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11 cities that China ripped off from the rest of the world

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Hallstatt China man with ladder

Knock-off bags? Head to Chinatown. Knock-off towns? Head to China.

That China is really good at producing counterfeit goods is well documented, but the country has really outdone itself by copying entire towns or cities from other parts of the world.

Here are 11 cities that China copied from the rest of the world.

SEE ALSO: 10 tourist traps you should avoid in Italy — and where to go instead

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Located near the port city of Tianjin is Florentia Village, an elaborately designed outlet mall that's meant to resemble an Italian village. It comes complete with fountains, canals, and mosaics, as well as "local" shops like Gucci and Prada. Built by an Italian developer, it truly feels like Italy.

Take a full tour of Florentia Village »



A few hours outside of Shanghai you'll come across Tianducheng, a wannabe Paris that features a 354-foot replica of the Eiffel tower. However, despite being surrounded by a residential area designed to accommodate 10,000 people, the copycat city is largely empty.

Check out Tianducheng here »



In the midst of the Chinese province of Guangdong sits an identical copy of Hallstatt, a historic Austrian Alpine village. China spent $940 million copying the charming UNESCO World Heritage Site in its entirety.

Take a closer look at China's Hallstatt here »



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This fisherman caught a massive 400-pound fish while straddling a paddleboard

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Captain Ben Chancey fought with a 412 pound grouper off the coast of Florida for 20 minutes until the gargantuan fish finally surrendered. Chancey was riding a paddleboard and was knocked off twice by the fish.  

Produced by Emma Fierberg. Video courtesy of Associated Press. 

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Stunning pictures expose the clash between modern life and native culture in Greenland

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Sebastien_Tixier_03 Greenland

Greenland, one of the most remote and harsh countries in the world, is changing fast. 

The consequences of global warming on the country's glaciers are quite obvious, but what's harder to see is how Greenland's culture is evolving as the Arctic country quickly modernizes. 

The native Inuit account for roughly 88% of Greenland's population and they have a strong sense of pride in their heritage. But with supermarkets and shopping centers appearing in most large towns, and electricity and other modern amenities now available even in remote areas, Greenland is headed for change.

French photographer Sébastien Tixier has always been fascinated with the Arctic north ever since hearing stories of the Inuit as a child. He decided to seek out this land of ice and snow to discover how Greenlanders are dealing with creeping westernization, and to record the crossroads of two distinct worlds. Tixier recently published his work in the book "Allanngorpoq," which means "being transformed" in Greenlandic.

To learn more about modern life in Greenland, take a look at the stunning images Tixier has shared with us below.

UP NEXT: Wanna beat the heat? Take a vacation to the most remote outposts of Antarctica

Fishing and mining drive the majority of Greenland's economy. The town of Ilulissat is known for its breathtaking ice fjord, and is a major tourist destination for the country, as well as a key fishing port.



Tixier remembers his surreal arrival in Ilulissat. "The incredible landscape of a sea filled with icebergs, the frozen harbor, the streets weaving in and out of rocks and peopled with dogs screaming, and Lady Gaga's "Poker Face" song blaring from the taxi's radio," he says.



The country's major towns often have prefab apartment structures, built in the '50s and '60s as part of a Danish attempt to modernize the country.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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8 things you should know before buying your first custom suit

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Tailor

Suit shopping is often one of men’s biggest style challenges.

Shopping off the rack is budget-friendly but can be hard to find a perfect fit.

And once you’ve taken your pick to a tailor, the alterations needed often blow your wardrobe budget altogether.

That’s why many guys turn to custom suiting.

In recent years, more and more affordable options are popping up, with companies like Indochino, J.Hilburn, and Alton Lane offering made-to-measure suits at a fraction of what it used to cost to get a suit made just for you.

Even if you suit up only a couple times a year, it’s worth investing in a suit ... and yourself.

A few things to consider when getting your first custom suit:

1. Wear snug fitting clothing to your appointment.

For measurements as accurate as possible, tight fitting clothing is key.

If you have things in your pockets, remove them before the measuring tape comes out.

2. Skip the functioning button hole option on the sleeves.

Even though functioning button holes scream style, it’s not wise to have your first MTM suit created with them. Why? Because it is a very costly alteration, and with your first custom suit, you’ll still probably need some tweaks to get everything just right. Lengthening or shortening sleeves on non-functioning button sleeves is quite quick and inexpensive to have done. So save this feature for your second MTM suit (making sure whoever created your first one accounts for the alterations in the second one). Once your measurements are locked in, you can customize to your heart’s desire.

3. It’s better to be too big than too small.

If you’re measuring yourself (with the help of a friend, of course), ensure the tape measure is not held too closely to the body, and if you’re in between numbers, round up rather than down. Remember: It is always easier to take things in than to let things out.

4. Go for a versatile, season-agnostic style.

While you may be presented with a seemingly endless supply of swatches to choose from, stay simple with your first suit. You are going to want to wear this bad boy as much as possible, so choose a fabric and color that are classic and versatile. I’d recommend navy blue or dark grey in a medium weight fabric.

5. Know the difference between half canvassed, fully canvassed and fused suits.

Most of the time when you’re having your suit made, you’ll have the option of having it canvassed or fused. The main difference here is going to be how long the suit lasts and how it lays on your body. Although more expensive, a canvassed suit is going to lay nicer on your body, allow for more movement, and will last longer as the fabrics are not fused (glued) together, and are less likely to deteriorate with dry cleaning or bubble when wet.

6. Do your research!

Finding a maker who has good reviews is important. Another thing to look for is a company that will reimburse you for some or all alteration costs is key (many do up to a certain amount). It is quite likely that a few adjustments will have to be made to the suit once you receive it, some of which might be costly. For example, if the shoulders and/or the body needs to be taken it, it will be more expensive than if the sleeves, waist or pant hem need to be adjusted.

