Copyright Infringement Park (aka Disneyland Beijing!)
Update: it's gorgeous out, so get your suntan lotion, your sunglasses, and camera, and prepare for an amazing day! There's no reason to travel all the way to Hong Kong, when Beijing has it's own Disneyland right here! Sure, it's fake, and weird, and... crumbling, but it couldn't be more fun! Discover the unlicensed ...
AO Events, Shameless Promotion
City Weekend on AsiaObscura
Thanks to the kind folks at City Weekend Beijing, for their lovely interview with TheWooLandHotel about AO! See below for the full interview... Or you can read the interview on City Weekend's website.
AO Events
Crab Island Revisited
Oh, what a day! Perfect skies, plastic palm trees with rubber coconuts, terrifyingly rusty water tubes, toxic water, and incredible meat on a stick. All in the flight path of Beijing International Airport's, just a few miles away. (Vroooooom!) Only one person actually howled, "That was the best day of my life," but ...
AO Events
AsiaObscura at World Park: The Experience
Rickety rollercoasters, useless tour guides, and rather offputting cross dressers. Everything you could want in a Chinese theme park! What an absolutely glorious & outlandish day! Thanks to everyone who made it to AsiaObscura's inaugural event, A Trip to Beijing World Park! 世界公园, where Fengtai brings you the world! (A few pix nicked from A cuppa and ...
AO Events
A Trip to Crab Island – Sun, June 12th!
When the summer hits Beijing, there's nothing like the feel of the sand, waves lapping at your feet, sweet dolphins hopping at the horizon. Yep -- this summer, it's time once again to visit Crab Island, the best beach in Beijing! “But Beijing’s in the middle of the desert,” I hear you cry. "There are no ...
AO Events
AsiaObscura.com presents A Trip to Beijing World Park – May 7th!
Saturday, May 7th at 1pmWhy go all the way to Badaling when the Great Wall is right here in Beijing? Join AsiaObscura.com, as we spend a day exploring the eccentricities of Beijing World Park (北京世界公园), the city's quirkiest amusement park. Experience the skyscrapers of Manhattan, the pyramids of Cairo, and even the Taj Mahal of ...
AO Events
The World of Chinese Movie Night: Scenes of City Life
In the last few weeks, we've brought you 1950s girl basketball melodramas, 1940s street urchin black comedies, and saucy 1920s road worker flicks. This week, though, we've got something entirely different: a fantastic pre-liberation pre-code comedy!"SCENES OF CITY LIFE" (都市风光)FREE! This Tuesday, Jan 25th at 7pm7 Dongmianhua Hutong, Beijing江湖酒吧, 北京交道口南大街东棉花胡同7号6401-4611 / ...
AO Events
The World of Chinese Movie Night: Women Basketball Player No. 5 (女篮5号)
This Tuesday night is gonna be an exciting one at Jianghu -- join us (The World of Chinese, that is!) as we welcome freezing January with Woman Basketball Player No. 5 (女篮五号), a fantastically warming 1957 sports adventure, directed by the legendary Xie Jin. It's got girls, rivalry, action, basketball, crushes, and even accordion singalongs. ...
AO Events
The World of Chinese Movie Night: Cow (斗牛)
Chinese movie night at Jianghu Jiuba continues this week with last year's incredible Cow (斗牛, Dou Niu), an hilarious black comedy set in the mountains of Shandong. It's the simple and possibly true story of a poor peasant boy, a snarky dead girl, and a monstrously large overseas cow. "Brilliant!... A tour-de-force..." VarietyWinner, Best Actor ...
AO Events
Big Road, in a little hutong, with new subtitles and a live score!
China, 1934. There's no work to be had. No food to be eaten. Where else to go, but the BIG ROAD?This exhilaratingly awesome Chinese classic -- a silent musical! the 30th greatest Chinese film ever made! -- has gone unseen for far too long. We couldn't find subtitles that made sense, so we wrote new ...
AO Events
"Street Angel" at Jianghu Jiuba – Nov 9th, 2010
Two weeks ago, we showed "The Winter of Sanmao" to a packed house at Jianghu Jiuba. It was incredible. I got a little tipsy, and CCTV published three hard-hitting stories. ("Laughter was waged," they wrote. "Outside, wind just started to moan. Inside, it was common to hear people laughing!" Oh, and my introduction to the ...
AO Events, Copyright Carelessness, Theme Parks
Sat July 30: Join us at Copyright Infringement Park (aka Disneyland Beijing!)
There's no reason to travel all the way to Hong Kong, when Beijing has it's own Disneyland right here! Sure, it's fake, and weird, and... crumbling, but it couldn't be more fun! Discover the unlicensed (and probably unsafe) Shrek, Indiana Jones, and Batman rides, all surrounding a dusty Epcot Center. Admire the ...