With so many people to drive around, it’s no wonder the Chinese taxi business is so competitive, but authorities are finally doing something about those unlicensed cabs that are ruining perfectly legitimate companies.

To show the world they are committed to riding China of illegal taxi cabs, authorities in Chengdu have invited 50 taxi drivers to publicly destroy 140 illegal vehicles, captured by the police. Armed with iron bars, the drivers released all their anger and frustration on their competition’s cars, until they reduced them to mere scrap metal.

Out of the 140 destroyed cabs, 73 were knock-offs, and 67 were illegal vehicles whose drivers failed to pay their fines, in due time. Most of the illegal taxi cabs in China are put together from scrap metal parts, and made to appear brand new. Their severely used parts and tires often lead to severe accidents, and the cars are very difficult to chase down.

Photos via ImagineChina

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Ever since China’s first 3D newspaper was released, back in April, the public has been asking for more. And they’re about to get it, as a limited number of the Hangzhou-based Daily Business editions are about to be issued, in 3D format.

British tabloid, The Sun, has announced it will be launching the first 3D newspaper, on June 5, a few days before the Soccer World Cup kicks off, in n attempt to raise awareness to the 3D broadcast of the sports event, by Sky News. Sorry guys, but you’re almost two months late, in China, 3D newspapers are already yesterday’s news.

Photos via ImagineChina

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What looks like a bike rider waiting for the green light, in a motorcycle race, is actually a dead man at a wake, in Puerto Rico.

22-year-old David Morales Colon was shot to death, last Thursday, and his family wanted people to remember him doing what he liked most. As the young man had received a brand new Honda CBR600 F4 motorcycle, which he loved, his family asked the funeral home to embalm David and set him in riding position.

The guys at the funeral home did a great job, and David looks like he’s about to drive away any second, but this gesture caused a media stir, at an international level. Apparently this paves the way for other funeral firms to come up with original ideas for this kind of events.

As a guy living in a country where dead people are kept on the living room table, for three days, before being buried, I see this as just a cool way of honoring a person.

Photos by Vanessa Cerra via PrimaHora Read More »

I’m a big video-game fan myself, but I’d rather go out and look for a real date, than stay home and cook sexy Lara Croft a birthday cake.

Love Plus, a Japan-only video-game, for the Nintendo DS, takes the idea of dating a virtual character, a bit further than other relationship simulators. Very similar to that old pet simulator, Tamagotchi, the player must keep his better half happy, by taking her out on dates, talking with her in real time, holding her hand spending quality time together, and, apparently throwing her a hell of a birthday party, complete with cakes and presents.

On April 20, fans of Love Plus celebrated the birthday of one o the game’s most popular characters, Anegasaki Nene. As a video-game character, Nene is practically ageless, but that didn’t stop dozens of players from posting photos from the birthdays they threw for her, on a popular video-game forum.

Oddly enough, this isn’t the strangest thing anyone has done for Anegasaki Nene. Last year, player Sal9000 actually married her, and spent the wedding night in a Tokyo hotel, where they could see the city lights. And I thought Japanese neon fights were weird…

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President Obama may not be as popular as he was when he became president of the United States, but his name is still viewed as a potential client driver.

A Chinese entrepreneur, from Shanghai, China is relying on Barack Obama’s popularity to make his soon-to-open nightclub a profitable venture. The Obama Nightclub is schedule to open on April 26 2010, and as you can see in the photos below, all of Shanghai is full of advertising banners. The website is, unfortunately, under construction.

Odd as it may be, this is really not a bad idea, considering how popular the American president is, in China, You may remember the wacky ways the Chinese people celebrated his visit, last year.

Photos via ImagineChina

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In an event organized by Odor-Eaters, 11-year-old Trinette Robinson proved she had the stinkiest sneakers, and took home the $2,500 prize.

