Words – December 2015

31/12/201512/01/2016 by Qin Xie | Leave a comment

Published this month:

• Could you live with TWENTY FIVE room mates? Inside Beijing’s ‘job seekers apartment’ where dozens share a tiny flat while on the employment hunt
• The Chinese couple weighing 870 POUNDS: Family begin grueling weight loss regime so they can have a healthy baby
• Hard to swallow: Chinese man almost loses his life after eating a five INCH nail and saw blade for a £600 bet
• Hysterical drunk driver turns up at police station to report severed head that flew into his car – only for officers to find body of pensioner he decapitated in hit and run
• Chinese parents choose to abandon their three-year-old daughter in a shop instead of paying £2.50 after she broke a water bottle by accident
• Sickening moment Chinese schoolboy is viciously beaten by bully with a METAL PIPE until it’s bent out of shape
• CCTV captures the chaotic moment a passenger accidentally sets off the fire extinguisher on a Chinese bus
• China unveils memorial museum on site of WWII brothel where Japanese soldiers kept ‘comfort women’ after slaughtering 300,000 innocent people during Nanjing Massacre
• The teen trapped in the body of a toddler: 15-year-old with unusual condition looks for foster home as her poverty-stricken family struggles to cope
• ‘If she’s disabled, no man will want her!’ Abusive husband chops off wife’s hand with meat cleaver after she asked for a divorce
• Did these carriages belong to an Emperor? Chinese experts believe the 2,500-year-old tomb with full horse skeletons and chariots hold the key to a little known ancient kingdom
• Cheating death: Heart-stopping moment two Chinese toddlers are run over by a car in front of their kindergarten… but BOTH survived unscathed
• Lonely pensioners fuel surge in sales of inflatable SEX DOLLS in China as they struggle to find new partners
• Sick thugs kill a reindeer used to entertain children at Christmas by setting a pack of dogs on it after breaking into their enclosure
• Dramatic moment man tries to rob jewellery shop with an AXE but staff manage to wrestle him to the ground in just seconds
• Having a whale of a time! Incredible footage shows THOUSANDS of belugas frolicking in pristine waters off northern Canada
• As if you needed another reason to visit Thailand: Revealing 21 NEW national parks featuring waterfalls, forests and underwater diving spots
• Designed by Darth Vader? Italian luxury motorboat with expandable WINGS to resemble a space craft is revealed (but it will set you back £500,000)
• Fake doctor who treated hundreds of patients on cruise ships finally arrested after working undetected for FIVE years
• Imagine, a Beatles yoga retreat: Spiritual sanctuary where the Fab Four learnt to meditate opens in India
• In a Star Wars destination not so far away: The Force Awakens film locations you can visit and where to stay for an out of this world escape
• Nature’s snowmen: Incredible photographs show thousands of trees transformed into frozen figures on Japanese mountains
• Pilot writes 32 absence notes for pupils after their flight was delayed for 20 hours
• Morbid fascination? Meet Britain’s grave-obsessed cemetery hunters who lead tombstone tours discovering the past
• Are these the world’s scariest landing strips? The airport approaches so terrifying even pilots will think twice
• You think it’s cold here? Meet the Scottish postie who won a dream job in Antarctica (but has no heating, no mains electricity and has to wash in icy waters)
• Man, 29, quits his airport job to convert 1990s school bus into a modern motorhome and travel 10,000 miles across the U.S. to ‘live his dream’
• Can you believe these were taken by an EIGHT-year-old? Photography prodigy who has worked with cameras since he was five captures stunning scenes around the UK
• Shaking up a cocktail, tucking passengers into bed and calming nervous flyers: Fascinating vintage photos reveal life in the sky for the first air hostesses of the 1930’s
• You won’t believe how much the top Airbnb hosts in New York City are making this year: New data reveals the most lucrative listing is pulling in a whopping $350,000
• ‘You’re as ugly as a salad’ and ‘you can sharpen an axe on the top of his head': Infographic reveals the most bizarre insults from around the world
• Leopard print and colour clash: Inside the eye-watering cocktail lounges onboard planes in the 1970s (which guaranteed a psychedelic trip)
• Are solo travellers getting a raw deal? Why singles holidays with zero supplement might not be as good a deal as you think
• Fancy a SPACE escape? The first galactic travel breaks are now available but a five minute journey will cost you $150,000 (£98,987)
• Teen makes £110,000 by hacking into airline websites and using the booking information to defraud hundreds of customers
• Norway is the best place to live in the world and Niger is the worst – at least when it comes to life expectancy, education and income (but how do the UK, USA and Australia rank?)
• Forget being stuck on the back row of a plane! A new app allows you to pay to swap SEATS with other passengers
• Now THAT’S how to time travel! Visit the incredible tri-points around the globe where three time zones meet
• Holidaying alone? Barcelona, Venice and New York are among the most popular destinations for solo travellers
• Turkish delight: Stunning photographs reveal Istanbul’s colourful side featuring polka dot, zig-zagged and rainbow-hued streets
• Long lives, high wages and a good standard of living: The UN names Australia the second best country in the world to live… behind NORWAY
• Going away soon? Revealing the most innovative new luggage and carry-on cases including one that you can ride and another to charge your phone on the move
• Actress Susan Sarandon welcomes refugees to Lesbos as she vows to spend her Christmas holiday on the Greek island listening to the migrants’ stories
• That’s one way to see the big cats! Zoo visitor looking for a thrill tries to somersault into the TIGER ENCLOSURE from a chairlift
• Hollywood romance fails in real-life: Love-struck man detained after forcing his way through airport security in bid to persuade girlfriend to stay
• Sealed with a flying kiss: New trend sees online shops selling apples smooched by flight attendants for £1 each
• He should’ve gone for a one-carat! Chinese man’s elaborate wedding proposal gets rejected after his girlfriend deemed the ring’s diamond was too small
• Riddle of the baby tiger with NO STRIPES and his twin sister who has loads!
• China’s first rehab hospital: Harrowing images reveal drug addicts with contagious diseases are locked up, cuffed to their seats and forced to walk around with chains on their ankles
• Moment teen nanny is cleared after serving 13 years of a life sentence for poisoning toddlers
• Nail-biting moment fireman trapped in raging inferno catches FIRE and is forced to escape by jumping out of the window
• Play it cool: Spectacular rainbow-coloured kingdom created entirely from ICE lights up the night sky at Chinese snow festival
• He’s been skewered! Dramatic moment luxury Audi gets pierced by a truck load of bamboo poles after hitting emergency brake
• Battle for life: The heart-breaking struggle of a palm-sized baby boy who was born at 24 weeks and weighed just 1.2lbs
• Revealed: Precious fossils dating back 210 MILLION years are used to make building bricks as cheap as 1p each in China
• Three-year-old boy died after ‘being brutally beaten by his mother and her boyfriend’ – but they claim he had fallen off the bed
• Fancy racing through the Himalayas, a marathon in the Sahara or cycling across America like Pippa Middleton? The most extreme sports holidays around the world
• ‘All aircraft be advised… earthquake in progress:’ The air traffic control exchanges you really don’t want to hear
• The airline feminism forgot! More than 1,000 Chinese high school graduates have to parade in bikinis for a chance to become flight attendants
• Chinese carer murdered 70-year-old woman by poisoning her soup so ‘she could get paid sooner’… and claims she’s killed seven others in less than two years
• Former soldier catches woman falling from 11-storey window with his BARE HANDS
• He messed with the wrong girl! Woman batters male passenger who tried to molest her on a bus
• He really needs to fix his windscreen! Lorry driver covers wrecked truck with tarpaulin before speeding down the motorway with almost ZERO visibility
• Is this the secret to immortality? Chinese farmer claims to have found the legendary fungus that could help you live forever
• It’s an ice-fall! Stunning scenes at China’s gargantuan Hukou Waterfall after its banks freeze in sub-zero temperatures
• Horrific moment primary school teacher smacks her pupil on the head repeatedly because he ‘failed to hand in homework’
• Teenager locked inside fifth-floor home by parents nearly dies after suspending himself with an electricity cable to escape
• When emotions are running high… Students caught in moment of passion on a ROOF as they declare their undying love

