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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.
Tag Archives: Beijing
Extraordinary Eats
Badminton Theme Restaurant
The Professor just cycled by this brand spanking new Wangjing eatery. "Shuttlecock shaped plates?" he offered. "Badminton-racket-strained spaghetti?" As long as they allow hairpin net shots, I'm in!
Offbeat Museums
Castration Classes at the Beijing Eunuch Culture Exhibition Hall
The first time I ever met The Professor, he told me about the eunuch museum. He didn't say much. Just that there was one. In West Beijing. "You really should go," he said. "It's... well, it's interesting." He adjusted his glasses the way a professor should, but he wouldn't say more. ...
Fashionista
Nazi Fashion in China
That's twice I've seen guys on my street wearing the Nazi iron cross. The first was an office worker on lunch break. He was dressed in a handsome suit, but in place of a tie wore a heavy Nazi cross. He saw me staring, and he smiled. I think he thought it looked dapper. ...
Lost in Translation
Uighur Poetry
Local Xinjiang menu doubles as undiscovered Situationist/Dada manifesto... All seen at 都市同心阁 (also known as "Concentric Urban Court" or "One-Hearted City Pavilion"), Gongti Beilu. Avoid the dodgy 串。
Lost in Translation
Strange Warnings Posted Outside a Beijing Toilet
He was desperate to cover all his bases. Or maybe this was just a really twisted shitter.
Copyright Carelessness
Another Gem of McDonald’s Piracy
A few weeks ago I found these gorgeous McEggs at the local supermarket... McAwesome! But Jade Garden Jewelry has also jumped on the McBandwagon. Clearly, there's a new Beijing logo-piracy McMovement.
Lost in Translation
A Sweet Series of Chinglishy Gift Fails
Christmas wrapping paper always works well. Especially for Papa Pickles' belated birthday present... But the wrapping paper turned out to be a little more generic than we'd expected. And the greeting card, which Woo bought in Bangalore, turned out to have a rather unexpected adhesive. That's right, as in the maxi pads. At least we didn't have to ...
Other Obscura
When You Have No Clothes Line…
...why not use a bicycle parking lot? (My hybrid was hidden under there, somewhere.)
Offbeat Museums
Speaking of Revolution at The Beijing Police Museum
"Have you heard about the coup?" "Only that there may have been one." The Professor and I were making our way through Beijing's Police Museum, a few blocks from where a coup would have happened. We'd already broken the door of a fake interrogation cell, and almost knocked over a motorcycle. We shouldn't have been ...
Extraordinary Eats
Two Chinese Beers The World Could Live Without
Sitting in the back of my fridge, I just found a pair of abominations: lemon juice beer and pineapple flavor beer. Where they came from, god only knows. But it was time to get rid of them. Brewed in Beijing -- out in the chic and rural Shunyi, in fact -- the Yanjing-brand lemon ...
Offbeat Museums
Steampunk, Eat Your Heart Out in the Basement of Beijing’s Printing Museum
"There's nothing like that around here," said a shoe-repair man. Two waitresses laughed at us, and a woman selling onions gasped. "A watermelon museum?" she asked, "Really?" So we tried the Printing Museum instead. It was closed. The 12-foot-tall black doors, the entire four-floor building, was firmly locked. I'd read about a great statue of ...
Cute & Kawaii, Extraordinary Eats
Hello Kitty Dreams, Hello Awesome Reality
"You ever feel like you're stuck in a wind-up music box?" Michelle asked. The walls were pink. The waitresses were dressed as dolls. Piano keys tinkled softly. There were balloons and glitter and an off-season Christmas tree. We were trapped in a music box. That's how Hello Kitty wants you to feel. Welcome to Hello ...
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 ...
Cute & Kawaii, Extraordinary Eats
Hello Kitty, Hello Beijing!
Asia's newest Hello Kitty restaurant, Dreams Hello Kitty, may not be open yet, but it's getting reeeeeal close. We snuck inside for a few sweet pix before getting ousted... Looking AWESOME! As cool as Seoul's Hello Kitty Cafe... but with maid outfits!!! I just hope we'll get the sweet potato lattes, too! But sadly, I ...