Terracotta soldiers were once painted
The 8,000 terracotta warriors were originally brightly coloured. Most pigment flakes away within minutes of exposure to dry air.
Author not specified in the imported source
Xi'an, China · Asia
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
Hong Kong has the most skyscrapers
Hong Kong has more buildings over 150 metres than any other city, squeezed onto a narrow strip between mountains and sea.
Author not specified in the imported source
Hong Kong · Asia
External reference (site language): Hong Kong ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
Macau's economy runs on casinos
Macau's gaming revenue has repeatedly exceeded that of Las Vegas several times over, on a peninsula smaller than most airports.
Author not specified in the imported source
Macau · Asia
External reference (site language): Macau ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
Taiwan's tallest tower has a giant ball
Taipei 101 hangs a 660-tonne steel pendulum near the top to counteract typhoon sway, and visitors can watch it move.
Author not specified in the imported source
Taipei, Taiwan · Asia
External reference (site language): Taipei 101 ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
Mongolia is the emptiest country
With around two people per square kilometre, Mongolia has the lowest population density of any sovereign nation.
Author not specified in the imported source
Mongolia · Asia
External reference (site language): Mongolia ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
Ulaanbaatar is the coldest capital
Average annual temperatures near freezing make Ulaanbaatar the coldest capital city on Earth.
Author not specified in the imported source
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia · Asia
External reference (site language): Ulaanbaatar ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
Nepal's flag is not rectangular
Nepal is the only country with a non-quadrilateral flag, made of two stacked pennants representing the Himalayas.
Author not specified in the imported source
Nepal · Asia
External reference (site language): Flag of Nepal ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
Everest grows and shifts
Everest rises a few millimetres a year and drifts northeast as the Indian plate pushes under Asia. Its official height was revised to 8,848.86 m in 2020.
Author not specified in the imported source
Nepal · Asia
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
Nepal's clock is 45 minutes off
Nepal runs on UTC+5:45, one of only a handful of time zones offset by 45 minutes.
Author not specified in the imported source
Nepal · Asia
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
Bhutan measures happiness
Bhutan tracks Gross National Happiness alongside economic figures, surveying wellbeing, culture and environment.
Author not specified in the imported source
Bhutan · Asia
External reference (site language): Bhutan ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
Bhutan absorbs more carbon than it emits
Constitutionally required to keep 60 percent forest cover, Bhutan is one of very few carbon-negative countries.
Author not specified in the imported source
Bhutan · Asia
External reference (site language): Bhutan ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
India has over 120 languages
India recognises 22 official languages and counts more than 120 with over 10,000 speakers each.
Author not specified in the imported source
India · Asia
External reference (site language): Languages of India ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
The Taj Mahal changes colour
White marble reflects the sky, so the Taj Mahal looks pink at dawn, blinding white at noon and gold under a full moon.
Author not specified in the imported source
Agra, India · Asia
External reference (site language): Agra ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
India's rail network moves millions daily
Indian Railways carries more than 20 million passengers a day across a network of over 68,000 kilometres.
Author not specified in the imported source
India · Asia
External reference (site language): India ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
Kerala has backwater buses
In Kerala's backwaters, public ferries serve as school buses and commuter transport across 900 kilometres of connected waterways.
Author not specified in the imported source
Kerala, India · Asia
External reference (site language): Kerala Cafe ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
Meghalaya grows its bridges
Khasi villagers train living fig roots across rivers for decades until they form bridges that get stronger with age.
Author not specified in the imported source
Meghalaya, India · Asia
External reference (site language): Meghalaya ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
Ladakh has a magnetic-looking hill
Magnetic Hill near Leh appears to roll cars uphill. It is an optical illusion caused by the surrounding slope.
Author not specified in the imported source
Ladakh, India · Asia
External reference (site language): Ladakh ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
Varanasi is continuously inhabited
Varanasi is among the oldest continuously lived-in cities in the world, with settlement stretching back roughly 3,000 years.
Author not specified in the imported source
Varanasi, India · Asia
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
Sri Lanka exports cinnamon
True cinnamon comes almost entirely from Sri Lanka, where bark is hand-peeled and rolled into quills that dry into curls.
Author not specified in the imported source
Sri Lanka · Asia
External reference (site language): Emblem of Sri Lanka ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
Sri Lanka has a rock fortress
Sigiriya's palace sits on a 200-metre granite plug, reached by staircases that pass between the paws of a carved lion.
Author not specified in the imported source
Sigiriya, Sri Lanka · Asia
External reference (site language): Tourism in Sri Lanka ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
Maldives is the flattest country
The average natural elevation of the Maldives is about 1.5 metres, making it the lowest-lying country on Earth.
Author not specified in the imported source
Maldives · Asia
External reference (site language): Maldives ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
Maldives glows at night
Bioluminescent plankton can turn the shoreline electric blue on dark nights, brightest when the water is disturbed.
Author not specified in the imported source
Vaadhoo, Maldives · Asia
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
Thailand was never colonised
Thailand is the only Southeast Asian nation never taken by a European power, partly through skilled 19th-century diplomacy.
Author not specified in the imported source
Thailand · Asia
External reference (site language): Geography of Thailand ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
Bangkok has the longest official name
The city's full ceremonial name runs to 168 letters. Locals simply call it Krung Thep.
Author not specified in the imported source
Bangkok, Thailand · Asia
External reference (site language): Bangkok ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.