hotel in chinese desert

situated in the chinese xiangshawan desert, 'lotus hotel' uses pioneering and innovative construction techniques, enabling the structure to seemingly float above the landscape. located between the major urban centers of baotou, hohhot and ordos, the hotel, designed by PLaT architects forms a resort which seeks to establish the area as a tourist destination.

the resort in its desert environment

the hotel blends into its environment, forming another dune in the vast expanse of desert. the design uses prefabricated load-bearing panels, reducing the amount of pressure applied to its foundations: a lightweight solution without the need for concrete or water. the replicated triangular framework further strengthens the hotel's form and is repeated throughout the scheme.

Skogafos - The most famous waterfall in Iceland

Photo — Link

Skógafoss is a waterfall situated in the south of Iceland at the cliffs of the former coastline. After the coastline had receded seaward (it is now at a distance of about 5 kilometres (3.1 miles) from Skógar), the former sea cliffs remained, parallel to the coast over hundreds of kilometres, creating together with some mountains a clear border between the coastal lowlands and the Highlands of Iceland. 10 more images after the break...

Yellow Flowering Rapeseed in China

Limestone hills rise up amid a sea of flowering rapeseed plants in Luoping, southern China. Situated in the eastern part of the Yunnan province, Luoping is a small city with a population of 500,000. Its vast farmland is covered in the blossoming rapeseed crops every February and March, drawing flocks of tourist and photographers. The 250,000mu (Chinese measuring system) area blanketed in rapeseed flowers give the impression of a golden ocean. Travellers refer to the area as the weirdest 'sea' in the world. Not only the base for rapeseed production, Luoping County is also the national base for raising bees and processing honey products. 14 more images after the break

El Peñon de Guatape - Colombia

A massive stone rising over 650 feet out of the flat ground of Guatape, Colombia, the Piedra de Penol or El Peñon de Guatape was once worshiped by the Tahamies Indians. By the 1900s, the massive 10-million-ton rock was seen by local farmers as a nuisance, a giant version of the rocks that the farmers regularly dug out of their fields.11 more images after the break...

Rosary Church, Shettihalli - As it submerges and emergeS

If you are thinking how these two totally unrelated acts and timelines could cause such awe and amazement to the offbeat traveler, you are just about to know that!

The thing is, the church was built on the banks of Hemavathi River near Hassan where an erstwhile village existed long ago. When the government decided the flowing river water had to be put to better use, Gorur dam was built which floods the Hemavathi Reservoir. As with any dam, the collateral damage was relocation of the villages upstream. This village was no different and the villagers were relocated to the nearby villages but the church was left behind. It stood still standing the test of time and the wrath of monsoons. It has been more than 200 years since it was built and more than 25 years since the dam waters started flooding and submerging the church yet these walls bear the brunt with such understated charm and grit that it is hard not to let your jaw drop at the first glimpse.

Every year as the monsoons fill up the reservoir, the church retires to the submerged world and as the water level recedes it emerges in all its glory. The ruins have a mysterious charm to them. The church as such is relatively huge with nothing but the skeleton of the structure in place. The columns, the architecture and few walls are preserved just so much so that one can fill in the missing pieces of puzzle to imagine what it would’ve looked like. The architecture looks very European which adds all the more charm to the setting.

Taman Negara: Oldest Rainforest on the Planet

In the middle of the Malaysian peninsula lies a rainforest so old it makes the entire Amazon jungle seem like new growth. Taman Negara, literally ‘national park’ in Malay, has lain virtually undisturbed for 130 million years. Located as it is in the centre of the equator, even ice ages left barely a dent in this ancient jungle.

Fascinating Lighthouses

A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways.
Lighthouses mark dangerous coastlines, hazardous shoals, reefs, safe entries to harbors, and can also assist in aerial navigation. Once widely used, the number of operational lighthouses has declined due to the expense of maintenance and replacement by modern electronic navigational devices.
Here are some of the most beautiful and enduring representatives shorelines have to offer!

The fence between the U.S. and Mexico

This is the boundary between the U.S. and Mexico. Curiously, the more built up and populated part of the photographs – this is Mexico.

Russian stadiums for the World Cup in 2018

1. Dynamo Moscow

Russian stadiums for the World Cup in 2018, More images after the break...

GDP Of Post-Soviet Countries In Decreasing Order

It's been more then 20 years since the disintegration of the Soviet Union, which was preceded by ethnic conflicts and mutual charges. Baltic republics would say that they provided the whole country with sprats and received no money for it. Uzbeks insisted that they sold their cotton for nothing… and so on and so forth. So, let's see how truthful those statements were. 15 USSR Countries after the break...

Repository for all the seeds of the earth

In Norway, on Spitsbergen, built a barn, “Judgement Day“, which contains the seeds of all the most important plants of the earth. Granary was built to protect the seeds of the most valuable crop in the event of future disasters, such as nuclear war, global climate change or asteroid strikes.

Faces in Stone of Mount Rushmore

Mount Rushmore in the United States was declared a national monument in 1925. The most interesting fact is that this was declared a national monument even before a construction began in 1927. It is located in south western Dakota in the Black Hills. Faces of U.S. presidents are carved into the rock of these hills. There are figures of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt. President faces are engraved at about 150 meters above the valley, which lies next to the rock, and height of each carved face is about 20 meters. The cost for the whole project was a million dollars, which is a small sum for the cultural value of this monument. An American historian Dan Robinson gave the idea for this monument and the project work was conducted by sculptor Gutzon Borglum, who died in 1941 before the completion of the monument, but his son finished his father’s work. The monument is located near the Borglum studio, which is a sort of mini museum that includes tools used for building a monument.

Hawaiian Volcanoes Alive Forever ?

Mauna Loa is an active volcano in Hawaii. It is located on the western part of Hawaii’s largest island and is one of the largest volcanoes of the world. Almost 50% of the island of Hawaii is composed of cooled lava of volcanoes Mauna Loa and Kilauea. The main crater of the volcano Mauna Loa is located at an altitude of 4170 meters. However, the lava from the volcano appears on the fringes of the mountains, even in the underwater parts of the Hawaiian coast. These two Hawaiian volcanoes are typical of those occurring in underwater volcanic eruptions. Namely, it is considered that the greater part of the island emerged from the lava cooled underwater eruption. Interestingly, the total height of the volcano, measured from its base under the ocean, is 9000 meters.