If you've been pining for some China travel or Thailand travel, but have been holding off because they're too unique or interesting or exciting, you might want to start looking at some of those exciting Asian LCCs that we've been writing so much about. News on the hotel and entertainment front has it that the countries are getting some of the West's most refined tourist traps, the better to enhance the region's cosmopolitan flavor. Charming.

China is getting a new Hard Rock Cafe, to be attached to Macau's existing Hard Rock Hotel and its casino. This will be the second Hard Rock in China, presumably part of our plan to bankrupt the Chinese by tricking them into buying overpriced plates of fries. That's assuming that the people who dine at the establishment will be local, and that they'll also be the ones purchasing merchandise from the shops and gambling in the casino. If it's American tourists doing that, it won't do much good for our currency imbalance at all. More the opposite.]]> Omri 2010-10-08T15:00:23-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/5/19/105517/717

Yes, the picture above is what you think it is: a giant thong-wearing midsection and legs being torn down in China a la Saddam Hussein's Baghdad statue. Except this time, it's not the people tearing it down but the government officials, who have deemed the statue and it's related "Love Land" sex theme park to be too vulgar to open publicly.

Disappointed that we won't be able to walk up to one of these sinks (semi-NSFW) during our next visit to China, we're going in search of similarly stimulating tourist attractions in our own Jaunted archives.

So now let us present you with the Top Five Alternative Sex Destinations to "Love Land:" ]]> JetSetCD 2009-05-19T11:31:57-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/8/21/133350/210

Feed Casper now: The traditional Chinese celebration of the Hungry Ghosts is being honored in cities around southeast Asia through the end of August with public performances and bonfires.

Folk tradition holds that deceased ancestors return during the seventh month of the Chinese calendar (August), where they can hear prayers said by their living relatives, consume elaborate meals and get directions to heaven. The devout will even build papier-maché houses and burn them, along with "hell money" bills representing wealth, thereby "sending" them to the afterlife.

You can experience Hungry Ghost Festival celebrations all over China, but also in Hong Kong, Thailand (where it is known as Por Tor) and Penang, Malaysia. Don't be surprised if you don't see a lot of people out at night for the next week or two: Those hungry ghosts are considered a menace to the living when they aren't fed.

Related Stories:
· The Ghost Festival [Chinavoc.com]
· Buddhist Ant Crisis in Malaysia [Jaunted]
· Festival coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: e-chan]]]> egw 2008-08-21T14:45:14-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2007/7/30/1471/46952

It's no secret that here at Jaunted we love pandas. From adorable babies, they become cute nibbling adults and charmingly creepy mascots. So we may or may not have coughed up for panda pencils, folders or stuffed animals in our happy traveling lives. China's Chengdu  Giant Panda Breeding Base decided to offer a new kind of souvenir, that we don't think we'll pick up. In fact, we think it's worth "dropping."

That's right: The base, which currently holds over 40 of the endangered mammals, is planning to sell bookmarks, sculptures and other knicknacks made of panda poop. The excrement is allegedly treated so that it doesn't smell, as well as painted so it doesn't look like dung, but it still seems like a "waste" of a gimmick. What do you think?

Related Stories:
· Beijing Hotels [HotelChatter]
· Beijing Travel Stories [Jaunted]

[Photo: carter_hawley]]]> egw 2007-07-30T14:56:05-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2007/7/9/51247/81947

Along with cuddly creatures like koalas and possums, pandas are way up there on the spectrum of cuteness. Especially baby pandas. And now we've found out where we can go to join a playground full of baby pandas.

We almost don't want to tell you, but since it's not exactly around the corner from anywhere, we trust you won't all stampede in droves. Budget Travel just tipped us off that you can get access to panda bubs in China's Wolong Nature Reserve, five hours from Chengdu, which is about a $500 flight from major Chinese cities. For $130 per person, you can enter the panda day care center, currently home to 16 panda toddlers, and play with them. You only get five minutes, but we're talking cute and cuddly baby pandas. We'd pay at least double.

Related Stories:
· Cutest. Story. Ever [Budget Travel]
· Finnair's Creepy Panda [Jaunted]

[Photo: muzikid]]]> amandak 2007-07-09T08:49:00-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2007/6/6/72822/29470

Having never had a Chinese boyfriend, we're not really sure what's behind this: but an amusement park in the city of Changchun in northern China has just constructed the world's largest penis.

A sure way to bring a few extra customers (but maybe put off a few too), this 30-foot phallic named the Sky Pillar is a concrete pole wrapped in straw at the Longwan Shaman Amusement Park. Apparently it's all for historical reasons:

Legend says a Shaman hero named Ewenki vanquished a cruel female ruler and gave her a penis totem, telling her to respect males and not kill them at will.

Got it. We just can't wait to see if this penis is big enough for Google Earth to pick it up. That'd be worth boasting about, boys.

Related Stories:
· Where Bull Penis Is Just the Beginning [Jaunted] ]]> amandak 2007-06-06T09:57:30-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2007/5/24/16819/2267

So maybe it's been a while since you've paid attention to anything that goes on on "Survivor." Sure, that one couple we like to follow met on the show, and the first winner eventually went to prison for (oops!) failing to declare his winnings. But we realized it was high time the stakes were raised when CBS announced they were packing the immunity idols and heading to China for the latest edition of the reality show -- the first time ever that an American television show will be shot in the country, according to Variety.

How did this happen? Apparently China realized it could do some PR in advance of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and pocket a few sweet television dollars at the same time by opening its borders to what Defamer called "Survivor: Human Rights Violations." (Obviously, not exactly the image they want to broadcast!) Still, it's hard not to see this as a reality-TV model for the classic sitcom "We're jumping the shark, let's go to Hawaii!" episode. Show is lagging? Head for a foreign country! "Top Model" does it every season (most recently hitting Sydney, Australia for the final runway show which decides the winner) and "Ugly Betty" just did a family-trip-to-Mexico episode (even though it was shot Stateside). I'm not tuning in unless there are pandas involved. Please, Mark Burnett, let there be pandas.

[Photo: Reality TV Magazine]]]> egw 2007-05-25T09:35:18-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/