On the blogs:

• Duck & Champagne At HKK, City, Review
• Good things to drink by Ryan Chetiyawardana
• 48 hours in Bohuslän, West Sweden

Words – November 2015

30/11/201511/01/2016 by Qin Xie | Leave a comment

Published this month:

• Watch where you’re going! Family of five left stranded on the roof of their car after the driver took a wrong turn and plunged them into a river
• Sickening pictures show more than 2,600 anteaters found butchered and shelled by Chinese officials busting wildlife smugglers
• Giddy-up Miss Piggy! Chinese farmer rears enormous 94-stone pig for food… but she’s so big he decided to ride her like a horse
• Yuanxi, we have a problem! Massive chunks of rocket debris fall from the sky and smash into Chinese village
• Hilarious photos show ingenious anti-burglar devices invented by Chinese students after their university refused to report a series of break-ins
• Bizarre moment furious father batters cheating son’s mistress to defend his daughter-in-law during family confrontation
• Is this the world’s most expensive selfie?French President François Hollande photographed with Chinese entrepreneurs worth more than £46 BILLION in Beijing
• Now THAT’S what we call stunt driving! SUV left suspended on two bollards and a set of steps after owner got sick of finding a parking space
• CCTV footage exposes the shocking tactics employed by Chinese phone-snatchers who steal from oblivious gamers at internet cafe
• Is this the pinkest room ever? Dorm decorated with shiny wallpaper and beaded curtains is for MALE students in China
• Baby dumped in a public toilet: Sickening moment student father caught carrying his newborn daughter in a cardboard box and leaving her
• Frozen beauty: Incredible photographs capture surreal scenery after first snowfall in Chinese city where lush trees turn into enormous icicles
• Not your average Chinese takeaway! Former cocktail waitress makes £16k a month and drives a Mercedes-Benz after luxury food delivery service for the super rich takes off
• Bizarre moment Chinese man ‘sniffs and licks’ a stranger’s SHOE after snatching it straight off his foot on a bus
• How to travel the world in your garden: Chinese residential compound builds wacky knock-off versions of famous landmarks
• China goes super-sized
• You can’t get away! Incredible moment three ‘moped heroes’ chase a mugger for more than half a mile after he robs a woman
• Shocking moment man and his horse goes flying through the air after being hit by speeding BMW while out riding at night
• Teddy-ous link? Bizarre pictures show four BEAR CUBS being paraded around Chinese city to promote new homes
• Out of the frying pan… into the fire! Chinese chef throws burning gas canister after accidentally igniting it – only for it to roll down the street and destroy a coach
• Shocking pictures show family argument turn violent as man picks up a MACHETE and threatens to kill his step-son
• Heartbreaking pictures show boy, 7, forced to do his homework under the light of a street lamp so his parents can run their night market stall
• Voodoo-nit! Chinese man builds a SHRINE to curse the person who smashed his car window after police failed to find the culprit
• In sickness and in health: Heart-warming story of a bride-to-be who refuses to abandon her fiancé after he’s paralysed by an accident on the eve of their wedding
• Golden retriever left fighting for life after neighbour smashed through a METAL door with a hammer and THREW it out of the fourth floor window
• What a Super idea! Bizarre new trend sees Chinese firms attaching models dressed up as comic book heroes to buses
• A face you can bank on: China launches the country’s first cash machines using facial recognition technology
• Chinese engineer travels more than 5,400 MILES from Ethiopia to his home hospital to have two fingers he lost in a work accident reattached
• The Chinese village with a secret family planning policy: Rural community claims mysterious herbal potion helps its couples ‘decide the gender of their babies’
• Cutting-edge design? Office building appearing as thin as a piece of paper becomes new landmark in China
• Who says print is dead? Chinese newspaper fan hoards SEVEN TONNES of publications over 40 years
• ‘If you’re not afraid, then it’s not painful': Brave 13-year-old boy donates stem cells to save leukaemia-stricken father
• Life in the fast lane: Incredible time-lapse video shows Chinese engineers rebuilding 1,300-tonne bridge in just 36 HOURS
• TripAdvisor sparks outrage for refusing to run a review… because it’s written in WELSH
• Are these the most overrated places in the world? How Dubai, Venice and Los Angeles have left some tourists sorely disappointed
• Chinese hairdresser nearly dies after performing DIY castration in an attempt to complete transition to a woman
• Dublin Airport accused of spying on its passengers by monitoring their mobile data
• Is India the most colourful place on Earth? Spectacular images show the Asian country at its most vibrant
• The ice that will never melt: Incredible images show a frozen world deep inside the Canadian Rockies
• Don’t look down! Astounding moment fearless daredevil walks slackline suspended 400 feet in the air
• Why you really SHOULD get a room: New statistics reveal your sex life could be better in a hotel (with Mexicans reporting biggest improvement and Germans the least)
• Passengers hospitalised after a plane hit ground so hard that its landing gear COLLAPSED and the left wing fell off
• Pictured: Frequent flier who claims he was ‘kicked off’ plane for being TOO BIG for his seat
• An expensive goodbye: Airport drop-off charges could be on the rise as UK aviation minister sings its praises
• Skilled parking or blind luck? Woman with three months driving experience manages to squeeze her Volkswagen into an extremely narrow doorway in the DARK
• There’s no smoke without… FIRED! Angry billionaire boss dismisses Chinese factory workers after they failed to recognise the tycoon and swore at him for interrupting their cigarette break
• Cruelty of the Tokyo ‘euthanasia centre’ for stray dogs where animals suffer for FIFTEEN minutes before they die from suffocation in canine ‘gas chamber’
• Pictured: Former Marine who claims he was ‘kicked off’ American Airlines flight for being TOO BIG for his seat
• Wedding antics gone too far? Chinese bridesmaid has her breasts groped by male guests as the crowd cheers ‘touch, touch’
• Shocking moment drunk man evading punishment weaves through city traffic while a policeman clings to his car
• Burnt by love: Chinese woman who was doused in petrol and set alight by ex-boyfriend over failed relationship demands £484,000 in compensation from her attacker
• Hungry for mice? Horrific moment baby rodents are dipped into a sauce and then eaten ALIVE as Chinese delicacy
• ‘ISIS’ fashion retailer in China forced to rebrand after pictures of the signage shared online caused owner endless harassment
• Hang on a minute… or SEVEN HOURS! Hapless paraglider dangles like a puppet after his parachute gets tangled on a 110,000 volt power line
• Chinese charity worker who ‘adopted’ hundreds of children through her orphanages killed in traffic accident while returning from philanthropic work
• Is she the world’s most passionate conductor? Musician gives the performance of her life for Chinese village wedding
• Design in casual dining
• Just for show: China’s gay community is using dating apps to find people of the OPPOSITE sex for sham marriages
• Horrific moment an enormous Alsatian tears into a three-year-old girl like a rag doll as her mother struggles to prevent the attack
• Heart-breaking story of family forced to live inside a minivan in order to save money for their baby’s medical treatment
• The freshest seafood and the most lovingly made wines: Why gorging on the sensory delights of Chile’s Aconcagua Valley will leave you absolutely speechless
• Ryanair refused to give £2,000 refund to 27 tourists who cancelled their flights to Brussels as city was under terror lockdown
• Why it’s best to take a morning flight and why some landings may be deliberately bumpy: The secrets that pilots won’t tell you

