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Top Obscura
The Creepiest Amusement Park of All Time? 
21 Amazing Bangalore Breakfast Dishes 
Why Chinese People Eat Sea Horse 
Classic Chinese Torture Methods (and their cute names) 
Amazing Old Bollywood Poster Shops 
Learn How to Speak North Korean 
Castration Classes at the Beijing Eunuch Culture Exhibition Hall 
The 38th Reich: Korean Nazi Cosplay 
Beijing’s incredible (and completely fake) Disneyland 
Beijing’s Single Most Horrific Meal 
Prosthetic Noses, Red Wigs, and Whiteface… American Characters in Chinese Films 
China’s all-time favorite (and all-time darkest?) comic book: Sanmao 
This Hindu God has 1,000 Vaginas! 
Why Chinese People Eat Ants 
18 Terrible Moments from a Taoist Hell 
About Andy Deemer & AsiaObscura 
Why Chinese People Eat Deer Penis 
Nazi Fashion in China 
India’s Incredibly Cool Hand-Drawn Movie Posters 
Outrageously Cute Korean Cosplay: The 21 Favorites 
What the Fortune Teller Told Me (Hong Kong) 
The Poem I Can’t Find… 
The Sick Collector and His 1000 Pairs of Shoes 
Small Children Feeding Live Animals to Tigers in a Chinese Zoo 
Beijing’s Dongyue Temple and Their 19 Incredible Taoist Gods 
Why Chinese People Eat Snake as Medicine 
Whoring in Chiang Mai 
American Imperialist Bastards in a North Korean Comic Book 
A Postcard from Erenhot 
Our Six Best China Stories! 
Dr Shankar’s Wonderful Collection of Brains and Other Medical Obscura 
Relive the Cultural Revolution (aka The Weirdest Dinner Theater in Beijing) 
Chisney & Koreansney: Local Disney Knockoffs 
Another Abandoned Beijing Amusement Park 
Porn, Rats, and Antique Projectors at Sri Lanka’s Classic Cinemas 
North Korea frightening customs declarations form - The Disastrous Fall of Sanmao
China’s first sci-fi movie: Death Ray on Coral Island (1980) 
The Taj Mahal… Murder, Incest, and Fratricide - Awesomely Steampunk Portable Corn Roaster
One Ghostly Cambodian Ruin 
Medicinal Sea Horse Soup 
Antilia: The Most Gratuitous House in Mumbai 
On Horse Meat Sashimi 
Deranged Clown Cream Biscuits 
Pyongyang Too: A Tribute to Guy Delisle - 15 More Pictures from weirdoid Tiger Balm Park
Mr. Chiizu: Great New Photobooth App 
A Huge Pile of Gorgeous Old Thai Movie Posters 
Noel Wilson’s Awesome Soccer-Themed House
Tag Archives: animals
Strange Tourism
Adventures in Cockfighting
Most people come to Bali to Eat, Pray, Love. That's not what I came for. I was in Ubud, a town of foreign divorcees. They meditate in temples, crowd organic spas, and queue up teary-eyed outside the toothless medicine man's home. It's a town of romantic desperation. Ironically, it's also gagging with cock. The art museum ...
Strange Medicine
Snake and Scorpion Liquor, a Perfect Present
On a trip to Laos, recently, my parents found the perfect birthday present for Michelle: matching bottles of snake and scorpion booze. Recognizing the fact that my mom doesn't drink, this strange gift oozes with awesomeness. "Don't drink it all at once," my dad said. Unlike my mom, he's a fantastic tippler. The ...
Extraordinary Eats
On Horse Meat Sashimi
It finally happened. We ordered the horse sashimi. "You want what?" said the waiter, unsure. "Horse meat," I slurred in Chinese, that last bottle of sake harming my already-poor pronunciation. "Raw horse meat." The waiter looked at WooLand, who wasn't listening, and then at me, and he finally shrugged and wrote it down. Clearly ...
Historical Wonders, Sweet Movies and Wild Books
Inspector Black Cat: China’s Gore-Soaked Answer to Tom & Jerry
Cute baby bunnies, frolicking in a field. Identical twin monkeys, playing hide and seek. A sweet baby panda, serving soup to his sickly mother. This is how the 1986 mainland cartoon for kids, Inspector Black Cat (黑猫警长), always starts. But then... well, let's just say it's Tarantino time. Plenty of cartoons are violent, but in Inspector ...
Extraordinary Eats
Dismember Live Seafood in a Chinese Restaurant
How could you pass this by? That's advertising, all right! Unlike I Dismember Mama, that old grindhouse yawner, this Guangzhou 海鲜 palace was as gory as promised. I only wish they'd handed out barf bags like the movie theaters did. This time, they would have actually been useful! Like any number of ...