7. Keep track of all adjustments made to the suit.

If you intend on ordering another, it is wise to make note of anything you changed on the first so that your second has a higher chance of coming back perfect!

8. Manage your expectations.

For the most part, a custom suit is going to fit you better than an off-the-rack-suit when you first try it on, simply because it was made for you. Do expect to have to have minor alterations made, however. Simple pant or sleeve length adjustments are common, and if the suit company’s idea of ‘slim fit’ does not align with yours, you may have to have the pants tapered.

SEE ALSO: The 6 belts every man should have in his closet

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8 books that America's most prestigious private schools love to assign for summer reading

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Horace Mann School CampusBusiness Insider recently reached out tothe most prestigious private schools in the US to obtain their summer reading lists, and we got hundreds of titles. 

The works spanned centuries, genres, and continents, to appeal to a wide array of students' personal reading tastes. 

However, of the hundreds of books we pored through, eight works kept showing up on multiple schools' lists. 

SEE ALSO: The summer reading lists at America's most prestigious private schools

"Catch-22," by Joseph Heller — 1961

Recommended at The College Preparatory School, Trinity School, and Choate Rosemary Hall

From the book cover:

Set in Italy during World War II, this is the story of the incomparable, malingering bombardier, Yossarian, a hero who is furious because thousands of people he has never met are trying to kill him. But his real problem is not the enemy — it is his own army, which keeps increasing the number of missions the men must fly to complete their service.

Yet if Yossarian makes any attempt to excuse himself from the perilous missions he’s assigned, he’ll be in violation of Catch-22, a hilariously sinister bureaucratic rule: a man is considered insane if he willingly continues to fly dangerous combat missions, but if he makes a formal request to be removed from duty, he is proven sane and therefore ineligible to be relieved.



"The Catcher in the Rye," by J. D. Salinger — 1951

Recommended at The Harker School and The Lawrenceville School

From the Barnes & Noble:

Ever since it was first published in 1951, this novel has been the coming-of-age story against which all others are judged. Read and cherished by generations, the story of Holden Caulfield is truly one of America's literary treasures.



"Cutting for Stone," Abraham Verghese — 2009

Recommended at The Lawrenceville School and Deerfield Academy

From the book cover:

Marion and Shiva Stone are twin brothers born of a secret union between a beautiful Indian nun and a brash British surgeon. Orphaned by their mother’s death and their father’s disappearance, bound together by a preternatural connection and a shared fascination with medicine, the twins come of age as Ethiopia hovers on the brink of revolution.

Moving from Addis Ababa to New York City and back again, "Cutting for Stone" is an unforgettable story of love and betrayal, medicine and ordinary miracles--and two brothers whose fates are forever intertwined.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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Converse ignored one glaring problem in the redesign of its best-selling shoe

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Chuck II Converse

Feet the world over rejoiced when Converse revealed the redesign of its famous Chuck Taylor All Star.

The new model, called the Chuck Taylor All Star II, features completely redesigned innards (using parent company Nike's Lunarlon foam impact-absorbing technology), a padded tongue, and micro-suede lining. They're like a stealthy luxury version of the retro original.

Beyond feel and performance, stylistic changes include better materials, color-matching shoelaces and grommets, and replacing a glued-on vinyl patch with a stitched cloth version. 

For the most part, though, the All Star II looks the same as the original. And therein lies the problem: The All Star may be iconic, but it sure is ugly.

Don't get me wrong — the II is a vast visual improvement on the classic All Star. The subtle tweaks and use of higher-quality materials certainly help, but the shape of the shoe is still a problem. 

Converse All Star

Given its icon status, I feel slightly blasphemous saying this, but I've never liked the shape of the Chuck Taylor.

The shoe has a near century-long history, and unfortunately it's showing its age. From its eight rows of shoelace eyelets to the tacky patch and rubber toecap, it has a clownish quality. 

I realize that the All Star has a special place in the hearts of many who've either grown up wearing them or belong to a subculture that's co-opted the former basketball sneaker. They're probably overjoyed that their favorite shoe will now be more comfortable to wear for extended periods.

In fact, the high-top II is completely sold out on Converse's website, as of the time of this article, so I'm clearly in the minority here. 

Unfortunately, I just can't get over the shoe's peculiar shape. It's not for me.

SEE ALSO: 11 clothing and style hacks for the modern gentleman

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Meet Carlos Slim Helu, the wealthiest man in Mexico

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Carlos Slim

Carlos Slim Helu, Mexico's wealthiest man and one of the richest self-made billionaires in the world, flies under the radar more than you might expect, considering he owns more than 200 companies in Mexico, which is also known as "Slimlandia." 

With a net worth of at least $35.4 billion, Slim's influence is far-reaching in Mexico and abroad.

So what drives the man who built a giant business empire across one of the poorest countries in the Americas? Read on to find out.

SEE ALSO: The 25 richest self-made billionaires in the world

SEE ALSO: Meet Len Blavatnik, the richest man in Britain

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Slim's parents were Lebanese immigrants who moved to Mexico before his birth. They endowed their son with strong values, and his father taught him to read financial documents and invest at a young age. Slim has carefully preserved his childhood home and keeps a photograph of his father on his desk.

Source: Wealth-X, Telegraph UK



After moving to Mexico, Slim's father was successful in both retail and real estate; upon his death in 1953, his son, Carlos, inherited his businesses.

Source: Wealth-X



Slim also holds a deep love for his country. He said, “Mexico is so rich in culture and history, and I have always enjoyed that.”

Source: Telegraph UK



See the rest of the story at Business Insider









League of Millions: Inside the video game phenomenon that's selling out global arenas and earning stars up to $1 million

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Far more than an internet video game, "League of Legends" is a cultural phenomenon, a pastime that is deeply ingrained in the lives and lifestyle of millions of fans worldwide. It appeals across cultures and demographics, inspiring a passion and sense of community rarely matched in modern culture.