On the blogs:

• November: Get active in Durban

Words – October 2015

31/10/201510/01/2016 by Qin Xie | Leave a comment

Published this month:

• The world’s most expensive bottle opener! Helicopter pilots pulls off audacious stunt opening four beers in five minutes with the bottom of his airborne chopper
• ‘You think I can’t afford it?’ Moment rich woman screams at jewellery store assistant and throws wads of cash in her face
• Touching moment hospital nurse BREASTFEEDS one-month-old patient in order to calm the crying baby during surgery
• Is everybody in the picture? Over-ambitious selfie taker amongst a sea of people in Tiananmen Square as China kicks off Golden Week holiday to celebrate its National Day
• Chinese homeowner is shocked find his half-naked NEIGHBOUR trapped inside his tiny chimney after he heard loud banging from behind the kitchen wall
• Horrific scenes in Chinese county after EIGHTEEN sites were blown up by parcel bombs in shocking serial explosions that killed at least seven
• Dramatic moment motorists narrowly miss being hit by concrete blocks when debris showers from enormous gas explosion
• The world’s most frightening advertising? Chinese motorists are terrified by eerie roadside billboards featuring three-metre tall ‘female ghosts’
• Truck driver bled to death after collision on Chinese motorway because ambulance was blocked by eager holidaymakers on the emergency lane
• Now THAT’S a steep climb! Terrifying ‘stairway to heaven’ carved into a cliff face 4,650ft high opens in China
• Chinese man, 21, arrested after crashing his £450,000 Lamborghini into eight cars before fleeing the scene in central Beijing
• Outrage after Chinese family claim to be stripped down and brutally beaten by restaurant owner because ‘they hadn’t ordered enough food’
• Is this the Great Wall of China? Country builds a replica of its own famous structure
• Horrific moment young boy dies after getting trapped under the handrail of an escalator at Chinese metro station
• Chinese woman gives birth in the middle of a CYCLE LANE then abandons the newborn in road-side shrubs… before fleeing with a man on a scooter
• Rent-a-girlfriend trend in China sees desperate bachelors hiring complete strangers on social media apps to appease demanding parents
• Mind the gap! Two-year-old boy is trapped under a high-speed train for FOUR HOURS after falling from the platform in China
• Incredible moment young child is thrown off a moped during crash… only to land safely in the trailer of the other vehicle
• Pervert caught on camera: Man repeatedly rubs his crotch against a female passenger on a Chinese underground train
• That’s a right pain in the neck! Zoo workers moving Evergreen the giraffe to a new home are forced to use long poles to clear overhead electricity cables and trees
• Unusual rock sparks panda-monium in China as owner is told it is worth £15million because it depicts two bears
• Shocking moment a hungry young bear that snuck into a Chinese school in a desperate hunt for food is shot dead by police
• The real-life Rapunzel! Chinese woman’s hair grows to an incredible EIGHT FEET after she refuses to have it cut for 35 years
• Is this the world’s worst urban planning? Chinese villagers are trapped in their homes by SEVEN flyovers
• Chemical explosion at illegal warehouse storing THREE TONNES of alcohol tears through Tianjin – two months after huge toxic blast killed 173 in same Chinese city
• Seven-year-old girl has hairball the size of a grapefruit removed from her stomach after eating her own hair and nails for two years
• Chinese tomb raider grinds the skulls he steals and FEEDS them to his daughter in bid to cure her mental illness
• Amazing spiderwoman: Mother-of-two scales five storeys with her bare hands to rescue a three-year-old girl who was hanging by her head from apartment window
• Chinese gang bought mentally impaired women from their families then kept them in a PIGSTY while waiting to sell them on to desperate bachelors
• Chilling CCTV footage captures horrifying moment man molests young woman at knifepoint inside a lift
• Six-year-old boy has his fingers and penis cut off in horror attack by a neighbour – because he disturbed her sleep
• Chinese man abducted as a four-year-old is finally reunited with his parents 20 years after he was snatched in front of his school and sold to a family 1,400 miles from home
• Touching pictures show how a girl aged just three has learnt to care for her mother who was injured in a hit-and-run accident
• Shocking moment a DECAPITATED python destined for the dinner table carries on struggling for more than a minute as its captors pour boiling water over the reptile
• Cruel mother stabbed, strangled and binned her newborn moments after birth to kill the baby because ‘raising a child is too tiring’
