of countries and cultures for you to experience.

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If you have already or plan on making the trip, you might seriously feel like you've

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stepped into a whole new world!

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Well, if you saw that movie "Avatar," you'll be convinced you're on another planet!

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But first, let's start with one for my fellow foodies.

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1. Out-of-this-world flavors

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Can I interest you in a bag of cherry-blossom-flavored

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Lays chips?

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How about a wasabi KitKat bar,

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green tea Oreos?

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If you were ever curious about all the possible flavors your favorite snacks come in, then

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the Far East is your destination!

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Just be sure to wash all that down with some yogurt-flavored Pepsi if you're in Japan!

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2. Sleeping people anywhere

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While you're munching on some strange snacks

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over in Japan, don't be shocked to see people grabbing a power nap in random public places,

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on a street bench, in the subway, even at work!

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This sleeping-on-the-job isn't seen in a negative or weird light.

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In fact, it even has a name, 'inemuri,' which translates to “sleeping while present.”

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And it's seen as a sign of dedication to one's work.

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Hm, I wonder if I could get my boss on the 'inemuri' train too. Wait a minute, I am my

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boss.

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3. One-of-a-kind animals

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Asia has some of the most interesting animal

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species that can only be found on this continent.

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Take the Indian sloth bear, for instance.

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Is it a sloth, is it a bear, who knows?

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Actually, it is a bear, but don't worry if one crosses your path while you're exploring

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the Indian subcontinent; these guys prefer a diet of fruit, ants, and termites to, like uhm

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you!

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There's also the Proboscis monkey, with a face only a mother could love, that lives

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on the island of Borneo in Indonesia, which is in Southeast Asia.

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4. And some equally strange-looking plants

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And some equally strange-looking plants.

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Indonesia is also home to some bizarre flora.

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Ever seen a corpse flower?

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Ever smelled one?

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Trust me, you don't want to.

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All I'll say is that these giant plants' “aroma” is what earned them the morbid

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nickname.

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A real jaw-dropper is the 10-foot-tall, 15-foot-wide, and 100-pound Titan Arum.

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Then there's the 3-foot-wide Rafflesia, which literally looks like something out of

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the Mario world.

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Number five: lowest and highest points on land.

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If your bucket list includes standing on both the highest and lowest points on Earth, head to Asia and knock them both out in one go.

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The great Mount Everest in the Himalayas, as you may know, is the highest peak on the planet, rising above sea level at a staggering 29,029 feet.

As for the lowest of the low, no, the Challenger Deep doesn't count!

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I'm talking about the lowest place on land, and it's the Dead Sea, which is between the West Bank and Israel.

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Hey, the Middle East is part of Western Asia, so I'll count it!

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Anyway, it's over 1,400 feet below sea level!

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Six: some bizarre inventions.

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Asia has some weird inventions that you might be interested in owning.

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Japan's Toyota-i-road is a combination of a car and a motorcycle.

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This little futuristic transportation device can fit into any parking space without trouble, and I'm sure it'll be a head turner wherever you go.

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It's also electric, so no need for gas money!

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Some other kooky, yet seemingly practical, inventions from the Land of the Rising Sun are eyedrop funnels, which can only be described as a butter mincer, and a fold-out pillow dictionary!

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Hey, to make one of those "inemuri" naps a little more comfortable wherever you decide to catch some Z's!

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Number seven: hotels with a robot staff.

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Gonna have to head to Japan for this bizarre sight as well.

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The Henn-na Hotel in Tokyo will have you feeling like you're in the year 3000.

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This is the only hotel in the world with a staff that's mostly made up of robots!

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And don't worry about having to learn to speak "Robot", all the staff know pretty much all the major world languages.

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They also have a robot dinosaur for the kiddies!

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My only question is, can they do the robot?

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Number eight: Pandora on Earth.

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"Avatar", the sci-fi/fantasy film that had all of us with our eyes bulging out of our heads and saying, "Oh, the colors!" back in 2009.

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Hey, if you ever wanted to step foot into Pandora, that's where the story took place — as a refresher — just head to China!