Twenty-seven million people play it every day. At peak hours, more than 7 million people are playing concurrently.

Not only do people play it themselves, they love to watch others play — including the top pro "League of Legends" (LoL) teams, which span 4 continents and fill coliseums with fans.

BI Films presents Part 1 of its documentary series, "League of Millions," in which we meet the five young pros who make up Team Liquid, one of the leading North American LoL teams, in their quest to win the 2015 championship.

Director and Producer: Sam Rega

Editor: Josh Wolff

Production and Research: David Fang and Lauren Browning

Executive Producer: Diane Galligan

Follow TI: On YouTube

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Amazing color photos of the Hindenburg Zeppelin show what luxury air travel was like 80 years ago

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Hindenburg Color Interior

Before the modern jumbo jet and its first class suites, the biggest and grandest thing in luxury air travel was the German Zeppelin Airship.

Of all the massive Zeppelin's constructed, the most famous was the Hindenburg, which crashed in New Jersey in 1937. The Hindenburg was designed to ferry passengers across the Atlantic in serenity, with the dirigible floating smoothly through the clouds.  

The Hindenburg was the first of two "Hindenburg" Class airships constructed by the Zeppelin Company. Construction of the airship began in 1931 and was completed in 1936. The Hindenburg, along with its highly successful predecessor, the Graf Zeppelin, made numerous trans-Atlantic crossings in their brief but illustrious careers.

Constructed out of an aluminum alloy called duralumin, the Hindenburg's massive frame work was filled with 7 tons of hydrogen. Hydrogen is much lighter than air, and allows the massive Zeppelin to carry more people in greater levels of luxury. However, with an ignition source, an oxidizer, and right concentration, hydrogen can also be incredibly flammable. This is the theory of what happened in 1937 when the Hindenburg went down.

The Hindenburg entered passenger service in May of 1936 and carried up 50 passengers in luxury across the Atlantic.

The legend of the Hindenburg's luxurious amenities are well known, but most have not seen them in living color. So take the opportunity to check out these wonderful photos of the Zeppelin's passengers spaces courtesy of airships.net and the German Federal Archive

Prior to the age of the airliner, Zeppelin airships ruled the skies over the north Atlantic — connecting cities like New York with Western Europe. Zeppelin's fleet of airships included such colossal creations like the Graf Zeppelin and the Hindenburg (seen here) along with the less famous Graf Zeppelin II.



In fact, here's a photo of Business Insider's world headquarters taken from the Graf Zeppelin in 1929.



The most well known of the Zeppelin airships was named after former German President Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider








A waffle maker can teach you an important lesson about being happy

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Waffle_batter_being_poured_on_waffle_iron

This week the eminent New York Times in-house philosopher David Brooks laments that he is “sometimes grumpier when [he] stay[s] at a nice hotel,” as compared with a “budget hotel” where even “the waffle maker in the breakfast area is a treat.”

Brooks has said many contentious things in his tenure with the Times, but the insinuation that a waffle maker is ever not a treat is a moment that will mar his career with particular shame. A waffle iron turns goo into a hot waffle that can be covered in sugar and stuffed in your mouth in minutes.

You just pour in a personal serving of liquefied white flour, and then there is a buzzer, and then you flip the waffle iron over, and it works consistently and predictably. A waffle iron is always a treat and demands to be regarded accordingly.

But for Brooks, the phenomenon comes down to expectations. At a “nice” hotel, waffle-flipping is an imposition.

This is a nice hotel; someone else should be flipping my waffle. Or it should be some new kind of waffle that requires no flipping at all. The astronauts probably have that. Or, you know what, it should be a crepe. Where ARE the crepes? Nowhere? My morning is ruined.

When David Brooks’s expectations are met, he is happy. When they are not, he is grumpy. In this way, Brooks is human. Regardless of how lofty or languid any particular expectation may be, the difference in happiness between one met expectation and another met expectation is small.

An expensive hotel sets high expectations that are begging not to be met. A budget hotel is poised to knock your socks off with a waffle iron.

I wrote about this phenomenon last spring in a post titled “Always Make Promises.” At that point, based on social psychology research, I became convinced that making promises was a great way to set expectations for other people in my life.

If I know what’s expected of me, that means less pressure. And I can make sure I’m meeting expectations (making people happy) instead of drifting around in a nebulous cloud of needs and wants and mystery.

I promise you we will go on one date this weekend. That’s an example from romance. It keeps a romantic partner from sitting at home waiting for a text thinking, hey, where’s my stupid date.

It keeps me from wondering if I’m doing enough date stuff. It’s great romance. It also works well with employers. By promising to complete a certain number of things by a certain date, research says you can actually make your boss more impressed than if you did more things more quickly and there was no concrete expectation in play.

Belgian_waffles_cooked_in_a_Krampouz_cast iron_waffle_iron.JPG

But pretend for a moment that not everyone in your life is as considerate as I am, always making clear and concrete promises and fulfilling them. In that case, Brooks argues that cultivating gratitude is the answer.

Indeed, experiencing gratitude has been shown in many studies to improve people’s wellbeing. “Gratitude is a sort of laughter of the heart,” writes Brooks.

At this point I became sick, choking it back at first gracefully and then unsuccessfully. He seems to have stolen a line from my novel Laughter of the Heart. Gratitude, he continues, “comes about after some surprising kindness.”

Traditionally, yes. But how do you decide what kindness is surprising? Can you choose to be surprised by any kindness, and receive it with gratitude?

Brooks calls this “dispositional gratitude,” wherein people learn to “preserve small expectations.” That is, don’t really expect anyone to do much if anything for you ever, and then it’s always a nice surprise.