• Chinese boy, 13, who was abducted on his way to school escapes kidnap attempt using the skills he learnt from gangster films
• Chinese actress is forced to undergo facial examination to prove her ‘natural beauty’ after being accused of having plastic surgery
• Chinese body snatchers try to sell female corpse as ‘ghost bride’ in marriage ritual for the dead that’s believed to help ward off evil spirits
• Woman gets buried ALIVE in Chinese village after dispute with government staff
• Newborn boy miraculously survives 33 foot fall after being THROWN from a fifth floor window by his 15-year-old mother
• Chinese man gets his genitals stuck in a steel nut for more than 10 hours… and has to be freed by firefighters using power tools
• Chinese tourist is beaten to DEATH after refusing to buy expensive jewellery in shop ‘recommended’ by tour guide
• Traffic-stopping fashion: Chinese student becomes internet sensation for wearing exactly the same outfit… as ROAD BLOCKS
• Incredible story of how a former doctor who the lost ability to move her body due to motor neurone disease wrote 150,000-word biography by BLINKING
• Is this the world’s oldest bodybuilder? Meet the 93-year-old muscled granddad who works out an hour each day to slow ageing
• Hell hath no fury like a hammer-wielding wife scorned: Woman smashes cheating husband’s £200,000 BMW for 20 minutes because his mistress made it ‘too dirty’
• Is it time to grow up yet? Chinese men as old as THIRTY smash giant milk bottles in vow to stop spending their parents’ money in bizarre ‘weaning ceremony’
• Moo-ve over beauty queens! Vietnamese town organises pageant for MILK COWS
• It’s a Strictly dog show! Carrie the golden retriever completes a two-minute dance routine on her hind legs for Chinese talent contest
• Horrific moment Chinese father who was caught dodging 10p bus fare brutally beats the bus driver with a mop in front of his son
• Make way for his royal fakeness: Chinese man spent £9,000 building knockoff version of Queen’s carriage
• A nurse who survived Ebola, heroic WWII naval cadets and the British lords who helped the needy and fought Japan: Fascinating stories of the men and women China’s president praised during UK visit
• An eight-month struggle for life: Baby boy beats the odds and survives despite being born at a weight of just ONE POUND
• In the nick of time: Watch the amazing moment a bus driver slams on his brakes to stop a suicidal woman from jumping off a bridge
• That was close! Heroic man rescues family of three from burning car wreck SECONDS before it explodes
• Chinese man stages extravagant marriage proposal on a SPEEDBOAT in the middle of the street only for his girlfriend to throw away the ring and walk away
• Age is just a number: Hilarious video shows ‘raving grannies’ battling women half their age during a ‘sexy dance off’
• China’s poorest men should be made to share wives because a shortage of women means there are not enough to go around, says top economist
• It’s the Swiss army knife of lamps! New Chinese street lighting lets you charge electric cars, surf the internet and even monitor pollution
• A flyaway success! Model maker spent £30,000 building a fully-functional zeppelin so he could realise childhood dream
• The man with a ‘horse’s neck': Alcoholic develops enormous fat deposits around his throat after drinking almost ONE LITRE of hard liquor every day for three decades
• The man with a ‘horse’s neck': Alcoholic develops enormous fat deposits around his throat after drinking almost ONE LITRE of hard liquor every day for three decades
• Heart-breaking images show Chinese girl with cerebral palsy who is fed a pint of SPIRIT every day as her family try to ‘calm her down by getting her drunk’
• Is this the future of urban farming? Chinese pensioner plants rice in SEWAGE to transform abandoned ditches
• Chinese government officials spotted beating up a sleepy passenger with insanely long sticks because he wanted to snooze through an inspection
• He’s ramen mad! Japanese blogger spent 20 years eating more than 5,600 instant noodles from around the world to find his perfect fast feast
• Tragic moment firemen watched helplessly as mother and son died on their balcony because they couldn’t open the anti-burglar windows to save them
• Shocking moment construction truck spins out of control and crashes head-first into an on-coming car while trying to overtake in the WRONG LANE
• Chilling moment traffic police finds female passenger SLITTING the driver’s throat in a parked car
• Genetic mutant or absolutely normal? Ram with SIX horns spotted on a Chinese farm
• That’s a crayon canyon: Spectacular photographs show the incredibly colourful rocky landscape in western China

On the blogs:

