No, you can’t see the Great Wall of China from space. It’s a cool myth, but it’s still a myth and has nothing to do with reality. NASA confirmed it, and now you know it too. Still, the wall is a magnificent place, and you’re lucky today: I’m taking you there, so fasten your seatbelts. We’re going to China — the biggest Asian country, the third biggest country in the world; and, with over 1.3 billion people living there, is still the most populated one. Even though India is getting closer and will probably take the first place soon. China is also one of the oldest nations in the world — it has 3,500 years of continuous written history, but the civilization existed long before that!
China has borders with 14 countries, but the locals have managed to preserve their own culture and traditions that can be a real shock to an unsuspecting tourist. Well, the absence of toilet bowls, children walking on the leashes, and the unique opportunity to get a tattoo or a manicure right on the street can surprise anyone.
Mothers-in-law often play unforgettable roles in family stories—sometimes as allies, other times as sources of unforgettable drama. From heartfelt moments to jaw-dropping confrontations, these relationships can make even the most ordinary lives feel like scenes straight out of a blockbuster. Grab your popcorn as we explore the wild world of mothers-in-law who brought the drama, the laughs, and sometimes, a few lessons in patience.
Even people from neighboring regions can sometimes confuse each other with peculiarities of their everyday life or other cultural differences. And people from different countries is a totally different matter. A foreigner can be struck to the heart by absolutely mundane things, like popular dishes, attitude to debts, or even such a small thing like how to eat grapes.
Experts are saying we’re about to get some unwanted visitors in the form of Joro spiders. Yeah, we know, not exactly what we wanna hear, especially if you’re like us and arachnophobia’s your middle name. Brace yourselves, because these big spiders are apparently setting up camp in places like New York and New Jersey.
"Things used to be better in the past," we sometimes say when look at the current fashion trends. However, if you dive deeper into the trends of the past centuries, it's unlikely that you'll want to turn back the time. Colorful eyebrows, blue drawings in the décolleté area and corsets that squeezed down the waist to 13 inches are just a few of them.
Recently, the suggested design of a train station in the Chinese city of Nanjing has attracted the attention of a massive amount of internet users — for all the bizarre reasons. Authorities claim the design of the North Nanjing station takes inspiration from plum blossoms, which the city is famous for. But many people are already pointing out its resemblance to something rather different, and the comments appear endlessly, with users expressing their own visual perception of the architectural construction.
In China, there’s a sweet older lady named Liu who recently made a decision about her 20 million yuan (US$2.8 million) fortune. Instead of leaving it to her grown-up kids, she’s leaving it all to her beloved cats and dogs. Read on to discover how people are responding to this unexpected twist in her will.
A hairdresser has become a hero for many for dedicating his time to help build up the confidence of children affected by hair loss in some way. He applies hair prostheses on children entirely for free, and with the push of social media, his emotional transformations are soaring higher than ever.
Travelling can be a great way to strengthen your relationship. Yet, for some, it might only help them test it. Our reader’s husband left her completely alone in a foreign country because he thought she was cheating on him. Our reader remembered the trip as an incredibly stressful time because she had never travelled before.
Meg Ryan, at 62, graces the cover of Glamour’s December 2023 issue, discussing her latest film project, What Happens Later, co-written by Meg and inspired by her personal experiences, including the adoption of her daughter, Daisy.
Talking about using the bathroom might not be exciting, but like sleeping and eating, it’s something you do every day. While you can control how you handle your bathroom needs at home, it’s not always the case when traveling, especially to other countries.
In the era of social media, news about weird occurrences can travel faster than ever. And if a post goes viral, there will certainly be people discussing it and coming up with theories. This happened to one bear in China, whose unusual behavior fueled confusion among netizens.
It all started with the Home Insurance Building that was built in 1885 in Chicago. Just a ten-story building, but it was a revolution at the time, and that was the beginning of the era of skyscrapers. It was constructed using a revolutionary method: the building had an inner skeleton made of steel, which allowed the walls to be thinner and the whole structure being higher than ever.