The 35th edition of the Annual National Odor-Eaters Rotten Sneaker Contest had nine kids, aged six to sixteen, battle it out for the title of “wearer of the stinkiest sneakers”. It was a hard contest to judge, considering all participants had already proven their stinky valor, at regional level. To make sure the winner was decided fairly, organizers brought in members of the jury with some serious sniffing abilities. Among them were George Aldrich, chemical specialist for NASA space missions, and Rachel Herz, author of the Scent of Desire, and professor at Brown University.

Pungent sneakers were judged on the condition of the sole, tongue, heel, toe, laces, overall condition, but especially odor. This year’s winner of the Rotten Sneaker Contest was Trinette Robinson, an 11-year-old girl from Bristol, Connecticut. She confessed she played hard in Girl Scout Camp, did a lot of community walks for charity, and took part in the “no-child left inside” program, in order to get her sneakers to smell as bad as they do.

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A Chinese hospital has released images of a 6-year-old boy who was born with 15 fingers and 16 toes. Since more isn’t always better, he’ll soon undergo surgery to have the extras removed.

With a total of 31 fingers and toes, the boy, who’s identity hasn’t been revealed, has beaten the previous record of 25. According to scientists, the excess of fingers and toes is a result of gene mutation.

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Minnesota farmer Bruce Andersland thought to himself “Nothing says I love you like a big heart made of manure”.

That’s right, the (overly) original Bruce decided to surprise his wife of 37 years with a stinky Valentine. He used his animals’ manure to draw a half a mile wide heart , on their farmland. Y’all might think it’s gross, but his wife Beth says she thinks it’s cute and by far the most original Valentine she has ever received.

The stinky Valentine’s Day gift isn’t visible from the ground, so Darren Schone, from the Minnesota Aviation took some photos, as proof.

Photos by Darren Schone/AP

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In order to draw attention to their protest against the Israeli barrier near the village of Bilin, a group of activists dressed themselves as Na’vi from James Cameron’s Avatar.

A barrier that Israel says is needed for its protection has been rerouted to swallow the Palestinian village of Bilin. Palestinian as well as foreign protesters dressed in blue suits, wearing loincloths, wigs and tails sought to show the similarities between their situation and that of the Na’vi aliens from the blockbuster Avatar.

Really colorful protest, I must say, but sadly it won’t make a hell of a difference…

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13-year-old Zara Hartshorn suffers from a rare skin-condition called lipodystrophy, which makes her look like an old woman and causes her daily grief.

It’s hard to imagine what it’s like having to cope with people staring at you like you’re some kind of freak, and being called names like “baggy face”, “monkey” or “granny”, on a daily basis. But, no one knows what Zara has to go through, better than her own mother, 40-year-old Tracy. She says she knew her youngest daughter inherited her dreadful condition, ever since she was just a few days old. All her other kids have it too, but the symptoms are much more severs in Zara’s case.

Tracy managed to protect her little girl until she had to go to school. That’s when the nightmare began. Schoolmates make fun of her and beat her up if she tries to talk back, adults stop and stare at her wrinkled face as if it’s her fault she was born with this yet incurable condition.

Lipodystrophy causes the fatty tissue underneath the skin to deteriorate, while the skin itself grows in excess, at an accelerated pace. Tracy, who experienced the same tragedies, when she was Zara’s age, had facelift surgery, but after only two years, the lypodystrophy symptoms were just as severe and now she had the surgery scars as well.

Modern medicine has advanced a lot since then, and Tracy is desperate to help Zara before it’s too late. Unfortunately, she can’t afford the proper skin treatment on a single salary. But if there’s ever a sure way her daughter could be spared all the torment, she’d do anything to save her.

via Mirror.co.uk

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In an attempt to undermine Kim Jong Il’s authority in North Korea, members of  South Korean nongovernmental organizations constantly send balloons filled with leaflets into North Korea.

