Tianducheng is a housing estate in China that's designed to evoke classical European charm. The suburb, located in the Zhejiang Province is also called the "Paris of the East", partially because it is home to the second largest replica of the Eiffel Tower in the world. 

Can you tell the difference between the two? 


Construction at Tianducheng began around 2007. As mentioned, its central feature is 108-metre-tall (354-foot) replica of the Eiffel Tower of Parisian style architecture, fountains and landscaping (right). It opened in 2007, and can accommodate more than 10,000 residents, although only 2000 residents inhabit the small town. ...

If you're not an insect lover, this is your final chance to turn your head!

The giant Malaysian katydid (Macrolyristes corporalis) is one of the largest insects in the world, with their bodies growing to 15 cm (6 inches) long with a 25 cm (10 inch) long wingspan. Though the last thing you want to hear is that this giant insect is carnivorous, they pose absolutely no threat to humans (aside from haunting your dreams, of course).

Relatively speaking, the males of this species have the largest testes of any known animal at 14% of their body weight. If humans had the same ratio, a 91 kg (200 lb) man would have testes that weighed nearly 13 kg (28 pounds)!
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The eruption of Mount Tambora was so massive, it erased summer that year.

The 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora was one of the most powerful eruptions in recorded history. The eruption of the volcano, on the island of Sumbawa in the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia), reached a climax on 10 April 1815 and was followed by between six months and three years of increased steaming and small phreatic eruptions.

The ash from the eruption column dispersed around the world and lowered global temperatures, leading to worldwide harvest failures in an event sometimes known as the Year Without a Summer in 1816. The eruption resulted in a brief period of significant climate change that led to various cases of extreme weather. Several climate forcings ...

The photo shown below was taken at a market in Shanghai, China.

Can you guess what they are?


Water caltrops (Trapa natans) are the seeds of a floating annual aquatic plant that's native to warm temperate parts of Eurasia and Africa. The plant grows in slow-moving water up to 5 m deep, and bear an ornately shaped fruit that resembles the head of a bull or the silhouette of a flying bat. Each fruit contains a single very large, starchy seed. T. natans and T. bicornis have been cultivated in China and the Indian subcontinent for at least 3,000 years for the edible seeds that are used in pastries, served steamed or boiled from street vendors, and even as a remedy for inebriation.

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Fruit bat soup is a popular dish in Palau, Micronesia - the bat is served whole! For those that eat fruit bats, their flavor is similar to that of chicken, and that they are clean animals living exclusively on fruit. Bats have a low fat content and are high in protein. Even more interesting, during cooking, bats may emit strong odors reminiscent of urine, because bats spend a significant amount of time in an upside-down position, in which urine and fecal matter may be on their bodies. ...

An old fishing village on the island of Shengshan on the Yangtze River was abandoned for economic reasons, only to become one with nature.


The island, a few hours east of Hangzhou Bay, is a stark contrast to the vibrant metropolitan skyline of nearby Shanghai - an image conjured up in many westerners' minds when imagining populous China. Some of the islands at the mouth of the Yangtze river are popular tourist destinations and have been described as a paradise for seafood lover, while others are inhabitable. The stunning scenery on Shengshan Island is the result of the houses and outbuildings being slowly consumed by nature. The seaside village now lies empty because it was more economical for the fishermen to move and work on the mainland ...

Apparently, walking across this glass pedestrian bridge in Zhangjiajie’s Grand Canyon, China is meant to make you feel like you're floating in thin air. The bridge seems to float 1,300 feet above the ground, almost as though it were part of the clouds. The bridge will be open later on this year!

These brightly colored crayfish are found in Indonesia. While colored crayfish have been sold commercially in Asia since the early 2000s, this recently-discovered sub-species has a distinctive body shape and color from others in the Cherax family.

Eucalyptus deglupta, commonly called rainbow eucalyptus, is a very large, fast-growing, broadleaved evergreen tree that is native to moist humid tropical forested areas with high rainfall in New Guinea, Indonesia and the Philippine Islands (Island of Mindanao).

It is perhaps best noted for its smooth orange-tinted trunk bark which peels in summer to reveal a unique and sometimes stunning multi-colored bark (as described by the common name of rainbow eucalyptus) consisting of streaks of pale green, red, orange, gray and purple-brown. ...

Look at him, he's so ashamed! Meet the shame-faced crab, a large, tank-like species native to the Indo-Pacific region. Chin up, little man!

The Afghan musk deer was thought to be extinct, until it was sighted again - 60 years after its last appearance.

This is a full-disk image of Mars, showing nearly an entire hemisphere of the Red Planet. It was captured this week by India's Mars Orbiter Mission and shows a storm brewing in the north (around the 11 o'clock position).

Seahorse and scorpion skewers are sold on the streets of Japan as popular food items. I wonder what they taste like...

We're all thinking it... this watermelon looks like a big green butt. Accidentally grown in Japan, it formed when two watermelons grew too close together and fused. And it turns out that 'Japanese butt melons' aren't all that uncommon

Burger King in Japan has unveiled a new sandwich: the all black Kuro Burger.

Japan may be short on land, but that's not stopping the country from investing in renewable energy. Two floating solar farms are scheduled to be operational by April 2015, and they'll eventually become part of a 60 megawatt floating solar network.

These are all real, and perfectly edible. Baby-shaped pears, heart-shaped watermelons and square apples are hitting supermarkets in China and Japan. But are these fruits just frivolous fun? The answer, for the most part, is yes.

The sand in Okinawa, Japan, is made up of tiny stars! These "stars" are exoskeletons of marine protozoas (foraminifera) that have washed up, most famously, on Okinawa's Hoshizuna Beach.

These are the ultimate retro pants—and they are depicted to be 3,000 years old! They were found by archaeologists working at the Yanghai cemetery, in western China.

A restaurant in Japan has created a new dish where the squid comes “back to life” and “dances” on your plate. The dish is called Odori don. Basically the dish is a rice bowl topped with a whole fresh squid (minus the head). When soy sauce is poured on the squid, a chemical reaction occurs that causes the squid’s tentacles to squirm around in the bowl, making the squid appear as if it is dancing a jig!

This is the Wilson's bird-of-paradise, found exclusively on the tiny islands of Waigeo and Batanta in the Raja Ampat archipelago of West Papua. That turquoise cap isn't made of feathers - it's actually a patch of very brightly coloured bald skin.

The International Court of Justice has just ruled Japan's whaling program illegal and not for scientific purposes. The ruling of this case, which was brought against Japan by Australia, means Japan must cease all special permits and refrain from issuing any more.

In recognition of the manta ray and the crucial role it plays in the world's oceans, Indonesia has declared the world's biggest manta ray sanctuary. For the first time, manta ray hunting and export is banned within the entire 3 million square kilometre area of Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone.

The world's newest island, Niijima, keeps on growing, and is now eight times the size it was when it first emerged off the coast of Japan on 20 November. Having merged with its neighbouring uninhabited island, Nishino Shima - which sat 500 metres away in November - the pair bears an uncanny resemblance to Snoopy the cartoon dog.

Scientists in Japan have built a levitating train that in recent trials hit speeds of almost 500 km/h. It's hoped that by 2027, this floating 'maglev' train will cut 55 minutes off the current travel time between Nagoya and Tokyo on today's high-speed trains.

The Japanese giant hornet kills about 40 people each year, and being stung by one feels “like a hot nail” going through the flesh.