Sea cucumbers play a vital role in various marine ecosystems, acting as efficient cleaners by sifting through sediment to extract nutrients. Resembling their namesake, sea cucumbers exhibit a cucumber or sausage-like shape, varying in size from less than an inch to over six feet, depending on the species. Not only that, but in Indonesia, Japan and China they hold great value as a culinary delicacy.
London metro — or “the Tube” if you want to sound like Londoners — carries something like 1.8 billion passengers annually, which is roughly equivalent to the population of China. (Good thing they all don’t show up at once! It’d be a very long line.) London has the oldest metro in the world. The first line opened in 1863. There’s no doubt that it had awesome engineering because most lines are still in use today. Other lines were continuously constructed, and now the city has one of the most famous mass transport systems in the world. Yet, like most of the best things in life, the Tube has its imperfections. It keeps getting hotter every year. An article proves that the average temperature inside the tunnels was around 57°F in 1900. So how come it became a sauna over the years?
Meg Ryan encountered career setbacks, including a public divorce and a box office flop. Despite this, she prioritized her family and took a break from the Hollywood spotlight to become a devoted single mother. Her unwavering commitment to building a fulfilling life and family is evident. Today, Ryan has made a triumphant comeback, showcasing her strength and inspiring others with her journey.
About 800,000 years ago, a gigantic asteroid soared through space and plummeted toward Earth. It slammed into our planet with enormous force. It blanketed 10% of Earth with shiny black and green lumps of rocky debris, known as tektites. Tektites are pieces of rock that get liquefied by the heat of a meteorite impact. Then they cool down to look like dark, glassy pebbles. A trail of these tektites was strewn across Southeast Asia and reached all the way to eastern Antarctica. This is how scientists know this giant meteorite crash happened
And there’s the kick-off. Imagine watching your favorite team square up with its rivals. If you’re in the stands cheering them on, then it’ll be even better to see them run up and down a cool-looking patch of green grass. That’s why most pitches have different grass patches for your entertainment. The only player on the pitch who’s allowed to touch the ball is the goalkeeper, and you can easily identify them by the different colors of their jerseys. They were asked to wear different colors so that they can pick them out from the crowd. This tradition started more than 100 years ago when jerseys looked slightly different and the pace of the game wasn’t as fast as today.
Traveling is an excellent means of immersing ourselves in another country’s customs and traditions. It enables us to gain valuable knowledge about how other cultures function, what they prioritize, and what makes them unique. Nevertheless, being in a foreign country is not always a smooth ride, and there may be times when we encounter unfamiliar and unexpected situations that can be way outside our comfort zone.
Beauty has always been an issue of importance to society. Appearance plays a vital role in how others perceive us, as well as social status, especially in the past. However, these beauty standards are transitory and sometimes taken to the limit. These are trends that have occurred throughout history, leaving us thinking that beauty is not something we can easily obtain.
There are many myths around arguably the greatest structure ever built by humans — the Great Wall of China. Some say it’s so grand that it’s visible from space; others claim that you can see it from as far as the Moon. Other theories suggest that the builders of the wall were left inside. Sorry to disappoint you, but all these impressive stories are just myths. But even with those stories busted, the Great Wall of China is an impressive and truly breathtaking structure, so let me tell you its true story.
If you feel cold when you sleep, no matter how heavy your duvet or comforter is, try layering instead. You may use less heavy duvets than your usual one, but if you have 2 of them, air gets trapped between the layers, keeping you warmer.
You’re in the countryside, in the middle of nowhere, when it happens. You look up at the sky and notice that it’s taken an ominous yellow hue. Suddenly, a terrifying thought pops up in your mind — haven’t you read somewhere that the yellow sky means an approaching tornado? Wait, stop running! Let’s figure out if it’s true!
