With its deep canyons, majestic waterfalls, and sandstone-quartz pillars towering over 650 feet high, in China's Hunan province looks straight out of a 3D science-fiction film. So it's no surprise that one of the park's rock formations -- the3,544-ft"Southern Sky Column" -- inspired the fictional world of "Pandora" in James Cameron's blockbuster film "Avatar." The park is , a UNESCO World Heritage site, according to National Geographic, and it's also one of Hunan's most popular tourist destinations. in 2012, Zhangjiajie...

British sculptor Anish Kapoor and japanese architect Arata Isozaki created the 'Ark Nova,' the world's first inflatable concert hall, which will tour Japan's tsunami-ravaged areas. (Lucerne Festival Ark Nova 2013) An abstract, balloon-like structure, created by British sculptor Anish Kapoor, Japanese architect Arata Isozaka, and , will bring music and arts to the Tohoku region of Japan, an area ravaged by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. The mobile structure, called Ark Nova, is the andconsists of a single skin...

Charming Crossings (Mike Briner/Alamy) A covered bridge played a supporting role in one of Hollywood’s most intense and fleeting love stories: The Bridges of Madison County, which still inspires visitors to seek out Iowa’s Roseman Covered Bridge. (It ranks higher on TripAdvisor than John Wayne’s nearby birthplace.) Embodying a simpler time in American life, wooden covered bridges like Roseman began springing up across the country in the early 1800s. You’ll find them in state and national parks, amid the rolling...

Tourists climb up the steep staircase of the temple of Wat Arun on Sept. 25, 2013 in Bangkok, Thailand. Temple of Dawn stupa will be closed for three years to undergo repairs and renovation. This is slated to be the most extensive repair and renovation work on the stupa in the last 14 years. (Paula Bronstein/Getty Images) For hundreds of years the Temple of Dawn stupa has been a glistening tower jutting into the skyline of Bangkok, Thailand, but a...

"Sea Change" Caption: Crosby, Liverpool on April 5 and 7, 2008. High water shot at 12:00 p.m. Low water shot at 9 a.m. (Michael Marten) Photographer Michael Marten traveled to various parts of the British coast and photographed identical views at high tide and low tide several hours apart to document the drastic changes in water levels. The photos are collected in his series, “Sea Change.” Since 2003 Marten visited several different spots on the English coast, beaches filled with...

The small town of Olympos in Turkey is known for its treehouse hotels, picturesque Mediterranean beaches andancient Lycian ruins. But another attraction is making this secluded area a tourist "hot spot" -- literally. In the heart of the OlymposNational Park, Mount Chimaera has literally burned for thousands of years. There, at the site called Yanartas (or "flaming rocks"), one can see dozens of small fires which through the vents in the rocks, according to BBC. Spread out over 1.2 acres,...

Tourists walk in the courtyard of the Louvre museum in Paris. France's culture minister announced that the museum, situated near the Seine river, would be transferring its reserve collection out of Paris to avoid the risk of flood damage. (LOIC VENANCE/AFP/Getty Images) The Louvre Museum in Paris, the world's most famous art museum, plans to move a collection of more than 400,000 hidden artworks to a location in northern France, amid fears that flooding from the nearby River Seine could...

A general view of the Colosseum covered by scaffolding awaiting the start of the restoration work on October 9, 2013 in Rome, Italy. (Giorgio Cosulich/Getty Images) The Colosseum has survived earthquakes, severe weather, countless wars, stone-robbers and almost two thousand years of neglect, but an ambitious restoration project is set to begin on December, with the goal of returning the crumbling monument to its former glory. In September, four floors of scaffolding went up on the Colosseum, the largest amphitheater...

Looking over the rugged mountain peaks, lush green countryside and windswept surf that laps the shores of remote South Atlantic isle Tristan da Cunha, it’s easy to see why sailors shipwrecked there in the 1800s never wanted to leave. But then, leaving is no easy feat: at a staggering 1,501 miles from its nearest neighbor, St. Helena, Tristan da Cunha is the most remote permanent settlement on earth. And while its population has grown — today, nearly 300 souls...

It's not your imagination. There really is a tighter squeeze on many planes these days. The big U.S. airlines are taking out old, bulky seats in favor of so-called slimline models that take up less space from front to back, allowing for five or six more seats on each plane. The changes, covering some of the most common planes flown on domestic and international routes, give the airlines two of their favorite things: More paying passengers, and a smaller fuel...

An artist rendering showing the bow of the Freedom Ship, a 4,500-foot-long, 750-foot wide ship that would be a 'Community at Sea,' complete with airplanes, office spaces, restaurants and apartments. (Courtesy of Freedom Ship International) At more than a mile long, 25 stories high, and three city blocks wide, the Freedom Ship would be the largest vessel in the world, the size of a small island. Like populated islands around the world, the ship would have its own social and...

Wild vicuna move around inside a temporary corral inside the Apolobamba protected nature reserve near Ucha Ucha, Bolivia on Oct. 8, 2013. Every two years, about a hundred men and women from Ucha Ucha come together for the biennial vicuna shearing, which lasts four days. (AP Photo/Juan Karita) UCHA UCHA, Bolivia — The roar of about 70 motorcycles shatters the quiet of the wind-swept Andean plain as Aymara villagers conduct a frenetic chase to round up wild vicunas for shearing....

While spending more than three months on a ship, photographer Luke Casey captured images of life at sea from behind the circular window of his cabin. (Photo: Luke Casey) A trip on a cruise ship orcan be one of the most extravagant and luxurious travel experiences. But there's a less glamorous side to life at sea, which could mean months of isolation, cramped conditions and facing the daily dangers of sea and weather. In his series titled "Porthole," Hong Kong-based...