He offers examples of a world where people have grateful dispositions: “We’re grateful to people who tried to do us favors even when those favors didn’t work out. … We’re grateful because some people showed they care about us more than we thought they did. We’re grateful when others took an imaginative leap and put themselves in our mind, even with no benefit to themselves.” (I don’t know what that last one means.)

Depending on how you look at this argument, and I think it’s the correct way to look at this argument, it could read as super bleak. The bleakest of the bleak is this point:

If you think that human nature is good and powerful, then you go around frustrated because the perfect society has not yet been achieved. But if you go through life believing that our reason is not that great, our individual skills are not that impressive, and our goodness is severely mottled, then you’re sort of amazed life has managed to be as sweet as it is.

So, in sum, human nature is not good or powerful. Remember that, and you’ll be much happier. Never expect a waffle iron, because goodness is mottled. Heaven help you if you expect crepes.

SEE ALSO: The bizarre inspiration behind Nike's first pair of running shoes

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The strange history of cologne

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perfume

If you're a perfume aficionado, you probably know the basics of the modern history of perfume.

You know how Guerlain and Coty were the first big companies to mass-produce perfume, you know that Chanel No 5 smashed sales records and made perfume history, and you understand how scents marketed by famous women from Elizabeth Taylor to Katy Perry have defined the perfume market for decades.

But the slick glass bottles and perfectly airbrushed celeb campaigns of today's perfume counters belie a frankly strange history that stretches back thousands of years — and involves chemicals derived from the butts of dead cats, the Crusades, "god sweat," scented feet, the Plague and whale vomit.

The history of perfume is more than just the history of human beings trying to smell nice — it's a history filled with much strife and innovation.

The ingredients that are used to create scents have historically been hugely important for trade routes; high-class scents have always been used as a method of distinguishing nobility from the peasantry (Elizabeth I wore a perfume made of musk and rose-water, while Napoleon ordered 50 bottles of cologne a month), and fragrance has been tied to expressions of religious devotion, health precautions and cleanliness efforts for most of the history of human civilization.

Here are some of the ancient origins of perfume. Take them in, and then look at your bathroom cabinet with relief.

Ancient Egypt

The Egyptians were huge fans of perfume, and used it for both ceremonial and beautification purposes: fragrance was thought to be the sweat of the sun-god Ra.

They even had a god of perfume, Nefertum, who wore a head dress made of water lilies (one of the biggest perfume ingredients of the time). Archaeologists have also uncovered many Egyptian recipes and elaborate prescriptions for perfume-making.

If you were a king or other person of high status in Egyptian society, perfume of some sort was going to be part of your everyday life, smeared on you in the form of scented oil to keep you fragrant. (In the modern world, alcohol is the base material on which perfumes are built, but in ancient times, perfumes were made with an oil base.)

In fact, the University of Bonn is currently trying to recreate apharaoh's perfume from 1479 BC, based off its dessicated remains found in a flagon. Chances are it'll be sticky and smell heavily of river botanicals and incense. (And no, poor people didn't get to wear any perfume.)

Egyptians imported huge amounts of perfume ingredients from Punt, a region of Africa which specialized in aromatic woods and myrrh — so much so that the perfume trade was a big part of international relations for both of the regions. It was basically the equivalent of the U.S. and China striking a million-dollar trade deal for sandalwood.

jasmine perfume

Ancient Persia

The ancient Persian royal class was also seriously invested in perfume — so much so that it was common for kings to be pictured with perfume bottles in Persian art.

The legendary rulers Darius and Xerxes are shown in one relief sitting comfortably with their perfume bottles and holding perfume flowers in their hands. It was the ancient equivalent of Prince William having a Burberry fragrance contract.

The Persians dominated the perfume trade for hundreds of years, and many believe that they invented the distillation process that led to the discovery of base alcohol. One thing we do know for sure is that Avicenna, the Persian doctor, chemist and philosopher, experimented extensively with distillationto try and make better scents, and was the first to figure out the chemistry behind perfumes that weren't oil-based.

Ancient Rome

So many ancient Roman and Greek perfume recipes have survived (including those inked carefully by people like Pliny the Elder in his Natural History) that we are actually able to recreate ancient perfumes in our modern era. The ancient Greeks and Romans carefully documented their perfume-making processes.

In fact, there's even a mural in a perfume-maker's house in Pompeii documenting the process of making Greco-Roman perfumes: first, oil was made by pressing olives; then ingredients like plants and woods were added to the oil using meticulous scale measurements from a recipe; finally, they were left to "steep" — that is, the ingredients were left in the oil so that the oil could take on its scent — before being sold.

The world's oldest perfume factory was unearthed in Cyprus in 2007 — the mythological home of Aphrodite, goddess of love.

But this probably wasn't a coincidence.

The cult of Aphrodite's strong cultural link to perfume meant that this perfume factory was probably supplying scents for the temples and worshippers. Perfume was often used in ancient societies to bring believers closer to the gods. But scent wasn't just for religious purposes: it was everywhere. By a rough guess, by 100 AD Romans were using 2800 tons of frankincense a year, and perfume was used in beauty products, public baths and even on the soles of feet.

Ironically, Pliny's meticulously kept recipe records were actually part of acondemnation of perfumes.

In James I. Porter's Constructions of The Classical Body, he points out that excessive use of perfumes were actually seen as un-Roman by some; Pliny approvingly recounts how an aristocrat's hiding place was discovered by the scent of his perfume. Some people definitely thought pretty scents should stay confined to the temples.

syria perfume

Ancient China

The ancient Chinese relationship with scent didn't really focus on the body: rather than wearing perfume, ancient Chinese culture utilized scent by burning incense and fragrant material in special spaces.

