Offbeat

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Summary

• The State Guest Mansions project was a real estate development in Shenyang, China, that was abandoned after two years of construction.

• The project was supposed to create 260 European-style mansions for affluent residents, but it was never completed.

• The reasons for the abandonment are unclear, but locals suspect that corruption might have been the cause, as funding had been discontinued, and unauthorized construction crackdowns had left the project incomplete.

• The mansions are now being used by farmers for their crops and livestock.

• Ghost towns are not uncommon in China, and there are an estimated 65 million empty houses in the country.

• The rise of ghost cities in China is due to a number of factors, including government policies and oversupply of housing.

Additional Details

• The State Guest Mansions project was developed by the Greenland Group, a major Chinese real estate company.

• The project was located in the hills near Shenyang, a major city in northeastern China.

• The mansions were designed to be luxurious, with marble floors, chandeliers, and coffered ceilings.

• The project ran into financial difficulties within two years of constructions.

• The Greenland Group has not commented on the reasons for the abandonment of the State Guest Mansions project.

The article also mentions the issue of ghost towns in China. Ghost towns are areas that have been built up but are largely uninhabited. There are an estimated 65 million empty houses in China, which is enough to accommodate the entire population of France.

Extreme ironing is a unique British-born sport that combines physical and mental challenges with humor. Participants engage in extreme activities like scuba diving, spelunking, and cliff climbing while ironing their clothes. Despite its seemingly absurd nature, extreme ironing has gained popularity and even has its own organization, the Extreme Ironing Bureau (EIB), which regulates the sport. The rise of extreme ironing led to the creation of world championships and inspired various forms of the activity, such as underwater ironing and ironing while kayaking.

Notable achievements in extreme ironing include ironing the Union Jack flag on Mount Everest and setting records for ironing underwater. Safety guidelines include wearing helmets, using harnesses, having a spotter present, and gaining experience in the related extreme activity. Extreme ironing championships feature different sections, such as urban, water, forest, Lauda, and freestyle. While extreme ironing is not an Olympic sport, it has gained international recognition and continues to attract enthusiasts.

• A new law in the Philippines requires mobile phone users to provide a photo and other personal details when buying a new SIM card. This was aimed at combating rampant text messaging scams.

• However, the telecom regulator has reported a "sharp increase" in scam text messages since the law took effect.

• To demonstrate how easy it is to get past the automated vetting systems, a police officer used an ID card with a photo of a monkey to successfully activate various SIM cards.

• This has left lawmakers and regulators red-faced, as it shows that the new law has not been effective in stopping scammers.

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An incredibly slippery 3D-printed toilet doesn't get dirty and requires less water to flush than a typical one, scientists say. Could cleaning toilets become a chore of the past?

Right now, the concept is just a prototype, but researchers are working on ways to eventually bring this clever chemistry to market. So far, the researchers have printed only a tiny model of the toilet that stands about one-fifth the height of a typical porcelain throne, and they tested its slickness by exposing its surface to yogurt, honey, starchy gel and fake poop, not the real stuff.

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