• October: Baltic Herring Fair in Helsinki
• #AtxaAndreRicard At Azurmendi, Larrabetzu, Six Hands Dinner
• Four of the best Loire Stars at D&D Wine
• Highlights from San Sebastian Gastronomika 2015

Words – September 2015

30/09/201517/10/2015 by Qin Xie | Leave a comment

Published this month:

• Chinese artist spends 50 years creating incredible carvings with PEACH STONES in bid to revive ancient craftsmanship
• Meet China’s latest military recruits: Monkeys and eagles are used to ensure flight safety as the country gears up for V-Day parade
• From limousines to luxury coffins: New trend sees Chinese animal lovers arrange lavish funerals for their deceased pets
• THAT’S what you call a sea of red! Tourists flock to see the stunning Chinese beach that turns CRIMSON every autumn
• Run for your lives! Dramatic pictures show spectators dashing to safety as enormous tidal waves as high as 30 feet struck China
• Horrific moment customer throws boiling hot pot at pregnant waitress because she can’t be bothered to wait for a straw… and now the victim might lose her baby
• Welcome to the ‘sex capital of China': Inside sin city where it’s ‘normal’ for one man to have several girlfriends who pay him to carry on dating them
• Woman swallowed a six inch metal spoon because she ‘ate her noodles too quickly’
• Shocking moment a pregnant woman is tied to a telephone pole and brutally beaten until unconscious… for allegedly being a thief
• Chop gear: Man slices off roof of his van to create this death-trap convertible
• Man fell off 100 foot cliff and died while taking photos of himself using a selfie stick
• Rows of bear claws and freezers full of skinned pangolins: Chinese police bust smuggling ring that butchers thousands of rare animals for lavish banquets
• Shocking moment male motorist savagely beats up female bus driver after failing to run her over… because she beeped her horn
• The rain that WON’T get you wet: Amazing art installation lets visitors experience damp weather while staying dry
• Chinese firemen scale a 117 storey ‘burning building’ only to realise heavy smoke was actually DIRTY FOG
• What could possibly go wrong? Dangerous new trend sees fearless Chinese tourists standing on tracks used frequently by fast trains to take pictures of the tunnel
• From the delicate chairs to the boiling hot pots, almost everything in this quirky Chinese restaurant is made of PAPER
• New nightmare for Chinese city planners: ‘Nail grave’ stands in the middle of a busy road… and has become a tourist attraction
• Heart-stopping video shows 11-month-old boy run over by careless driver before his village rush out to lift the van off the baby
• Tragic moment Chinese pensioner drowns in ankle-deep flood water after falling off his scooter because passers-by refused to save him for THREE MINUTES
• Bee careful up there! China’s incredible vertical apiary where over 700 hives hang from 4,000 foot high cliff-face
• It’s too hard to say goodbye! Teary-eyed toddlers sob their way through day one of school as they learn to let their parents go for the very first time
• Riding the dragon: Chinese company builds ridiculously lavish car inspired by the mystical creature using 30,000 yak bones and 1,999 pieces of solid gold
• Terrifying images show massive explosion rip through yet another chemical facility in China – the fourth toxic blast the country had in less than a month
• China’s Communist Party stages grand parade in Lhasa to mark the 50th anniversary of its Tibetan government
• The young man living with the face of a PENSIONER: Mysterious illness makes a 30-year-old look half a century older
• Man arrested after killing his girlfriend then posting a selfie of him with her dead body on social media
• A decision no woman should have to make: EIGHT month pregnant mother must choose between abortion or husband’s career as a result of China’s one-child policy
• Don’t you know who I am? Horrific footage shows Chinese driver brutally beating up doorman TWICE for failing to recognise him inside his ‘expensive car’
• Farmer pretended to be a Chinese princess and swindled investors out of more than £200,000 with fake gold and US dollars
• Circus lioness is shot dead by police on Chinese motorway after tearing through her cage and jumping from a moving lorry
• China’s ‘walking stick building’ reaches highest point and becomes the second tallest structure in the world
• Restaurant staff spotted kneeling down and bowing to bosses in humiliating ceremony as a way to show gratitude for their jobs
• Give me some honey! Greedy panda gives Pooh bear a run for his money as it’s caught raiding and devouring 10 beehives
• Blink and you’ll miss it! Chinese city uses one tonne of dynamite to blow up 800 foot long bridge in just TWO seconds
• Wine will never replace baijiu but it can be an occasional substitute
• No more small change! Chinese shoppers go cash-free at farmer’s market thanks to tech that let them pay with smartphones
• A lesson in obedience: Spectacular images show thousands of Chinese students stand to attention in harsh military training that marks the start of their university education
• What are the chances? Two baby girls with identical height and weight born to different mothers in one hospital at exact same time
• That’s a high-wire act! Amazing drone footage shows Chinese engineers converting a 980ft wooden bridge into a terrifying GLASS walkway above a 590ft canyon
• Mystical river shaped like a DRAGON sets Chinese social media alight as people share its photos to pray for good fortune
• Mutilated man flees hotel in his underwear after female lover drugs him and hacks off his penis with scissors in China
• Shocking footage shows a toddler being thrown from a first floor window by desperate rescuers after kindergarten is engulfed in flames
