What exactly is a ‘tiger farm’?

by Jerry Guo on

A few months ago I traveled to Harbin, the northernmost large metropolitan in China (close to the Russian border) to do some digging around at the world’s largest tiger farm.

The resulting 2,500 word story appeared in Nature, but alas, it’s behind a subscription wall. But my girlfriend did take a bunch of pictures from our three day trip, and so hopefully the gallery below will give you a glimpse into exactly what goes on inside a “tiger farm.”

The Hengdaohezi Feline Breeding Centre, or Siberian Tiger Park as it’s more commonly known, is actually open to tourists. For around $10, they’ll load you up into what is essentially a cage on wheels, and bring in up close to more than 800 Siberian tigers. It’s also the infamous site where this video was taken, showing captive tigers taking down a cow–which by the way, costs $250 if you want to buy it yourself and feed it to the tigers.
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World’s Highest Swing

by Willy Volk on

A few weeks ago, we told you about the World’s Highest Swings. Spotlighting swings in Zambia, New Zealand, and South Africa, the swings we mentioned all involved substantial free falls and wide, pendulous arcs.

However, it appears that the Chinese — unhappy with not being able to lay claim to the “world’s highest swing” title — have recently installed a swing 700 feet above Harbin City. The swing, imaginatively called “Game for brave people,” allows participants to swing out over the city for a bird’s eye view. Unlike the other swings, this swing is more like a swing on a swingset: easy swing out, easy swing in — except you can’t use your feet to stop you if you get going too wild.

Sure hope there’s a seat belt.