Histories of the use of scent in Chinese society tend to emphasize that perfumes weren't originally considered a cosmetic there; rather, they were used for disinfection and purity, as it was believed that they could eliminate disease from rooms.

While scented flowers were a part of traditional gardens, and mandarin oranges were once used by noblewomen to scent their hands, it seems that for centuries, wearing perfumes on your body wasn't necessarily the "in thing" in China.

But even though there's a myth today that there was no perfume used on bodies in ancient China, it's nonsense.

According to Chinese chemistry historians, the period between the Sui and the Song dynasties was rife with personal perfumes, with nobles competing for the best scents and importing ingredients via the Silk Road. By the Qing dynasty (1644-1912), the emperor seems to have carried a "perfume pouch" year-round, an adaptation of the traditional pocket pouch that brought good luck — except that his was stuffed with fragrant herbs.

The big difference between this and other perfume traditions, though? A lot of Chinese perfume ingredients were also used for many other purposes, like food and medicine.

Medieval Europe

If you were anybody in Europe from the 1200s to about the 1600s, you carried a pomander — a ball of scented materials, kept inside a lovely open case, and used to ward off infection and keep the air around you clean. Since the medieval Europeans literally thought that bad air could make you sick (it's called the theory of the miasma, which postulated that diseases were thought to be suspended in badly scented, unhealthy air), these little baubles were seen as life-savers as well as charming accessories.

The whole idea of this portable perfume seems to have popped up in the Middle Ages after Crusaders, returning from holy wars in Arabia, also brought back their enemies' perfume-making secrets.

Even though the idea of personal oil-based perfumes didn't catch on, they discovered that civet, castor, musk, ambergris and other animal-based products made great bases for scents, and carried scent bags or sachets to perfume their clothes.

But the first alcohol-based perfume was created in this period, too: it was known as Hungary Water, because it was believed to have been created for the Queen of Hungary during the 14th century, and involved distilled alcohol and herbs (probably rosemary and mint).

And in case you were wondering what those animal-based ingredients were, I hope you have a strong stomach.

Musk is a secretion from the "musk pod" of the male musk deer, an organ used for marking territory; civet is a liquid from the anal glands of civet cats; castor is made from the scent glands of beavers; and ambergris is a grey oily lump found in the digestive systems of sperm whales, probably a byproduct of trying to digest squid. Yep. Glamorous.

perfume

1400-1500s Italy

A serious breakthrough in perfume production came in medieval Italy, when they discovered how to create aqua mirabilis, a clear substance made of 95 percent alcohol and imbued with strong scent. And thus, the liquid perfume was born. After this invention, Italy — Venice in particular — became the center of the world perfume trade for several hundred years.

If there's one person who definitely brought Italian perfume to France and the rest of the world, it was Catherine de Medici, who as an Italian bride wed to the French king had her own perfume made up for her by her Italian parfumier, Rene le Florentin (Rene the Florentine) – a scented water with bergamot and orange blossom. He also created musk and civet-scented gloves for her, which were a sensation.

Given that Catherine's been accused of murdering people with gloves daubed with poison, this is actually pretty poetic.

From there, things accelerated: after a brief dip in perfume popularity in repressed Victorian England, synthetic compounds began to be discovered in the late 1800s, and the modern perfume industry was born.

So next time you daub on some of your Miss Dior, enjoy — and be thankful you're not carrying around beaver-butt liquid.

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Rapper Snoop Dogg stopped in Italy airport with $422,000 stuffed in his Louis Vuitton luggage

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Rapper Snoop Dogg performs in Uppsala, Sweden, July 25, 2015. REUTERS/Marcus Ericsson/TT News Agency

Italian police stopped California rapper Snoop Dogg on Friday as he prepared to board a private plane bound for Britain with $422,000 in cash in his Louis Vuitton luggage, said an Italian lawyer representing the entertainer.

In the European Union, the maximum amount of undeclared cash one can take on board a plane is 10,000 euros ($10,986.00). Snoop Dogg, who has been touring Europe after releasing the album "Bush" earlier this year, will have to pay a fine, said Andrea Parisi, his lawyer.

"We clarified everything from a legal point of view. The money came from concerts he had performed around Europe. There was no crime; it was just an administrative infraction," Parisi told Reuters on Saturday.

Half of the cash was given back to Snoop Dogg, whose real name is Calvin Broadus, while the other half is being held by Italian authorities until the amount of the fine is determined, Parisi said.

(Reporting by Steve Scherer; Editing by Digby Lidstone)

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I used to be obsessed with SoulCycle — until I realized how much is wrong with the class

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soulcycle spin class bicycling

SoulCycle — an expensive fitness studio popular among urban women — filed to go public on Thursday.

This verifies that the boutique indoor cycling classes are, in fact, taking over America.

But as with many fitness fads, it's not all it's cracked up to be.

I can confirm this firsthand.

I had a momentary obsession with SoulCycle. Stuck in a fitness rut and feeling the effects of my desk job on my waistline, I wanted a workout that would force me to break a sweat.

A shiny new, grapefruit-smelling SoulCycle studio had opened close to my neighborhood, and as an avid spinner, I found that sometimes regular spin classes left me unsweaty and unsatisfied. I had tried high-intensity interval videos on YouTube in my living room, much to the chagrin of my neighbors, and that didn't work, either. The idea of a class was alluring; I would be required to show up, and at $34 a class, I would have to push myself, or else it wouldn't be worth it.

Plus, I had heard so much about the community of SoulCycle. Celebrities cycled there. Reportedly, the teachers were like gurus, and you would leave with your metaphorical demons cast out from your day!

But I was nervous, because in November I had passed my certification to be a Mad Dog spinning instructor, and Mad Dog master instructors vilify SoulCycle. I felt slightly like a traitor, but I was still excited about the new experience. Plus, a first class was a comparatively cheaper $20, and the new studio near my apartment even offered a one-time complimentary class. I promised myself I would go only those two times, but that turned into many, many more.

