Yangshuo County — China

 Yangshuo County is a county in Guilin, Guangxi Province, China. Its seat is located in Yangshuo Town. Surrounded by karst peaks and bordered on one side by the Li River it is easily accessible by bus or by boat from nearby Guilin. In the 1980s, the town became popular with foreign backpackers, and by the late 1990s packaged tourists began arriving in greater numbers. At that time, domestic tourism represented only a small fraction of the tourists but by 2005 domestic tourists outnumbered foreign tourists by a great margin. Today, the town has become a resort destination for both domestic and foreign travelers.

 Yangshuo is a very scenic, small county and city surrounded by many karst mountains and beautiful scenery near Guilin, Guangxi. It is very popular among tourists. Yangshuo is popular for its incredible karst scenery, beautiful mountains, rivers, caves, and temples as well as its laid back cafes and bars. However, as a result, there is no shortage of mainland Chinese tourists, ex-pats and other foreigners.

Yangshuo is not a typical Chinese town and does not have the big-city feel as in most other Chinese cities. That means it is relatively air and noise pollution free, (provided you get away from major roadways), very clean (by Chinese standards) and does not usually suffer from endless massive traffic chaos. It is much more like a vacation town, with wonderful restaurants and shops and again quite developed by mainland Chinese standards. Yangshuo has a reputation as a foreigners' village in Southern China and is a major stop on the trail of many independent travellers. It is also a nice place to stop and explore the local countryside by bike or even try your hand on the world class rock-climbing sites. 

Futuristic Cultural Complex in Changsha — China

Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) have unveiled an ambitious cultural complex, which began to take shape in October after the project broke ground in the heart of Changsha, China. In true Hadid-fashion, the Changsha Meixihu International Culture & Arts Center defines itself by extreme sinuous curves that radiate from each of the three independent structures and links them to a pedestrianized landscape that offers a “strong urban experience”, forming what they hope to be a global destination for theater and art.

The International Culture & Arts Centre embodies a unique variety of civic nodes and spaces: A Grand Theatre, a Contemporary Art Museum, a Multipurpose Hall and supporting facilities. The central plaza is generated by the relative position of these separate buildings and offers a strong urban experience whereby the flow of pedestrian visitors that come from all sides of the site intersect and meet. In parallel it also stretches outwards to the neighboring streets with unfettered and phenomenal views across Meixi lake with access towards Festival Island.

The Grand Theatre is the focal point of the Changsha International Culture & Arts Centre. It is the largest performance venue in the city with a total capacity of 1800 seats. Designed to host world-standard performances the building contains will contain all the necessary front of house functions, such as lobbies, cloakrooms, bars, restaurants, and VIP hospitality, as well as the required ancillary functions, such as administration, rehearsal rooms, backstage logistics, dressing and make-up rooms, and wardrobe.

The Museum’s composition of three fluid petals around its internal central atrium, juxtaposes of the various patchworks of gallery spaces in a truly seamless fashion. With outward views and balconies to its exteriors, it aims to engage the site’s unique location and surrounding views into some of its gallery spaces. An external plaza which faces Meixi Lake Road allows for outdoor sculptures, exhibitions and events to be extended to an expansive outdoor space.

 The Small Theatre (Multipurpose Hall) is characterized by its flexibility. With a maximum capacity of 500 seats, it can be adapted and transformed to different configurations. It can therefore accommodate a broad range of functions and shows that span from banquets and commercial events to small plays, fashion shows and music. A commercial attraction, this venue shares seamless public access to retail areas and restaurant facilities, which are seated in an open and gently sunken courtyard linking visitors to and from the basement level.

Although these civic institutions are uniquely defined and separate, they supply each other in all respects within its setting with plazas offering visitors a tapestry-like sequence of urban ambiances that relate to the different institutions, inject the site with urban vitality. The working hours of the different venues also overlap to ensure continuity during the full 24 hour cycle; Operated during the evening, the Grand Theatre becomes active as the Museum begins to conclude its day- time operations whilst the Small theatre and retail/restaurants would be commercially available day and night. In this regard, they benefit from each other’s vicinity, ensuring that the site is lively 24 hours a day. This dynamic composition further establishes a powerful relationship with its surroundings, which confers monumentality to the ensemble.

Embodying values of functionality, elegance and innovation, the Changsha Meixi Lake International Culture & Arts Center aims to become the new cultural and civic node for the city of Changsha, and well as global cultural destination.

Auto Aerobics by Chris Labrooy

British artist and designer Chris Labrooy remade classic American car fleet in the surreal with the option of levitation. The inspiration for the project began Chris cars standing along the sidewalks. Using photography, illustrative techniques and a wealth of 3D tools and tricks, he’s created these startling images of inter-connected cars direct from his computer screen. The author apparently wanted some free street and using it for the usual set of 3D-Tool "parked" cars in the air, a pre-assembled one course like puzzle.

Retro Cars Impressively Linked Together Using 3D Tools

Guggenheim Museum Bilbao — Spain

The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is a museum of modern and contemporary art, designed by Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry, and located in Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain. The museum was inaugurated on 18 October 1997 by King Juan Carlos I of Spain.

It is built alongside the Nervion River, which runs through the city of Bilbao to the Cantabrian Sea. The Guggenheim is one of several museums belonging to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. The museum features permanent and visiting exhibits of works by Spanish and international artists

One of the most admired works of contemporary architecture, the building has been hailed as a "signal moment in the architectural culture", because it represents "one of those rare moments when critics, academics, and the general public were all completely united about something." The museum was the building most frequently named as one of the most important works completed since 1980 in the 2010 World Architecture Survey among architecture experts.

History — In 1991, the Basque government suggested to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation that it would fund a Guggenheim museum to be built in Bilbao's decrepit port area, once the city's main source of income. The Basque government agreed to cover the US$100 million construction cost, to create a US$50 million acquisitions fund, to pay a one-time US$20 million fee to the Guggenheim and to subsidize the museum's US$12 million annual budget. In exchange, the Foundation agreed to manage the institution, rotate parts of its permanent collection through the Bilbao museum and organize temporary exhibitions.

The museum was built by Ferrovial,[8] at a cost of US$89 million. About 5,000 residents of Bilbao attended a preopening extravaganza outside the museum on the night preceding the official opening, featuring an outdoor light show and concerts. On October 18, 1997, the museum was opened by Juan Carlos I of Spain.

Liechtensteinklamm — The Most Beautiful Gorge

Liechtensteinklamm or Liechtenstein Gorge, is a particularly narrow gorge with walls up to 300m high, located in the Austrian Alps 50km south of Salzburg. It is around 4km long and named after Johann II of Liechtenstein who had the walkways installed in 1875.

One of the deepest and longest ravines in the Alps, the Liechtensteinklamm is off the beaten track but well worth the detour. The jaw-dropping chasm was carved out during the last Ice Age and takes its name from Johann II, Prince of Liechtenstein, who poured plenty of money into making the gorge accessible in the 19th century. Following raging waters flanked by vertical 300m-high cliffs, the footpath crosses bridges and passes through tunnels gouged into slate cliffs veined with white granite. The mossy boulders and crags glisten with spray from the water, which is at its most striking in the late afternoon when the sunlight turns it opal blue. The trail culminates at a spectacular 50m waterfall. Allow at least an hour to walk the gorge.