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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) 
Learn How to Speak North Korean 
Amazing Old Bollywood Poster Shops 
Beijing’s Single Most Horrific Meal 
Beijing’s incredible (and completely fake) Disneyland 
Castration Classes at the Beijing Eunuch Culture Exhibition Hall 
The 38th Reich: Korean Nazi Cosplay 
China’s all-time favorite (and all-time darkest?) comic book: Sanmao 
Nazi Fashion in China 
India’s Incredibly Cool Hand-Drawn Movie Posters 
18 Terrible Moments from a Taoist Hell 
This Hindu God has 1,000 Vaginas! 
Why Chinese People Eat Deer Penis 
About Andy Deemer & AsiaObscura 
Beijing’s Dongyue Temple and Their 19 Incredible Taoist Gods 
Why Chinese People Eat Ants 
Prosthetic Noses, Red Wigs, and Whiteface… American Characters in Chinese Films 
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 
Why Chinese People Eat Snake as Medicine 
Whoring in Chiang Mai - Awesomely Steampunk Portable Corn Roaster
Another Abandoned Beijing Amusement Park - The Disastrous Fall of Sanmao
One Ghostly Cambodian Ruin 
The Taj Mahal… Murder, Incest, and Fratricide 
American Imperialist Bastards in a North Korean Comic Book 
China’s first sci-fi movie: Death Ray on Coral Island (1980) 
Medicinal Sea Horse Soup 
A Postcard from Erenhot 
Our Six Best China Stories! 
North Korea frightening customs declarations form 
Deranged Clown Cream Biscuits 
Noel Wilson’s Awesome Soccer-Themed House 
Inspector Black Cat: China’s Gore-Soaked Answer to Tom & Jerry 
Relive the Cultural Revolution (aka The Weirdest Dinner Theater in Beijing) 
The Great Chinese Chip Taste-Off 
Chisney & Koreansney: Local Disney Knockoffs 
Antilia: The Most Gratuitous House in Mumbai 
Beyond the Valley of the Dwarfs: The Strangest Theme Park Ever? 
The Insane Monkey Bar in Tokyo 
Porn, Rats, and Antique Projectors at Sri Lanka’s Classic Cinemas 
13 Amazing Indian Circus Posters 
Dr Shankar’s Wonderful Collection of Brains and Other Medical Obscura
Tag Archives: Beijing
Shameless Promotion
The Eko Nugroho Flower Suit Lives On
Remember the Eko Nugroho flower suit we spent a month sewing? Well, even though we've left Beijing, the suit lives on! We'd gifted her to the fantastic prog-rock band Not There, and apparently she's been making the rounds. "Thousands" line up in Nanluogu Xiang for photos with her... Strawberry Music Fest 2013 gets a little ...
Life in Miniature
Another Diana Pose at the Taj Mahal
From Beijing's miniature Taj Mahal, of course... Oh, what an unforgettable day that was...
Extraordinary Eats
Beijing’s Single Most Horrific Meal
The Beijing Penis Restaurant, officially known as Guolizhuang, doesn't just serve cock. You can get absolutely anything there. Stewed Deer Face. Sheep foetus in brown garlic sauce. Peacock claws. It's like a Guangzhouren's wet dream. And the peacock's name was as poetic as the plating. It was called A Set of Palms from Heaven ...
Strange Tourism
Peking Opera Dreams
I've long dreamed of full Peking Opera costume and makeup. After five hours and far too much money, it finally became a reality. I have to say, this photo shoot was one of the most mind-blowingly cool things we've done in China... Book a session yourself at FMNZ.com Currently on Liangmaqiao's Anjia Lou in Beijing, ...
Consumerism, Historical Wonders
Bizarre Old North Korean Stamps Celebrating Regal Excess
On my way out of Deshengmen Tower -- where you'll find a strange collection of ramshackle museums crammed in together -- I noticed the most remarkable thing for sale: old North Korean stamps, celebrating European regal excess! There was the Versailles stamp, which reeks of excessive opulence... Franz Joseph I hot on the chase... And of ...
Extraordinary Eats
On Eating Old Beijing Fried Enema
"Why not start today with a plate of freshly-fried old enema," I thought. It was bright, garish, and advertised on the wall. "It must be good." It wasn't. Dripping in oil and yet crispy enough to snap a molar, it tasted like a bad plate of pork cracklings. The dipping sauce -- chopped garlic in ...
AO Events, Extraordinary Eats
On Eating a Steaming Hot Bowl of Sweet AIDS Soup
"I'll have the AIDS soup," I said. It wasn't officially called AIDS soup. Not now. Shortly after I'd blogged about their deviant menus, the restaurant had crossed out every appearance of the word "AIDS" with a sharpie. Now it was simply "Strong Tibetan Sheep Placenta Nourishing Soup [XXXX]." Still a mouthful. But I'd had a few beers, ...