But then I realized there are many things wrong with SoulCycle. My wallet is now thanking me.

1. It's not a good workout, according to some experts.

SoulCycle

Because SoulCycle focuses on combining dance moves (that have not been scientifically proved to do anything for you) with riding the bike, I found it hard to actually get an optimal cardiovascular workout and a toning workout.

In 2011, James S. Fell wrote in the Los Angeles Times that he gave SoulCycle "a failing grade for exercise physiology and biomechanics."

"The whole idea of working one's upper body while pedaling a stationary bike is not only counterproductive," he wrote, "it can be physically detrimental over time, according to several experts I talked to."

He wrote that neither of SoulCycle's cofounders, Julie Rice and Elizabeth Cutler, had a background in exercise science or any indoor cycling certifications. (Rice told Fell the two worked with an exercise physiologist to come up with the routines.)

Further, some experts believe that the workout is bunk and that by combining weights and cycling, you actually lose efficiency, one expert told Fell.

"You're probably going to burn less calories because your power output is going to drop," Jennifer Sage, a master-spinning instructor with a degree in exercise science who wrote the emphatic "I'd Rather Sell My Soul Than SoulCycle," told Fell.

Separately, Sage wrote that the popular move of doing push-ups on the bike was useless. "Because of this vigorous action, there is momentum to his movement, reducing even more the potential of any strength gain," she wrote.

"There is an illusion that they are working out harder because high repetitions can cause a burning sensation, but it doesn't accomplish anything," Martha Heaner, an indoor cycling instructor with over 15 year of experience who has a doctorate degree in nutrition and physical activity, told Fell in the same Los Angeles Times article. 

2. You can hurt yourself.

soul cycle studio class

When I got certified to teach spin, one of the most important things I learned was that proper alignment is crucial to avoiding back injuries. While some SoulCycle instructors do make concerted efforts to go around and help participants find proper form before the class begins, others didn't do that in some of the classes I took.

That leaves room for injuries — and in an already intimidating (and at times, snobby) environment, it can be tough to ask for help, let alone grab the attention of your instructor or one of the attendants.

There's also more of an effort on "following the dance moves" than following the instructor. (You can see a hilarious Gawker review of the class in which Rich Juzwiak, Caity Weaver, and Leah Beckmann attempt to follow along to prove just how confusing these dance moves can be.)

But this shouldn't come as too much of a surprise, as SoulCycle openly discloses that most of its instructors, as is the case with its founders, do not have fitness backgrounds. "SoulCycle is open about the fact that the company recruits performers as much as, if not more than, people with a fitness background," New York Magazine reported in 2013.

Master trainer Janet Fitzgerald confirmed to the magazine that she "would rather not take an outdoor triathlete" as opposed to a dancer or SoulCycle enthusiast. This alone is yet another problem with the fitness regimen.

Even when doing the exercise routine properly, there are plenty of opportunities to injure yourself. Sage told the Los Angeles Times that "when you start bobbing and weaving and doing push-ups on a bike while your legs are spinning, you risk hurting your low back." In that same article, other fitness experts disapproved of not only the validity, but the safety of the workout.

Sage has specifically criticized the popular "tap-back" move for its ability to cause injuries — it's what spin instructors call a "contraindicated move." "They are about as contraindicated as one can get because of the deceleration required by the back muscles," she wrote. "Otherwise you'd slam down hard into the saddle. There is zero benefit to doing these, and they are potentially harmful to joints and the musculature of the back."

Additionally, riding with little to no resistance can result in injuries. In a separate post detailing an unsafe spin class, Sage wrote, "by not having resistance, rider's hips and spine are unsupported at such a high cadence, potentially injuring the low back." Of course, riding in any spin class with little resistance could lead to injuries like this. 

3. SoulCycle fools you into thinking you're working harder than you actually are.

soul cycle

If you've ever walked out of a SoulCycle class drenched in sweat, it's probably because the studios don't cool the rooms down; it's warm in there. The rooms are notoriously steamy. The first time I experienced this, I foolishly attributed my soaked attire to an intense workout. I must have burned a billion calories!

Not quite. Many people buy into the fact that they're eviscerating calories from their bodies, but it's just part of SoulCycle's pseudo-yogi schtick.

4. SoulCycle charges you for water and shoes.

SoulCycle requires riders to don shoes that are able to clip on to the pedals, which isn't unusual for an indoor cycling class. It's $3, however, to rent shoes previously worn by someone else. Additionally, Smart Water is $2. 

Purchasing bottled water isn't a unique experience at an upscale fitness studio, but it does seem a bit excessive when you learn that SoulCycle's biggest competitor, Flywheel, grants you water and shoe rentals free.

These expenses add up on top of the already-steep fees. 

5. You get shoved to the back, where you may not be able to see the instructor.

Kroll Kimmy

If you've watched "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt," you've seen an excellent parody of this phenomenon, with Nick Kroll as a hack spinning instructor.

New riders are encouraged to stay away from the front, which can make following the instructor near to impossible. (Usually, the rear end of a fellow rider is in your face instead.) As mentioned previously, it's problematic to not be able to follow along with the instructor.

This practice also gives the experience a cliquey feel. You have to work your way to be good enough for the front row — and by good enough, it doesn't mean in shape enough. It means that you've mastered the "dance" moves on the bike. This is plausibly another strategy to get people to keep coming back; riders want to get coordinated enough to get bumped up to the front. I made it to the front once ... but it was a day when the front row was empty.