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The Zhangjiajie National Forest Park has the Southern Sky Column, which was actually officially renamed Avatar Mountain after the movie's release!

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An astounding 3,500 feet tall, this sandstone pillar covered in greenery was one of the inspirations for the movie.

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So, art imitating life then imitating art.

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Oh, fascinating!

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Number nine: not your run-of-the-mill adventure activities.

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Hey, instead of admiring Avatar Mountain from afar, why not give her a climb?

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That same national park has an exhilarating Glass Skywalk on its Tianmen Mountain.

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Now, just imagine, you're 4,700 feet up in the air walking around on a 3-foot-wide bridge on the side of a mountain with only 2-inch-thick glass panels stopping you from a long fall!

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And, you know, the thing about glass is that it's clear, so you can see everything below you!

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No, not interested?

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Then you probably don't wanna hear about SkyCycle in the Philippines.

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Not unless you'd like to ride a bicycle on a tight wire 60 feet above the ground!

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Nope, I"ll be skipping both of those, thanks.

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10. Perfect marriage of nature and technology.

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These two concepts are almost always understood

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as stark opposites.

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But if you step into Asia, you'll be questioning everything you knew about technology and nature.

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In China, there's a perfectly trimmed juniper tree garden that, when looked at from above,

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turns out to be a QR code!

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And get this, it actually works when you scan it!

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Well, if you take an aerial shot of the garden, turn up the brightness on the picture, and

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then scan the photo, it'll take you to the official site of China's most popular messaging

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app!

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11. Only one time zone

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OK, at first glance, this might not sound

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so bizarre.

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I mean, time zones, really?

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But think about it. China is one of the largest countries in the world, and you'd expect

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it to have at least 5 time zones, right?

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But it only has one, and that's Beijing Time!

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So, every city in this country is on the exact same schedule.

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It sounds really convenient, especially if you wanna make a long-distance call to a friend

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on the other side of the country.

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But imagine, in some areas, people get up and go to work only to see the sunrise at

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lunchtime!

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That's weird.

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12. Teeth-blackening

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Whereas most countries in the West spend a

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lot of time and money trying to make their teeth look whiter, some Asian cultures do

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the opposite!

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Teeth-blackening is mostly practiced in small communities in Southeast Asia and Oceania,

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and it used to be pretty popular in Japan and some parts of China.

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But they don't do this to rebel against that bandwagon pursuit of the Hollywood smile.

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No, the practice actually serves a useful purpose!

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It's an effective way to protect teeth from decay and preserves them for longer.

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Plus, it has deep cultural meaning.

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It might look odd to outsiders, but they see it as a sign of health and beauty!

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Hey, I can respect that!

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13. Longest bridge in the world

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Heading back to China, let's look at the

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world's longest bridge.

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That would be the Danyang–Kunshan Grand Bridge.

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Simply looking at this thing twists your brain, so just imagine riding along its mind-blowing

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stretch of over 100 miles!

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It's part of the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway, so if you wanna see this bad boy

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for yourself, you'll need to take a train trip going to or from Shanghai and Nanjing.

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Oh yeah, and you'll be about 100 feet up in the air, so don't look down!

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14. The fountain of youth

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And finally, probably the most undeniable

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fact that Asia is some sort of different universe must be the strange way aging works there.

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That is, it seems to go a lot slower than in other parts of the world, mine included!

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I mean, have you seen Taiwanese interior designer Lure Hsu?

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What about Singaporean professional photographer Chuando Tan?

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They're both undeniably gorgeous people, but get this: she's going on 44 and he's

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53!

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Well, “middle-aged” is a whole different concept over there since a lot of Asian countries

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have extremely long lifespans.

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Japan itself has the most centenarians, that's people who've celebrated their 100th birthday,

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per capita.

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It probably comes down to their healthy diet and active lifestyle, but if there is a fountain

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of youth, I'm willing to bet it's somewhere over in Asia.

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So you, yeah you there, which of the places I mentioned would you like to see first, and

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can you add any more examples to the list?

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Let me know down in the comments.

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