Things come into fashion as fast as they go out of it today. In case you’re not ready to spend money on upgrading your style, there’s no problem at all. On the contrary, vintage items are making a comeback into modern fashion! You might wanna go and comb through the attic, and this checklist will help you find the best pieces to rock every day!
A strong wind is blowing, black clouds cover the sky, thunder is rumbling, and it’s pouring down with rain. A storm is coming. But you don’t care. You’re sitting in your apartment, listening to music and typing something on your computer. You hear thunderclap, look out the window, and see a heavy downpour, a hurricane, and lightning flashes. You close all the windows and go back to the computer. And then BAM!
Mountains mean more to humanity than just lumps of rock. When the mountains are calling, I must go, says John Muir. So, let’s take a look at some of the most mysterious and interesting of them.
There are countless doors all over the world that haven’t been opened for decades and even centuries. The question is why? It seems that nowadays you can open any door you want. The truth is that some doors were sealed for a grave reason. And so far, nobody has found out what treasures and mysteries they hide. Here are 4 doors that keep their secrets all too well.
How long do you think ice cream has been saving humanity on hot summer days? For many centuries. No one knows for sure the story of how ice cream was discovered, but it likely dates back at least as far as the fourth century BCE. Of course, it wasn’t the ice cream we know today. Alexander the Great, the king of Macedonia, would enjoy snow and ice covered in honey and nectar. That’s the early ice cream. The Roman Emperor, Nero Caesar, was eating snow flavored with fruits and juices. How would those guys get snow if they lived in very warm climates? Well, their helpers would run up a nearby mountain to bring some from up there. I’m not sure how they were dealing with it without a refrigerator, but I guess they had ways. Some historians say that there were deep pits covered with straw, and the snow was stored there after harvesting it from the mountains. How it didn’t melt on the way to the pit remains a mystery to me. But history has many of those.
Babies are born without the ability to care for themselves and rely on their mothers for safety, nutrition, and emotional bonding. However, mothers also have responsibilities outside of caring for their children, such as working to support their families and communities. To reconcile these competing demands, mothers have developed various solutions throughout history and across cultures. That’s why mothers deserve our full appreciation. Let’s see how mothers handle things in the following 8 countries today.
You’re dining in Paris, with a full belly of French onion soup and a mouthful of double chocolate soufflé. The waiter approaches asking how your meal was and, mouth full, you give a satisfied expression and make the A-OK gesture. You expect to see happiness on the waiter’s face, but he looks at you with irritation.
Back in 2018, the biggest active underwater eruption ever happened — at least the one we could officially record. Scientists followed earthquakes that struck the area in the western Indian Ocean off Madagascar. Between 2018 and 2021, over 11,000 earthquakes struck a small island called Mayotte between Madagascar and Mozambique. The strongest one had a magnitude of 5.9. Until then, this area had been pretty peaceful. There had only been two earthquakes recorded over 50 years. Along with regular earthquakes, there were also some unusual seismic hums, like earthquakes at pretty low frequencies, forming deep underground. People couldn’t feel those hums at the surface, but researchers around the world discovered them and realized they were related to volcanic activity no one actually noticed coming.
It can be tough navigating unfamiliar cultural norms, especially when you don’t want to offend anyone or ruin your trip. For example, in some Asian countries, it’s considered impolite to point with your index finger. To help you have a smooth trip, we’ve compiled a list of 10 cultural mistakes to avoid.
China’s Yutu-2 is a robotic mission to the dark side of the Moon launched on December 7, 2018. On January 3, 2019, it completes the first-ever soft landing on the lunar far side. It lands in the Von Karman crater, not far from the Moon’s South Pole. Scientists are interested in this area. Cold, permanently shadowed craters at the poles contain water ice.These ice patches are uneven and are likely to be ancient. In the south, most of the water ice is concentrated in craters. And at the North Pole, it’s spread more sparsely. In any case, this ice can be used once a long-term manned mission lands on the Moon.