6. It's expensive, and there aren't memberships available for loyal, frequent riders.

soul cycle studioIt's a no-brainer that SoulCycle is a very easy way to throw your money into the wind, but the cost is even harder to take when you realize other cycling studios offer memberships — or participate in ClassPass, a hot startup that despite its demerits, allows fitness enthusiasts to sample many boutique fitness studios for what was a cool $99 a month (it's now $125 a month in New York, after a recent price hike). 

SoulCycle's top competitor, FlyWheel, offers memberships at specific studios in New York City for $375 a month. That is expensive, but classes are unlimited; it's a deal if you go every single day. In other cities, FlyWheel memberships are even cheaper. SoulCycle offers no such options. Classes are available to purchase as singles or by the package, which reduces the price tag per class only slightly. A SuperSoul package exists for $3,500; it's 50 classes, and it goes so far to hike up the prices to 70 classes, with the "benefit" of securing the ability to register for coveted classes earlier and a concierge service.

And a new spin studio with significantly more affordable prices, CycleBar, has been opening up franchises like crazy across America.

Even Equinox, which is often criticized for its sky-high price, seems affordable in comparison with SoulCycle.

7. It owns its elitism and exclusivity.

By not joining ClassPass and by not offering memberships, SoulCycle owns the fact that it is for the upper echelon of society. So it's no surprise that going to SoulCycle feels more like going to a debutante ball than going to the gym. 

It's also hard to get into SoulCycle classes; sign-ups are at noon on Mondays, and unsurprisingly, the popular classes fill up rapidly, leaving many die-hard riders without their preferred classes. "The withholding creates that rare thing among the well-heeled — unfulfilled material desire," Vanessa Grigoriadis wrote in Vanity Fair in 2012. 

This supposedly community-based workout thrives on keeping people out.

8. It doesn't make you feel good about yourself, but it promises that it will.

Ride. Rinse. Repeat. Our reusable sweat bag is now available in studios and online at the Soul Shop!

A photo posted by SoulCycle (@soulcycle) on Jul 9, 2015 at 1:15pm PDT on

While this may not be true for all of the clientele, there's something about being shoved to the back of a room amid a sea of perfectly sculpted and tanned women with massive diamond rings, clad in SoulCycle's signature apparel, that doesn't make you feel great. Yet SoulCycle's marketing promises to help you be the best you, if you keep coming back (and buying the company's very expensive apparel with the word "SoulCycle" stamped across it!)

On its website, SoulCycle makes some lofty promises about how it will alter riders' universes: "forty-five minutes is all it takes to transform the way you look and feel," and more grandiose, "SoulCycle doesn't just change bodies, it changes lives." 

9. The wording in its IPO filing was ludicrous.

You can click here to read it, but be warned that it contains the words "tribal" and "primal."

That said, there are undeniably a few good things about SoulCycle. Some instructors really do say the right platitudes that keep you coming back (I know I have a few favorites still whom I would ride with again on occasion). Some instructors also offer classes that are structured more like traditional interval classes, and they shy away from the distracting dancing hi-jinks — but you have to go through many classes and instructors (and paychecks) to get there. And at the end of the day, anything that gets people off of the couch and exercising can't be entirely lambasted. 

We reached out to SoulCycle, and the company declined to comment, citing the quiet period before filing for an initial public offering.

SEE ALSO: A cheaper version of SoulCycle is taking over the fitness industry

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11 examples of China making large-scale knock-offs of world-famous buildings

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china coluseum

China's construction boom has been one of the biggest drivers of economic growth in the past few years.

And although most of that has been original infrastructure, China also focused its attention on building replicas of world-famous tourist destinations.

Many of the original "world wonders" are considered cultural status symbols that reflected an empire's soft power. Consequently, some analysts believe that it's about more than just pretty tourist spots for China.

"The ancient parallels for these copycat projects suggest that they are not mere follies, but monumental assertions of China’s global primacy," Oxford University scholar and archaeologist Jack Carlson wrote a few years back.

A nearly full-scale copy of the Great Sphinx of Giza, which was built by the ancient Egyptians of the Old Kingdom circa 2500 BC, is now standing at an unfinished theme park in Chuzhou, Anhui province in China.

Source: Sacred Destinations



In the Beijing World Park, there are replicas of the Washington DC's White House and Lincoln Memorial, as well as New York's Statue of Liberty.

Source: China Guide



Other fun things you can find in the Beijing World Park include the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. In total, there are over 100 world famous attractions in the park.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider








The insane life of Facebook billionaire Sean Parker (FB)

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sean parker

Sean Parker found immense success at an incredibly young age. 

At the age of 19, he cofounded Napster, a file-sharing service that would change how the world consumes music. 

By 24, he was the founding president of Facebook, a startup that was then tiny but would go on to become the biggest social network in the world. 

The 35-year-old, whose net worth is now estimated to be about $3 billion, hasn't slowed down a bit. He recently launched Brigade, a social platform meant to encourage civic engagement, and donated $600 million toward his own foundation. 

He's found a bit of controversy along the way, developing a reputation for being a big partier and an even bigger spender. 

 

Parker cofounded file-sharing service Napster in 1999, when he was only 19 years old. Napster became one of the fastest growing businesses of all time, as well as one of the most controversial. Parker and his cofounder, Shawn Fanning, are often credited with revolutionizing the music industry.

Source: Fortune



After several law suits from music associations eventually shut down Napster, Parker went on to found a social networking site called Plaxo. He was ousted two years later.

Read more about Plaxo »



Parker joined the Facebook team in 2004, when it was just a fledgling college startup. As the social network's founding president, he would play a huge role in the site's early investments, design, and transition into a viable company.

 



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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The most powerful person in the world at every age

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Most Powerful People 2015

True power is ageless.

From the toddling Prince George, third in line to the British throne, to 100-year-old Pulitzer Prize-winning author Herman Wouk, we found the most powerful person at every age from 1 to 100.