On January 10, 2010 activists for the freedom of North Korea and the unification of the peninsula, from Paju, 51 km north of Seoul, sent two helium-inflated balloons into North Korea. They attached bags of leaflets and sweets to them, hoping to convince their northern neighbors to rise against Kim Jong Il’s dictatorship.

This practice has been going on for the last two years and North Korea has repeatedly asked Southern authorities to punish organizations who send the balloons and undermine the country’s regime. In spite of nuclear-war hints from its northern neighbor, South Korea hasn’t taken any measures against the activists.

The constant nuclear threat, reports of serious human rights violations and the existence of political prisoner camps in North Korea, make the signing of a peace treaty between the two countries virtually impossible.

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Located in Kowakien Yunessun, the biggest, most popular spa center in Japan, the outdoor has opened its gates once again.

Hundreds of gallons of Beaujolais Nouveau, the most popular wine in Japan, are used during the 12 day period the wine spa welcomes its guests. Four the last four years, Japanese wine lovers have had the opportunity to drink and bathe in the liquor they love so much, at the Hakone Kowakien Yunessun.

The red pool is constantly fed wine through the wine-bottle-shaped spring, while a sommelier stands by to fill up the glasses of those craving some more Beaujolais Nouveau.

Apart from a wine pool, the spa center also features a sake spa, green tea spa and coffee spa, where clients can bathe in the drinks mentioned.

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Kordeza Zhelyazkova, an 11-year-old girl from Bulgaria gave birth to a daughter, Violeta, during her wedding and became the youngest mother in the world.

Like all childhood love stories, Kordeza’s began at the playground. She was being harassed by a group of bullies, when Jeliazko Dimitrov, a 19-year-old boy appeared as her knight in shining armor. He rescued her and that’s when their romantic tale started. The young man thought she was 15 and she never revealed her real age, for fears he wouldn’t want to be with her. As the consentment limit in Bulgaria is 14, their sleeping together seemed normal to Jeliazko, but he didn’t plan on leaving her pregnant.

In Kordeza’s home town of Sliven, girls getting married as early as 13-years-old is tradition, but she pushed the envelope and even threw a pregnancy into the mix. Her family put together a Roma wedding, so the baby would be born to a real family. But the little one was too anxious and Kordeza went into labour on the second day of her wedding and was rushed to the hospital dressed in her wedding dress.

Now she might be forced to raise her child as a single mother, as her young husband faces jailtime for sleeping with a minor.

Photos by NEWS OF THE WORLD

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Two weeks after the Tokyo Gundam statue was dismantled, a new robot statue was unveiled in Kobe, Japan. This time it’s the Tetsujin 28-go aka Gigantor.

This mean looking machine was set up in Wakamatsu Park, Kobe and unlike the RX78 Gundam statue it will remain here permanently. The funds for the construction of Gigantor were not supplied by big-time corporations either. The approximately 1.5 million dollars were raised by local shop owners, in hope that it will bring commerce and people to Kobe.

The city of Kobe was seriously damaged by an earthquake, in 1995, and its population has decreased to around 80% of what it was before the cataclysm. Mitsuteru Yokoyama, a legendary manga artists, was born in Kobe and helped design Tetsujin 28-go.

via Mainichi

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I know, being the hairiest man in China is not how you’d want to be known, and neither does Yu Zenhuan, whose hair covers 96% of his body.

Yu was diagnosed with a rare condition that causes hair to grow in places it normally shouldn’t. he was born in a family of farmers and, when he was only 2 years old, his parents noticed he had hair coming out of his auditory canals. His situation worsened as he grew up and now almost his entire body is covered with long thick hair.

But Yu might have the chance of living a normal life, he is now undertaking a laser treatment to have his hair removed. Basically, every hair on his body will have to be zapped with laser. That can’t be pleasant, but for Yu Zenhuan it’s nowhere as painful as looking in the mirror.

Photos by BARCROFT MEDIA

via Telegraph.co.uk

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