Asia

Jan Reurink The world's highest railway line, the 'Roof of the World Express' was opened in 2006. It runs for 1,142 km (710 mi) between Lhasa, the capital of Tibet and Xining in China, crossing the Tibetan Plateau more than 5 ...

In October of each year, hundreds of Swiss Farmers come together at the Roman amphitheatre, Martigny, in Canton Valais on the French border, for the finals of the Combat des Reines ( the battle of Queens) between Switzerland's most ornery cows. ...

Violas (Pansies) of every hue - from yellow, white and deep purple to blue - lured an English wanderer, Charles Howard-Bury, after he had strolled up through the woodland to the alpine fields of the Heavenly Mountains (Tien Shan Mountains) in ...

Originally a tiny townlet, Taipei grew into a significant hub for the export of tea in the 20th century consequently its economic prominence across the globe. When Japan seized and took control of the island in 1884, the city developed quickly ...

Up until the 19th century, the word Cappadocia was oblivious to most of the World. It was understood, perhaps as a religious hotspot in Asia Minor that was cited in the Bible - St Peter's foremost letter is preached to the ...

Concealed among the arid western hillocks of the Hindu Kush, where precipitation is periodic and water is insufficient, is a stripe of cool, shining lakes. They nestle along Afghanistan's prime river - Band-e Amir, at an altitude of just under 9700ft ...

Rhododendrons and camellias grow wild to profusion in the subtropical climate of China's south-western Yunnan province Kunming, the capital, is known as the City of Eternal Spring, and the area is a treasure house of plants and trees. But the forest ...

Known as the 'Golden Valley', the Fergana is a 22,000-sq km (8,500-sq mi) wedge of rich arable land enclosed by the Tein Shan and Pamir Mountains. The 300-km (190-mi) long valley is a picturesque ethnic melting pot with a distinguished history. ...

A massive peak, more than 6,600 m(21,700 ft) high in the remote Gangdise Shan mountain range. Kailash is not only revered in the Shamanistic Bon religion of Tibet but equally among Buddhists, Hindus and Jains. It is believed to be the ...

According to Rudyard Kipling, the Grand Trunk Road was 'such a river of life as exists nowhere else in the world, the lifeblood of the Indian sub-continent along which the ideas that have shaped its culture have flowed for more than ...

Lying a mere 350 m (1,150 ft) off northern Sumatra is the tiny, volcanic island of Weh, surrounded by the Andaman Sea, Weh is the northernmost point of Indonesia's archipelago, and was formed during the Pleistocene age by an eruption that ...

The most extensive industrial city in China, Shanghai nestles by the river mouth of the Yangtze. It is a captivating, frantic city in which the finest of conventional and modern China blend. The iconic skyline of Pudong, the world-class cuisine and ...