Offbeat Museums
Rediscovering Beijing: The Ancient Observatory
The author of the the 1897 guide book charts the Astronomical Observatory as one of the must-sees of Old Peking. It's his first stop on any three-day tour. I'd always planned to pay a visit. This is what you see from the highway: Almost identical, but... In 1897 it wasn't a museum. It was a working ...
Historical Wonders, Strange Tourism
Rediscovering Beijing: Finding the Elephants
On using an 1897 guidebook to explore modern Beijing... My adventures begin with the elephants. A few hundred yards westward of (the Shun-chih-men) is the place for the Imperial elephants, the Hsün-hsiang-so, a large enclosure in which the elephants of the Court are kept... The intelligent animals are taught to salute the Emperor by kneeling down, and ...
Historical Wonders, Strange Tourism
Rediscovering Beijing with an 1897 Guide
Did you know that Beijing has a dozen or so elephants that kneel as the emperor passes by? Seriously. At least that's what my book says. It's a Beijing travel guide from 1897, author unknown, that Charlie Custer found on archive.org. The copy originally belonged to Herbert Hoover, China expat and one-time US President. ...
Copyright Carelessness
Bootleg Wikipedia-Brand Bread
Why buy generic no-name Beijing loafery when you can pay just a few extra kuai for the sweet wheat of Wikipedia-brand bread? Oops, sorry, Wekipedia-brand. That's right! The Free Encyclowheatia That Anyone Can Edit! Now all that's left to do is pair it with some McDonald's Eggs for a copyright infringing Egg in the ...
Offbeat Museums
The Chinese Businessman Museum
With only ten days left in Beijing, I'm realizing how many things I've left undone. The Summer Palace... Fragrant Hills... the Chinese Businessman Museum! It's ugly, so you might not notice it. It's in Sihui, so it's hell to reach. It's expensive, so who wants to enter. And it's also a lie. The museum ...
Extraordinary Eats
Ice Cream Flavored Soda, the Perfect Summer Treat
Headline says it all, if you ask me. Michelle's first words after a pull were more like shrieks. "Oh my god," she cried. "It's like an ice cream float in a bottle!" Softly vanilla-scented and creamy, barely carbonated, sweet but not too sweet, it was just lovely. I added a strong pour of Mongolian vodka, and a ...
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 ...
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
Sheep Placenta AIDS Soup
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 ...
Modern Ruins
Creepy Statue in an Abandoned School (in a neighborhood that’s almost gone)
Last week, DK and I stumbled on a strange abandoned school in northern Beijing. We were looking for the city's largest recycling center, but this mad statue was a far tastier find. Seven demonic babes, lounging, suckling, emerging from the concrete. "Can you imagine seeing this every day? As a kid?" It was strange. But ...
Shameless Promotion
Bizarre Beijing: CityWeekend’s Tribute to AsiaObscura
Maybe you missed it, but fresh on the heels of their coverage of our taxidermy efforts, the the October issue of CityWeekend was devoted to Bizarre Beijing! Of course their research ended in the pages of AsiaObscura. Heh heh. They recommend - the unmissably gory Daoist statues of Dongyue Temple - the quirk in miniature of ...
Extraordinary Eats
Awesomely Steampunk Portable Corn Roaster
Found this fellow in an alleyway behind my house the other day, roasting corn on the side of the road. "What's this machine called?" I asked. I was amazed, watching him flip the cobs from one tube to another, moving them closer and further from the flame below. Constantly he was rolling the tubes, handling ...
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, ...
Extraordinary Eats, Lost in Translation
Another Mind-Blowingly Incredible Menu
After the insane Cultural Revolution restaurant menu, I didn't think I'd ever be impressed by mistranslated food titles again. Boy, was I wrong. Below are some of my new favorite dishes from our local duck restaurant. One dish wasn't mistranslated at all. And it's my favorite... spicy, awesome, and a weird unexpected ...
Extraordinary Eats, Lost in Translation
Possibly the Best Menu of All Time
Beijing's Cultural Revolution Restaurant has one of the most bizarre stage shows (video here) and some entirely inappropriate fashion statements, too, but it also has one of the worst best menus I've yet seen. Here are some of my favorite dishes... Classic, eh?
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 ...
Lost in Translation
Sign from a Beijing Supermarket
We haven't seen this Jingkelong supermarket sign ourselves, but reader Randi sent it in, adding, "Apparently, their marketing strategy is to appeal to customers at two different ends of the spectrum -- or maybe this is a brilliant plan to encourage people with a bad habit to try to offset its effects." Classic. ...