Z Breningstall.com

India by Oxelo Skateboards (filmed on Canon 5D Mark II)

INDIA from Oxelo Skateboards on Vimeo.

The Edge of the Earth - DOCUMENTARY (Canon 5DII video at Gates of the Arctic National Park)

The Edge of the Earth - DOCUMENTARY from Eric Dennis on Vimeo.

A documentary about a journey to "The Edge of the Earth". The Gates of the Arctic National Park is the northernmost national park in the U.S. (the entirety of the park lies north of the Arctic Circle).There are no established roads, trails, visitor facilities, or campgrounds in the park.

Following the Alatna River you will see an amazing place people rarely see, including the amazing Arrigetch Peaks.

MADRID LONGBOARD (Canon 5D Mark II video)

MADRID LONGBOARD from Juan Rayos on Vimeo.

 

Surfing the city.

Litang festival

Litang festival from CHRISTOPHE COUSIN on Vimeo.

The Longest Way 1.0 - one year walk/beard grow time lapse in China

The Longest Way

Christoph Rehage's long walk across China (2007-2008): 4,646 kilometers

Christophe Rehage:

Nov.9th 2007 - Nov.13th 2008 // one year on foot // 4646km through China // unlimited beard & hair growth // Homepage: http://www.thelongestway.com // Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CRehage // musical score by The Kingpins (http://www.myspace.com/theoneandonlykingpins) and Zhu Fengbo

Additional info:
- I never finished my original goal of walking to Germany. Instead, I walked for a year and roughly 4500km, passed the Gobi desert, and then decided to stop walking for now.
- All of the distance from Beijing to Ürümqi has been completed solely on foot, straight good old walking. There are instances where you can see me in the video sitting on a plane or riding a boat, but those are during breaks I had to take from walking, either to sort out bureaucracy issues or to take care of some personal things.

If you have any additional questions, please refer to:
http://www.thelongestway.com/frequently-asked-questions
http://www.thelongestway.com/extras/miscellaneous-advice
and get the Google Earth file here (1KB):
http://www.thelongredline.com/TLW.kmz

Via Shanghaiist

Man on the Street

When I turned the corner around my house and saw the crowd in the T-intersection, I knew it was trouble. There was a crowd of around 20 in the middle of the street and in the middle a man lay, alive but not getting up. A policeman milled around on the outskirts of the scene and an ambulance had not yet arrived. A tow truck and two taxi cabs sat on the side of the street. I don't know what transpired in this scene but I do know about the intersection.

Because it is a three-way intersection, all traffic coming down one way of it is turning. In China, there is no such thing as a "yield for pedestrians" rule. Quite the opposite- vehicles often accelerate as they turn toward a crosswalk to ward off any potential crossers that might slow them down.

Thus, every time a pedestrian crosses the street on a green pedestrian light, they must run a dangerous guantlet of turning cars and crossing bikes and motorcycles (whose drivers frequently run red lights and often leave the headlights off at night). Given that this is a busy area of the city, there is a lot of non-stop foot and vehicle traffic from 8 am to 8 pm each day.

During peak hours, at this particular intersection there are multiple traffic enforcers and/or city inspectors posted. There is several police stations within a one kilometer radius. Never once have I seen anyone cite a car for nearly barrelling over a pedestrian.

In an article in Shanghai Daily last week, a driver talked about how she was afraid that if she stopped for pedestrians, the cars behind would slam into her. It's a legimate fear. This non-yielding practice is universal across China. 

Why don't city authorities in China, including Shanghai, deal with this issue?

Class bias is likely involved. Why should wealthy drivers stop and wait for the rifraff on the street?

But those in power who pretend it's not a big deal and do nothing to address it have blood on their hands.

Tibet closed to foreign travelers | Life on the Tibetan Plateau

Currently, all prefectures of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), including Lhasa, are closed to all foreign travelers. Permits stopped being issued last week and the reports from Lhasa indicate that permits will not start being issued again until at least July 25 of this year. Of course, officially Tibet is "open" according to most Chinese consulates, embassies and even the Tibet Tourism Bureau, but in reality it is closed with no permits being issued. If you are looking for any official news of this, you probably won't find it. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the "peaceful liberation of Tibet" and celebrations are scheduled to take place through the TAR. Foreigners are not being allowed to the region in case there are protests (or worse) during the anniversary celebrations. If you have booked a tour to Tibet between now and late July, I strongly suggest contacting your agency for a refund or moving your tour to later this summer or fall when the area reopens.

- Losang, Life on the Tibetan Plateau blog

Losang also reports that many areas of Tibetan Sichuan in the west and north of the province are currently closed to foreign travelers. It looks like China is planning to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the "peaceful liberation of Tibet" by keeping most Tibetan areas as closed armed camps inaccessible to world travelers.

Behold the Giant Buddha

"Yangguize Laile" has posted some nice pictures of the giant 70-meter Buddha in Leshan.