Consumerism, Cute & Kawaii, Extraordinary Eats
Heavy Petting in Seoul
A little canine with your coffee? Feline with your free time? Find it here at the Dog and Cat Cafes of South Korea’s capital! If you’re feeling that mid-afternoon slump, there are several branches of pet cafes scattered throughout the city where you can un-dull those 4pm doldrums and set your dander allergies on fire. Buy ...
Our Weird Projects
Vodka Bottles Taxidermied Into Mice
Now that we have our Chinese taxidermy certificates, Woo and I needed to get stuffing.A woman in Qingdao, after hours of discussions, agreed to send a friend to Beijing with a box of frozen rats. He took the all-night bus, and showed up with a dripping styrofoam box. "I got confused, and lost, and they ...
Uncategorized
Happy Easter!
Here's another lamb-alicious clip from the 1975 cultural revolution ballet, "Sons & Daughters of the Grassland." Remember, while watching, that that lamb is a metaphor for something or other. Oh, I'm probably imagining that. Happy Easter, and enjoy!
Holy Curiosities
Celebrating Easter in China…
When you're in a country that doesn't officially celebrate Easter, like China, sometimes you get nervous. Will the Easter Bunny get his visa yanked at the last-minute? Are you sure those chocolate eggs are melamine-free? Is the holiday even legal here?Well, we had those same concerns too, but finally decided China's gonna love Easter!Good ...
Uncategorized
AquaWeird in Qingdao
Yesterday I posted about the strange fish you'll find in Qingdao's Huilan Pavilion (as seen on every Qingdao and Tsingtao bottle of beer) -- but that's not all you'll find inside. For your four kuai (about $0.60) admission, you'll enter a strange world of aquatic wonders. Like this bizarre lizard-fish...Actually, as a couple friends ...
Extraordinary Eats, The Occult
Lucky Fruit (and Ain’t So Lucky Fish)
Yesterday, these little nectarines showed up at the market. Dyed (branded? scalded? waxed? greased up with dirty stinking chemicals?) with Chinese characters, they read tall (高), shining (照), a thing (事) and happiness (喜). "No, no, no," said Echo, a good friend. "You've bought the wrong ones, and got them in the wrong ...
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 ...
Uncategorized
Siamese fighting fish
We're still deep in the trenches at the taxidermy school outside Beijing, but I thought I'd take a moment to remember some living animals we came across, recently: Cambodian fighting fish. The males of the species will live for 2 or 3 years, it's said, and maybe even 7 or 9 if fed right... but if ...
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, ...
Extraordinary Eats
Fish Heads in the Hutongs
Walking through Beijing, I'm never sure whether things are to be thrown away, or if they're the meal being prepared.
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 ...
Somewhat Perverted, Strange Medicine
Why Chinese People Eat Deer Penis
Every time I pass by one of those classic Chinese pharmacies, I can't help but stop and wonder... why on earth would someone eat this madness? A few months ago, I decided to find out. This is part three in the "Strange TCM" series, which I started with "eating snake for healthier skin" and "eating ...
Uncategorized
Remarkable Pet Carrying Device
I'd just climbed off a Guangdong bus, and was waiting for Michelle at the bus station, when this little fellow popped his head -- quite unexpectedly -- out of his box. When I started taking pictures, of course his mom had to come and have a look... make sure everything was okay, and all...
Extraordinary Eats, Strange Medicine
Why Chinese People Eat Snake as Medicine
Every time I pass by one of those classic Chinese pharmacies, I can't help but stop. You've seen them -- the deer antlers and sea cucumbers sold in gift boxes; the dusty owls perched above the counter; the ants, sea horses, and snakes in cabinets. You can't help but wonder... at least, I can't... why ...
The Occult
What the Fortune Teller Told Me (Mongolia)
"I don't think you can see the Shamen," the fixer murmured. He watched his cup, the table, a fly, anything that wasn't our eyes. "They are far from here. In the mountains. It would take a long time to see them." He traced a line along a creased map of ...
Extraordinary Eats
The Insane Monkey Bar in Tokyo
I came to Tokyo for three pilgrimages. The first, a trip to Miyazaki's Ghibli Museum, left my cheeks wet with tears. The second, lunch at a Miracle Fruit Cafe, had me giggling aloud, the juice from an inedible umeboshi plum running down my chin. And the third? It was to be ...
Uncategorized
Fighting Cocks
I found this sign on a roadside outside Old Sukhothai, the ancient former capital of Thailand. But I never found the venue. I gave up after half an hour of cycling the same stretch, over and over and over again.