Atlas Obscura

Atlas Obscura is a digital magazine focused on travel and exploration, spearheaded by American journalist David Plotz. It was established in 2009 by Joshua Foer and Dylan Thuras.

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Articles

Are Some of Your Favorite Houseplants Poisonous? AO Wants to Know.

6 days ago | atlasobscura.com | Andrew Coletti

AO Wants to Know is an ongoing interview series where we ask experts in extraordinary subjects to share their knowledge with us. The inability to notice plants as living parts of the environment is an unfortunately common state of mind that botanists call “plant blindness.” “People just see plants as green,” says plant toxicologist Liz Dauncey. In their minds, plants “don’t do anything. They just sit around.
Dear Atlas: Can You Recommend Haunted Accommodations for Paranormal Enthusiasts?

1 week ago | atlasobscura.com | Danielle Hallock

Dear Atlas is Atlas Obscura’s travel advice column, answering the questions you won’t find in traditional guidebooks. Have a question for our experts? Submit it here. * * * Dear Atlas, My wife and I are obsessed with ghost stories, so for our anniversary we want to stay someplace that’s purportedly haunted. Are there any cool hotels or vacation rentals where one might have a paranormal encounter?
Wu Chi Kai’s Neon Light Workshop.

1 week ago | atlasobscura.com | Diana Hubbell

Hong Kong’s skyline used to look very different. Specifically, Victoria Harbour once boasted a distinctly neon glow. For decades, the city was associated with neon, and its restaurants and bars in particular had immense neon signs, some of which emerged as iconic. In recent years, LED lights have almost entirely taken the place of neon, and the heavy old glass and metal signs have been deemed safety hazards by the local government, and are gradually being removed from Hong Kong’s streets.
A Guide to the Gingers of the World

1 week ago | atlasobscura.com | Andrew Coletti

This article is adapted from the April 16, 2025, edition of Gastro Obscura’s Favorite Things newsletter. You can sign up here. You might be surprised to learn that the edible portion of ginger is not technically a root. It’s a rhizome or “rootstalk,” a modified section of a plant stem that grows laterally underground, sending shoots above and roots below. And common ginger (Zingiber officinale) just might have humanity’s most-beloved rhizome (although its cousin turmeric is a close runner-up).
The Cell

1 week ago | atlasobscura.com | Diana Hubbell

The oldest bar in Hong Kong is a topic of serious debate, but some would argue that the title belongs to this former water hold for off-duty officers. The British-era Marine Police Headquarters Compound, located near the ferry terminal in Kowloon, was built in 1884, and included a mess hall that also functioned as a bar.
Kowloon Soy Co. Ltd.

1 week ago | atlasobscura.com | Diana Hubbell

Stroll along Queen’s Road Central, in Hong Kong, a wide avenue of modern skyscrapers, hotels, restaurants and malls, turn into Graham Street, and you may feel like you’ve time-travelled. The narrow, sloping street smells like drying fish, and is home to an open-air produce stall and a shopfront that’s changed little since the ‘70s. The latter is the remaining commercial outlet of Kowloon Soy Co. Ltd. The company was founded in 1917 by the grandfather of the current owner.
Tai Tung Bakery

1 week ago | atlasobscura.com | Diana Hubbell

Pop into any local-style bakery or cha chaan teng (a local-style diner) in Hong Kong, and you’re likely to encounter a fist-sized bun with a scored top. This is the pineapple bun, named not for any tropical ingredient, but rather for that surface, which is thought to resemble that of the eponymous fruit. These days, the pineapple bun is found at Chinese bakeries across the world, but it got its start in Hong Kong.
Boston Restaurant

1 week ago | atlasobscura.com | Diana Hubbell

It’s Hong Kong, in the early ‘70s, and you want a steak. Where do you go? Most likely, to Boston. Boston Restaurant, that is. Open since 1966, Boston is one of Hong Kong’s longest-standing, so-called “soy sauce western” restaurants, places that serve a local interpretation of European food. During the previous century, there were several places in Hong Kong serving this cuisine. Today, Boston is one of only a scant handful that remain.
A Surprising New Tail From Jurassic China

1 week ago | atlasobscura.com | Andrew Coletti

One hundred and fifty million years ago, the swamps of Fujian province in southeastern China teemed with life. Fossils reveal a rich Jurassic ecosystem dubbed the Zhenghe Fauna, where turtles, frogs, and fish filled the waters and feathered dinosaurs stalked or waded on long, slender legs. And flitting about in the trees, there was a tiny creature whose recent discovery has upended our understanding of when and how birds became birds.
Tai Ping Koon Restaurant

2 weeks ago | atlasobscura.com | Diana Hubbell

The legend goes that, in 1930s Hong Kong, a foreign customer at Tai Ping Koon Restaurant couldn’t remember the name of a menu item and asked for “sweet wings,” which a waiter misheard as “Swiss wings.” It’s likely apocryphal, but the name and the dish—chicken wings in a sweet/salty/savory glaze—became one, and Swiss wings are now a Hong Kong classic, found at restaurants across the territory.