Only through deep darkness and tragedy did this elaborate royal palace become a sacred temple.

Paiwanese restaurant run by native indigenous Taiwanese singer songwriter, and home to a DIY arts-and-crafts folk garden.

A small alleyway lined with locally drawn scenes of nostalgic anime and cartoon characters.

A hotel in Taiwan based on the better business practices that can be gleaned from Jewish law.

Grandpa Rainbow felt the neighborhood needed some color, so he picked up a paintbrush and went to work.

This Taiwanese promontory is covered in otherworldly hoodoo formations.

A secret passageway from World War II is now a quirky pedestrian shortcut.

A rare pod of derelict midcentury Futuro and Venturo houses lines a semi-abandoned beachfront resort outside Taipei.

An imperial art museum offers edible versions of its most treasured displays in an on-site fine-dining restaurant.

Looking for a crappy restaurant? Pull up a porcelain bowl and enjoy your meal.

Taiwan's last Chinese character letterpress preserves the dying art of Chinese character mold making.

These charming mailboxes became social media stars after a typhoon failed to topple them.

Memorial to the father of the Republic of China.

Enormous pendulum helps keep Taiwan's tallest building from swaying.

When the Soviets destroyed the historic Armenian monastery they somehow left its bell tower intact.

This iconic tattoo shop has its own onsite museum with artifacts from the early history of modern body art.

Two large-scale sculptures of Adam and Eve greet visitors in the nude at the Time Warner Center in NYC.

A statue of the legendary Celtic warrior queen who fought the Roman invaders stands in one of the cities she once destroyed.

An abandoned subway tunnel that could have reinvigorated Staten Island still lies somewhere beneath this Brooklyn park.

A hands-on traveling collection of the innovative devices of yesteryear.

A young woman's senseless murder led to the controversial psychological theory of the "bystander effect."

The seat of Buffalo government is a gorgeous Art Deco palace.

A book collector's dream, this Toronto bookstore has the world's first "Biblio-Mat," a random book vending machine.

One of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World holds the world's tallest metal staircase.