Tag Archives: funny

Lady Di’s Forgotten Career?

Found in a Yangon, Myanmar sidewalk bookstall.

Posted on January 1, 2013 by Andy Deemer / Leave a comment

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 ...

Posted on April 12, 2012 by Andy Deemer / 4 Comments

Lost in Translation

A Slightly Unfortunate Sign Mishap

Seen at Xian's Hong Kong Star Restaurant. Or ratS tnaruatseR, as it is.

Posted on October 29, 2011 by Andy Deemer / Leave a comment

Fashionista

What it takes to be a security guard in BKK…

Spotted earlier this week by reader Laurie London. (Thanks!)

Posted on October 10, 2011 by Andy Deemer / Leave a comment

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 ...

Posted on October 5, 2011 by Andy Deemer / Leave a comment

Other Obscura

Our Six Best China Stories!

Happy 61st 62nd birthday, China! (And happy 39th birthday, me!) In honor of this grand celebration of the founding of the People's Republic of China, today we decided to sift through the AsiaObscura archives, and return to our wildest, most popular China stories of 2011! And so, in order of pageviews.... 6. The Sick Collector ...

Posted on October 1, 2011 by Andy Deemer / 3 Comments

Lost in Translation

That’s just rubbish….

Posted on August 26, 2011 by Andy Deemer / Leave a comment

Consumerism, Extraordinary Eats

The Parping Chicken

Posted on August 22, 2011 by Andy Deemer / Leave a comment

Pretty Pictures

Ready to Rumble

Posted on August 18, 2011 by The WooLand Hotel / 4 Comments

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. ...

Posted on August 8, 2011 by Andy Deemer / 1 Comment

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... ...

Posted on July 26, 2011 by Andy Deemer / 3 Comments

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.

Posted on July 23, 2011 by Andy Deemer / Leave a comment

Lost in Translation

More Signs

Posted on July 16, 2011 by Andy Deemer / 1 Comment

Strange Tourism, Theme Parks

Fiendishly Fun Photo Ops at World Park

While we were busy on our own adventures, Chinese tourists flocked to Beijing's glorious World Park of their own accord. Some of them with entire camera crews in tow. Wedding photos, engagement photos, bff shots, they were costumed, posed, and so immaculately arranged. Here's a couple of our favorites! Even those who didn't ...

Posted on May 10, 2011 by Andy Deemer / Leave a comment

Lost in Translation

“Watch Out!” 13 Unique Ways to Say 小心

Posted on May 4, 2011 by Andy Deemer / Leave a comment

Lost in Translation

16 Awesome Menu Items

A sampling from the menus we've seen in the last year....And, for Woo...

Posted on April 28, 2011 by Andy Deemer / 2 Comments

Sweet Movies and Wild Books

China’s first sci-fi movie: Death Ray on Coral Island (1980)

Sci-fi books? China's got tons of those. But when it comes to sci-fi movies, China's really falling behind. One that really did impress me, though, was the very first to be produced in China: 1980's gorgeous, fun, and campy "Death Ray on Coral Island" (珊瑚岛上的死光). In "Death Ray," a good-hearted team of Chinese scientists, based in what ...

Posted on February 24, 2011 by Andy Deemer / 7 Comments

Historical Wonders, Offbeat Museums

Gorgeous Old Chinese Studio Photos

One of my favorite things about old Chinese studio photos is the props and backgrounds -- they're positively delicious! I found these three hanging in a rundown Pingyao museum (although M has an incredible collection -- which she refuses to let me post here. For the time being!) The drape backgrounds are about my favorite thing... ...

Posted on February 13, 2011 by Andy Deemer / 1 Comment

Lost in Translation