To create this list, we took four criteria into consideration: command, or the degree to which a person formally controls a group of people; past influence, or how much a person has changed the world; future influence, or how much a person is likely to change the world going forward; and net worth.

Spanning industries and time zones, these are the most powerful people, from 1 to 100.

AGE 1: Prince George of Cambridge

Heir to the British throne

What makes him powerful: After his grandfather and father, little George is next in line to succeed his great-grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II. As an eight-month-old he took his first royal tour — a 19-day visit to New Zealand and Australia. He's also a tiny fashion icon, and he recently became a big brother to new princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana.



AGE 2: Macallister Bogue

Son of Marissa Mayer and Zach Bogue

What makes him powerful: While he's only a couple of years old, Bogue, son of Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, still influences his mom's outlook at work. Though Mayer herself only took a few weeks off after giving birth, she doubled the amount of paid maternity leave Yahoo offers new mothers from eight to 16 weeks and offered new dads eight weeks as well.



AGE 3: Blue Ivy Carter

Daughter of Beyoncé and Jay Z

What makes her powerful: Nothing is too good for this power couple's little girl. Blue Ivy's second birthday was celebrated at the exotic Jungle Island in Miami; for her third, Blue got an ice sculpture with her name carved into it. Gwyneth Paltrow, who is good friends with the Knowles-Carter clan, said of Blue Ivy: "She is a powerhouse. I love her so much."



See the rest of the story at Business Insider








This Iranian coffee shop is bizarrely similar to Starbucks

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In Iran, there are many imitations of popular restaurant chains, the New York Times reported.

"We are trying to get as close as we can to the McDonald's experience," the owner of a restaurant called Mash Donald's told the Times. 

"No genuine American food chain has an outlet in Iran, mainly because of the government’s hostility and the sanctions that make such businesses impossible," according to the Times.

Pseudo-American chains in Iran include Pizza Hat, Burger House, and KFC — Kabooki Fried Chicken

And then there is Cafe Raees (or Raees Coffee) — which might not sound like anything familiar to Americans, but the picture from the cafe's Facebook page and Instagram account tell all.

There's a stark similarity to the ubiquitous Starbucks...

This is the outside:

 Here's what it looks like inside:

 The beverages look very similar.

شیک نوتلا: محصول جدید #رئیس #بزن #خوشمزه #کافه #raeescoffee #Nutella #yum #yummy #shake

A photo posted by کافه رئیس (@raeescoffee) on Jul 11, 2015 at 9:16am PDT on

 Its aesthetic is very trendy.

 The cafe has latched onto the flat white trend:

Does this iced beverage look familiar?

But the frozen drinks seem slightly more adventures — like this frappucino-esque drink, topped with M&Ms.

 The cafe seems like it more varied options when it comes to salads and juices.

The desserts look a little more upscale, too.

And its breakfast options are different, too.

 But the packaging is very, very similar:

 

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Why women are always freezing in offices, according to science

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cold office

If you're a woman who works in an office and you're always freezing, you're not alone.

It turns out that most office buildings are kept at a temperature that's comfortable to the average man.

But women typically produce less body heat than men, meaning they're more likely to feel chilled in the workplace, a new study finds.

And there could be a benefit to fixing the thermostat besides keeping more people comfortable: If we adjusted our office temperatures to better match women's needs, it could save a lot of energy, researchers say.

Buildings all over the world adhere to an indoor temperature standard determined by a model developed in the 1960s by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers.

The model is based on factors like air temperature, air speed, relative humidity, clothing, and the rate at which our bodies make heat, otherwise known as our metabolism.

"In principle, it's a beautiful standard, based on thermodynamics — the heat balance between the body and the environment," Boris Kingma, a biologist at Maastricht University Medical Center in the Netherlands and coauthor of the study, published Monday, told Business Insider.

However, anecdotal evidence suggests that women feel colder lot more often than men, Kingma said.

Women's bodies produce less heat than men's

Although research finds that men and women like their skin to be at a warm 92 degrees Fahrenheit, studies suggest that women prefer a far warmer environment (roughly 77 degrees Fahrenheit) than men (72 degrees).

This could be due to the fact that women's bodies produce less heat than men's do. On average, women are smaller than men, and they tend to have less muscle and more fat (and muscle produces more heat than fat).

To see whether adding in the data on women's metabolisms would change the optimal indoor temperature, Kingma and his colleagues measured the metabolic rates of a small group of 16 young women who did light office work (basically sitting behind a desk).

They found that the women's metabolic rates were measurably lower than those used to calculate the standard values for the 1960s model.

In other words, the standard temperatures were too low.

The findings have an added benefit as well: A sizeable number of all workers don't need so much air conditioning, meaning a lot of buildings could probably turn up their thermostats a bit and save money.

The researchers called for replacing standard values with actual ones in order to save energy in heating and cooling buildings. In addition to gender, standard temperatures should take into account people's age and body size and the type of work they are doing, Kingma and colleagues suggested.

Of course, the study sample was quite small, and larger studies are needed to confirm the findings.

Our own (nonscientific) study

Here at Business Insider, we decided to survey people about the office temperature (possible answers included too hot, too cold, or just right). We also asked them their gender, and what part of the office they sat in (our office spans two floors, and we expected the temperture to vary by location).

BI office temperature pollObviously this wasn't a scientific study, but the results were interesting. A total of 150 people responded to the survey (72 men and 77 women) from all areas of the BI offices, a total of two floors with several different work areas.

Overall, more women than men reported that the office was too cold (58 versus 27).

On the other hand, more men than women reported it was too hot (15 versus 6) or just right (30 versus 13).

While we couldn't publish these findings in a journal, maybe it'll persuade our building managers to keep the office temperature a little more toasty.

SEE ALSO: This one quote reveals the ridiculous reason why your office is so cold in the summer

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