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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 
China’s all-time favorite (and all-time darkest?) comic book: Sanmao 
The 38th Reich: Korean Nazi Cosplay 
Beijing’s incredible (and completely fake) Disneyland 
Castration Classes at the Beijing Eunuch Culture Exhibition Hall 
Beijing’s Single Most Horrific Meal 
Prosthetic Noses, Red Wigs, and Whiteface… American Characters in Chinese Films 
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 
Beijing’s Dongyue Temple and Their 19 Incredible Taoist Gods 
About Andy Deemer & AsiaObscura 
Why Chinese People Eat Ants 
Outrageously Cute Korean Cosplay: The 21 Favorites 
The Sick Collector and His 1000 Pairs of Shoes 
What the Fortune Teller Told Me (Hong Kong) 
The Poem I Can’t Find… 
Whoring in Chiang Mai 
Why Chinese People Eat Snake as Medicine 
Small Children Feeding Live Animals to Tigers in a Chinese Zoo 
One Ghostly Cambodian Ruin - Awesomely Steampunk Portable Corn Roaster
Another Abandoned Beijing Amusement Park - The Disastrous Fall of Sanmao
A Postcard from Erenhot 
American Imperialist Bastards in a North Korean Comic Book 
The Taj Mahal… Murder, Incest, and Fratricide 
Our Six Best China Stories! 
Medicinal Sea Horse Soup 
Inspector Black Cat: China’s Gore-Soaked Answer to Tom & Jerry 
China’s first sci-fi movie: Death Ray on Coral Island (1980) 
Beyond the Valley of the Dwarfs: The Strangest Theme Park Ever? 
Deranged Clown Cream Biscuits 
Relive the Cultural Revolution (aka The Weirdest Dinner Theater in Beijing) 
North Korea frightening customs declarations form 
Noel Wilson’s Awesome Soccer-Themed House 
The Insane Monkey Bar in Tokyo 
Porn, Rats, and Antique Projectors at Sri Lanka’s Classic Cinemas 
The Great Chinese Chip Taste-Off 
Antilia: The Most Gratuitous House in Mumbai 
Dr Shankar’s Wonderful Collection of Brains and Other Medical Obscura 
13 Amazing Indian Circus Posters 
A Huge Pile of Gorgeous Old Thai Movie Posters
Tag Archives: chinglish
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, ...
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.
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 ...
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 ...
Extraordinary Eats, Lost in Translation
Not Just Pork Balls, But…
Dim sum offering, a few days back.
Lost in Translation
A Slightly Unfortunate Sign Mishap
Seen at Xian's Hong Kong Star Restaurant. Or ratS tnaruatseR, as it is.
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?
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. ...
Lost in Translation
Disgusting Chinglish from a Tasty Buffet
Not that many nights ago, WooLand and I were thrilled to be invited to one of the great linguistic banquets of the season. Government ministers, foreign diplomats, prominent magazine editors -- it was a real who's who of language and culture. And then we saw what was for dinner... Oh, boy... ...
Lost in Translation
Non-beach Things from Beijing’s Fake Beach
They're strict about this.... They were out of this.... We didn't understand this.... This was the only way out.... All this, and more, at Crab Island.
Lost in Translation
Cute Subway Sign
I thought this was so endearing...."Please take care oldster and child" on the Beijing subway escalators.
Lost in Translation
16 Awesome Menu Items
A sampling from the menus we've seen in the last year....And, for Woo...
Lost in Translation
Hungry for a Kaka Burger
I'm so sad this Taiyuan fast food joint was closed for Chinese New Year... I really, honestly craved a burger. And a Kaka Burger? Oh that would have hit the spot!
Lost in Translation
Where the Real Work Gets Done
From our publishers' expert rumpus room offices in southern Beijing.
Lost in Translation
Choose Life!
Found in Tianjin's Painting and Calligraphy Village, near Gulou. Eagle eyes courtesy of Michelle.
Lost in Translation
Rules Posted outside Tianjin’s Catholic Church
I think my favorites are "No love" and "Do not destroy everything."
Extraordinary Eats
Kyrgyzstan things
In China, I adore the "foreign" vs "domestic" duality. I'm not sure that it's any more skewed than our own is, but it's definitely different. My girlfriend, for example, is a Bostonian, several generations back. But because she looks Chinese (and, three generations ago, her family was), here she's Chinese. Just speaks ...