• Drunk man learns a painful lesson after the woman he attempts to molest on a bus turns out to be a former BOXING champion
• Desperate Apple fanatics in China try to sell their KIDNEYS in order to pay for latest iPhone 6s in scary new trend
• That’ll be enough for everybody! Chinese chefs feed hungry festival goers with an enormous tofu that weighs EIGHT TONS
• Heart-breaking story of the six-year-old boy who has to look after his bed-ridden father suffering from late stage cancer
• Chilling video shows thugs swarm lone man in street brawl dubbed China’s ‘real life gangster showdown’
• BMW driver crashes into a lake after he steps on the throttle instead of the brake while playing with his phone
• Another Great Wall of China? Mysterious stone fortification discovered on top of remote mountain range
• Man threatens to throw his SON from a third-floor balcony to stop officials from knocking down his illegal building
• I’ll be back! Deceased sci-fi editor had her brain frozen in hope of a ‘resurrection’ when the science catches up
• Chinese students are forced to sleep under the hot sun while wrapped in thick duvets… because they didn’t make their beds
• Shocking moment female pensioner forces herself on a boy and KISSES him inside a lift after he repeatedly pushes her away
• Hands off! Chinese students are forced to balance their handsets during military training to ‘curb smartphone addiction’
• Heart-warming moment a surgeon calmed a scared two-year-old girl ahead of her heart operation
• Happy BEAR-thday! World’s oldest male panda Pan Pan turns 30 and celebrates with a yummy ice cake
• Terrifying moment blazing fire tears through block of flats after massive explosion turns building into raging inferno
• A bit too real? Hundreds of Chinese pupils hospitalised after suffocating in heavy smoke during school FIRE DRILL
• Determined girl who lost both legs in traffic accident becomes a model student despite having to CRAWL to school for eight years
• A record-breaking catch: Fisherman lands ‘super swordfish’ weighing a staggering 345 kilograms off the east coast of China
• Nurse hailed the ‘prettiest bride’ in China after trying to save a drowned man while still wearing her wedding dress
• Shocking moment man pins down female colleague and tries to rape her in an office but co-workers watch without intervening
• Meet China’s ‘Basketball Girl': An incredible story of how a young woman who lost her legs in a traffic accident fought against the odds to become champion swimmer
• The boy living in the maternity ward: Child who was abandoned at birth celebrates fifth birthday with his ‘hospital mums’
• Nine knife-wielding men rampage through rush-hour Hong Kong station in savage attack that left a bloodbath in its wake
• Shocking moment furious woman smashes her OWN brand new £42,000 Audi with a brick after ‘row with boyfriend’
• Harrowing pictures show Chinese man, 70, tying up a 25-year-old mentally challenged woman and their child to ‘prevent them from running away’
• A bridge too far: Terrified tourists struggle to walk across China’s new glass-bottom walkway suspended 600 FEET above the ground
• Not your average travel upgrade: Old trains get a new lease of life after Chinese art school transforms them into student dorms
• My girlfriend’s driving me mad! Spoilt woman steals a £40,000 Audi straight from the dealer after throwing a tantrum when her boyfriend refused to buy it for her
• It really IS a numbers game: Incredible footage shows 1,600 students performing a rapid countdown by forming the digits with their bodies
• Taking Liberties: Luxury hotel in China unveils replica of famous statue (… but can YOU spot the difference?)
• University students are severely criticised for SAVING seven puppies that were buried alive because Chinese web users think stray dogs ‘deserve to die’
• You’re never too young to start! Father is filmed teaching his toddler son how to DRIVE on a busy street in China
• Hell hath no fury: Fuming Chinese woman drags her husband’s ‘mistress’ round by the hair as she beats her up in the street
• Are they relatives? US sociology professor becomes online celebrity in China for his striking resemblance to Albert Einstein
• Hanging in the rafters: Chinese homeowner is horrified to find a seven-foot PYTHON bursting out of his ceiling
• Horrific video shows school girl, 14, being brutally beaten for THREE HOURS by teenage bully in China
• Chinese kindergarten pupils are forced to line up to be KICKED by their teacher one by one because they ‘failed her expectation in gymnastics’
• Class, stop monkeying around! Chinese zoo opens a performing school for macaques
• Desperate Chinese woman offers to give away her three sons to strangers for FREE after being abandoned by her husband
• Enough to make your skin crawl: Woman finds a SPIDER hiding in her ear canal where it had even woven a web
• Teenage girl dresses as a cow and begs to be ridden by pedestrians for 50p a time in hope of raising money to cure sick father
• Shocking moment Chinese hospital staff are slapped then forced to hold a DEAD child in severe public humiliation after the toddler died during medical treatment
• Shocking CCTV footage captures the moment a 176lb WILD BOAR invades a Chinese beach resort and rams into tourists
• Wealthy Chinese man deliberately carves on NINE new iPhone 6s’s he bought to taunt his ex-girlfriend after she dumped him when he couldn’t afford to buy her a handset
• That’s not a hallucination! Chinese mushroom picker find a gigantic 60 inch hornet nest weighing in at 86lb
• A VERY arresting beauty: Former Maxim model may be the world’s hottest cop after ditching the bikinis to become a police officer in South Korea

On the blogs:

• How mass migration shaped Sichuan cuisine
• September: Yacht hopping in Monaco
• #HOTGV Episode Eight: On The Oxford Companion to Wine with Julia Harding MW

Words – August 2015

31/08/201506/09/2015 by Qin Xie | Leave a comment

Published this month:

• The Leaning Towers Of Guangxi: Dramatic images show apartment buildings tilting dangerous backwards on verge of collapse
• Drinks with more than a kick: Herbal tonics used for erectile dysfunction found to be spiked with VIAGRA… so it’ll ‘work faster’
• Low-tech protection: Man wrapped his new car with a PLASTIC SKIRT to prevent dents and scratches while it’s parked
• Shocking moment when violent passenger attempt to strip a young girl naked in the middle of a full carriage because the two were fighting over an EMPTY SEAT
• Incredible footage shows the moment seven-year-old boy gets knocked flying by speeding car… and then sits right up again with only bruises
• Intricate millennium-old tomb discovered under a high school in China
• House of foam: Property buyers shocked to discover the new flats they paid a fortune for are built with flammable plastic
• Think your sex education is embarrassing? Chinese pupils learn about condoms, sexual relationships and masturbation in special summer camp… with their parents
• Would you eat a cheesecake made of POO? Japanese university launches new dessert baked with faecal bacteria from gorillas… and they say it has a ‘distinct flavour’
• Breath-taking footage captured by shepherd shows incredibly rare tornado creating a huge column of sand in arid landscape
• Heart-warming moment twin saved 19 years ago in China’s first successful operation to divide conjoined babies returns to thank the doctor who gave him gift of life
• Is this the world’s worst hotel? Dire guest house listed for demolition remains open despite lying amidst rubble (and amazingly there are people still checking in)
• Peppa Pig will be jealous! Piglets in China have their OWN luxury resort where hogs can dive, swim and get a massage in the jacuzzi
• Bye bye, summer! Hilarious images show Chinese kids chomp their way through whole watermelons in quirky tradition to mark the beginning of autumn
• Strongest storm of the year: Super typhoon ‘Soudelor’ to hit Taiwan and China with wind speeds of at least 100mph creating raging waves up to five stories high
• Shocking footage shows young girl at wheel of a speeding car and weaving through city traffic while her father tells her to ‘drive carefully’ from the back seat
• Female train attendant gets brutally beaten up by a family of 12 after she asked them to change seats for safety reasons
• Bizarre moment theatre performers are showered with cash carried by a bulldozer after audience tipped them generously
• Is the world’s most scenic highway? China unveils new seven mile road that’s built in the middle of a river valley
• Don’t doze off! Utterly adorable two year old Buddhist monk melts the heart of millions after pictures of him yawning and falling asleep during meditation emerge online
• Watch out, musicians! Chinese censors blacklist 120 ‘harmful’ songs on the internet – from ‘No sex no love’ to ‘Everybody dies’
• Fight at Chinese karaoke bar leaves singer with ten-inch ‘microphone’ shoved so far into his rear, doctors have to cut open his abdomen to remove it
• Better than Oktoberfest! Chinese carnival goers race to steal ‘Beer King’ title by drinking 2 litres of lager from washbasins
• Excuse me, may I squeeze through please? Mind-boggling images show what happens to a rafting park in China when everybody fancies a bit of adventure on their summer holiday
• Got a sensitive nose? Chinese city recruits ‘smell specialists’ to sniff out air pollution
• Will YOU date them? Traffic police on highway to fame after their BOSSES posted ads on social media to help them find love
• Shocking moment a bear cub is ripped to pieces by a dozen tigers in front of screaming tourists after wandering into their enclosure at Chinese zoo
• Now THAT’S delicate work! Artists carve intricate portraits onto egg shells in quirky new art trend
• Ten photos from Grand Hotel Portovenere
• Terrifying footage shows an enormous sinkhole swallow up entire street in China after collapse of underground tunnel
• ‘My parents are mafia': Chinese boy who begged on the street to fund dad’s medical treatment is abandoned after father stole all his donations and ran off with a new wife
• Whose idea was this? Pedestrians in Chinese city jostle along hideously narrow zebra crossing that only has room for one
• Shocking moment Chinese passenger encourages her child to defecate by the kitchen in the rear of a plane because ‘the toilets were too small’
• A flyaway new trend: The quirky foam machine that lets you create your very own ‘clouds’ in the shape of hearts, stars and birds
• Tourist plunges 900 feet to death after his seat broke away from newly opened tightrope ride in China
• Silent romance: Heart-warming story of how a Chinese city is helping its deaf-mute community find love before Valentine’s Day
• Is this the world’s worst wax museum? China’s Madame Tussaud-style attraction becomes internet sensation because its statues are utterly unrecognisable
• This will keep room-service busy! Incredible moment 418 people have breakfast in bed at the same time in successful Guinness Record attempt
• How a 1,500-year-old dialect became the unlikely reason why an upcoming American drama turned into instant hit in China
• Woman sparks anger after saving her dog a seat on a packed bus during rush hour
• Would you use this for baby soft skin? Chinese mother makes soap from her BREAST MILK as gifts for friends
• Going platinum: Self-made property tycoon worth over $42.6 BILLION is named the wealthiest Chinese person in the world
• The game is on! Desperate Chinese bachelors pay £700 for week-long boot camp to learn how to date women
• An unexpected guest! One-month-old baby elephant wanders into villager’s home after losing her family in the forest
• One family, one pooch: Chinese city announces single dog policy in bid to resolve canine-related noise issues
• Amazing moment more than a hundred passers-by stopped to help save a little girl trapped underneath an 18 TONNE coach
• Who says love don’t cost a thing? Jewellery store unveils SOLID GOLD underwear for Chinese Valentine’s Day valued at £400,000
• The picture that moved China: Devoted son who lost both arms to electric shock spoon-feeds sick mother using his TEETH
• Budding fashionistas? Quirky floral ‘antenna hairpins’ are the new must-have accessory for trendy Chinese
• Ready, aim, fire: Chinese archery range uses images of Japanese soldiers as targets to celebrate upcoming V-Day anniversary
• Chinese fisherman finds metre-long ‘torpedo’ in controversy plagued South China Sea… which turns out to be an under-water spy device
• Shocking video shows hot pot restaurant waiter pouring BOILING WATER over female customer who complained about his service before body slamming her into the floor
• Athletic pensioner becomes new tourist attraction in China as hundreds watch him dive into the sea… over 200 times a day
• Hilarious photographs expose part of the Chinese-Russian border is guarded by a SCARECROW
• That’s NOT the way to pray! Giant turtles are plastered with money in Chinese zoo by visitors who hope to live longer
• It’s getting a bit breezy! Amazing footage shows massive 100 foot high ‘dust devil’ appearing in Chinese construction site
• Where are their planning permissions? Chinese media name and shame craziest illegal structures… from a colossal ‘pigeon castle’ to a mansion on top of 12 storey high rise
• Chinese villager who hacked wife and eight family members to death with a butcher’s cleaver because of her alleged affair is arrested following large-scale manhunt
• Leave your freedom at the door! Chinese foodies flock to PRISON themed restaurant where they enjoy meals in locked cages and get their food through a window
• That’s a quacking lot of birds! Chinese city is flooded with 100,000 DUCKS that will become traditional dinner during Ghost Festival
• Best dad in the world? Welder spends whole year building a 16 foot Bumblebee after his son watched Transformers and wanted a ‘bigger toy’
• Woman arrested after killing and burying neighbour’s grandson because she thought he was ‘smarter’ than her own
• Meet the 87-year-old woman who has a five inch HORN growing out of her head
• She’s got crabs! Four-year-old girl had over 20 pubic lice living in her EYELASHES… and she got it from her grandmother
• Inside China’s ultimate ‘kung fu village': The secluded mountain community where all residents practise martial arts and everyone has a secret weapon
• Fool’s gold: Chinese residents stop traffic all day to pick up precious metal dumped on the road… only to discover it’s sulphur

On the blogs:

• August: Wine travel in Stuttgart
• Wine storage 101: The ten golden rules
• #HOTGV Episode Seven: On coffee with James Hoffmann

Words – July 2015

31/07/201508/08/2015 by Qin Xie | Leave a comment

Published this month:

• Man begs girlfriend for forgiveness by kneeling half-naked outside female dorm and asking her to SPANK him
• Severely abused boy who spent years living in filth in an outdoor PIGSTY has finally found a place to call home
• Crime-spree monkey that tormented Chinese community for months finally caught after case of breaking and entering
• Can’t face getting sunburn? Chinese women take no chances with their ‘facekinis’ (but don’t seem worried about burning elsewhere!)
• 17 year old boy grows BREASTS after consuming too much fast food and fizzy drinks but he’s not the only one
• Now that’s Gangnam Style! Pop star Psy’s Rolls Royce crashes into the back of a bus – so he continues his journey in a Porsche
• Unsteady hands need not apply! Students compete for surgical internships by folding tiny paper cranes, reassembling bugs AND making sushi using a single grain of rice
• Want to travel by JETPACK? Now you can! The first models will be available by 2016… But only if you work in emergency services
• If you want to make this authentic, add rum
• Best Restaurants for Late-night Dining in London
• Learning dangerously: Lorry driver captured on surveillance READING while cruising down the motorway gets fined just £20
• Archaeology student freed by Iraqi police after being mistakenly suspected of terror links to ISIS while visiting historic sites
• Chinese imperial tomb guardian whose family have watched over ‘royal’ graves for 23 generations is forced to retire after mausoleum becomes World Heritage Site
• Double take: From ‘Moai statues’ on the high street to the ‘Colosseum’ shopping mall… Here are Chinese replicas of world famous landmarks in bizarre locations
• It’s getting crowded! Breath-taking pictures show over 3,000 Chinese students crammed into a single mega-class… to be taught by just ONE teacher

On the blogs:

• July: Sip tea in Chengdu’s parks
• 15 Mile Menu at The Kings Arms, Christchurch
• Yauatcha, City, Review
• #HOTGV: On Innis & Gunn with Dougal Sharp

Words – June 2015

30/06/201506/09/2015 by Qin Xie | Leave a comment

Published this month:

• Ten photos from Grand Hotel dei Castelli
• Eggs-tremely skillful: Quirky social media crazes have become secrets to winning in Chinese beauty pageant
• Is she the real blade runner? Girl makes a living by standing on razor-sharp cleavers BAREFOOT
• Don’t try this at home: Man who is too poor for surgery operates on himself more than 10 times to remove TUMOUR
• Father gives his sick son the ‘gift of life’ by donating blood 48 times to keep him alive
• Pensioner inspires Taiwan after graduating from university at the age of 85… to fulfill promise he made to parents 72 years ago
• Best Wine Bars in London
• Grandmother is forced to apologise to a DOG after accidentally bumping into neighbour’s poodle while pushing a stroller
• Green invasion! Surreal images show a neon Chinese freshwater lake infested with monstrous algae bloom that suffocates all living creatures in water

On the blogs:

• Scents Of Summer Afternoon Tea At The Wellington Lounge Review
• A taste from New Zealand’s Marisco Vineyards
• Island Eating In Grenada: The Raw Ingredients
•  Just for the summer: pop-up cocktail bars in Knightsbridge
• #HOTGV: On Vins Colombo with Laure Colombo
• Island Eating In Grenada: The Restaurants
• Gadget review: Huawei P8 as your travel camera

Words – May 2015

31/05/201508/06/2015 by Qin Xie | Leave a comment

Published this month:

• Genoa on Foot – Cultural Immersion the Quick Way
• Jenever in The Hague

On the blogs:

• Eating out in Liguria
• #HOTGV: On Sciacchetrà with Terra di Bargòn
• Galleries, palaces & tea by David Backhouse
• Taylor’s, Vila Nova de Gaia
• Scents of Summer Afternoon Tea at Wellington Louge
• A world of chocolate in Grenada
• #HOTGV: On natural wine with Isabelle Legeron MW

Words – April 2015

30/04/201530/04/2015 by Qin Xie | Leave a comment

Published this month:

• Xi’an: Hidden treasures
• The philosophy of restaurant design

On the blogs:

• Tricolour: wines from Côteaux du Giennois
• Six awesome sights around Tunisia
• Zoe’s Ghana Kitchen at The King & Co dinner
• Potato gnocchi, chorizo, radish, asparagus, tomatoes, soy beans
• Tomatoes and truffle honey
• Ramos Pinto, Vila Nova de Gaia
• Barrio Bellavista, Santiago’s open air gallery
• Natural Wine by Isabelle Legeron
• Roughing It by Mark Twain, the ultimate vagabond’s book?
• i Tre Merli Ristorante Porto Antico, Genoa, dinner
• Bar Deck Zeus, Vis a Vis Hotel, Sestri Levante, aperitivo
• Osteria Cantine Cattaneo, Sestri Levante, dinner
• Portivene Un Mare di Sapori, Portovenere, lunch
• Palmaria, Grand Hotel Portovenere, dinner
• Ristorante Il Genovese, Genoa, dinner

And some backdated photos:

• Yeni Raki at The Clove Club dinner
• Norwegian Skrei launch of season dinner
• Avocado, spinach, pineapple, coconut smoothie
• Radish and daikon salad
• Cider braised pig’s cheeks

Words – March 2015

31/03/201527/03/2015 by Qin Xie | Leave a comment

Published this month:

• Borago: cutting edge cuisine in Santiago, Chile

On the blogs:

• Santo Domingo, a city of American firsts
• Quinta do Tedo, Folgosa
• Côtes du Rhône Google Hangout: When wine goes high tech
• Quinta do Seixo, Cima-Corgo
• Food bursaries, competitions, awards and more
• A little gallery of Dominican Republic’s northern shores
• #HOTGV: On fine teas with Jameel Lalani (read about it here)