As China's tourism industry experiences a boom,the country is poised to become the world’s second largest travel and tourism economy after the United States by 2015, according to a report from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC). The increasing number of foreign visitors to China may be attributed to the country's wealth of natural, cultural and historical wonders (China has the second-greatest number of World Heritage Sites). But while thousands of tourists visit the Forbidden City, the Great Wall...

Grouse Mountain Skyride, Vancouver, Canada Some of the world's most breathtaking views are only accessible through hours of hiking up mountains or through forests, but cable cars (also known as gondolas and aerial tramways) cut travel time to minutes. From an open-air, double-decker cable car in the Swiss Alps to a rotating tramway that brings you up sheer cliffs in a California canyon, these cable cars offer some of the most thrilling rides in the sky. The Grouse Mountain Skyride...

Patient Room. Taunton State Hospital, 2008. (Jeremy Harris) When photographer Jeremy Harris learned about the existence of an abandoned asylum in Buffalo, NY, he knew he had to document it himself. Harris got the opportunity to travel from his home in San Francisco to visit family in Buffalo months after he read about the asylum on a website. He managed to find the building and decided to see explore the decrepit space. The asylum was eerie, the weather-beaten structure was...

A replica of Australia's Sydney Opera House, one of the attractions at Window of the World theme park in Shenzhen, China. The 118-acre park features replicas of about 130 of the world's most famous landmarks squeezed into one location. (Luke Casey) In 2013, a British luxury website made the news when it offered what may have been the world's most expensive trip—a $1.5 million vacation package to visit all World Heritage sites (1,007 as of 2014), including the Great Pyramids...

French photographer Sarah Martinet flew over Landmannalaugar, Langisjór, and Lakagígar in Iceland for her photo series. (Sarah Martinet) French photographer Sarah Martinet decided she wanted to capture Iceland in a new and unique way, so she took to the sky. “I decided to photograph Iceland from the air; I wanted to show a different point of view of this country,” explained Martinet. “Shooting images from a plane reveals to us the world from a different angle. It gives graphic images...

The U.S. National Park Service is turning 98 years old today. To celebrate, all park entrance fees (including commercial tour fees and transportation entrance fees) have been waived for the day at the 133 parks that currently charge for admission. (MORE:Going Wild – 6 National Parks to Visit) The park system stretches across 84 million acres, covering 401 sites including national monuments, battlefields, military parks, lakeshores, seashores and rivers. In 2013, the park system, which includes national monuments and historic...

10. Amur River - China and Russia Called the "arteries of our planet," rivers have shaped the world for ages, providing habitat and food for wildlife, linking remote cities and villages and providing travel routes for exploration. But the iconic waterways on this list, most of which wind through multiple countries and time zones, are also majestic in their beauty. Click through the pages to learn about the world's 10 longest rivers and how to cruise some of the most...

The Hamptons, NY. (Antoine Rose) When shooting aerials, photographer Antoine Rose didn’t just settle for a seated position in an aircraft, he decided he needed a better view. Rose stands strapped to the helicopter, while dangling outside the aircraft’s door to capture the perfect aerial shot. “I like an office with a view,” the Belgian photographer told wetather.com. “To fly like a bird above the sea and the shoreline is…magic.” (MORE:Amazing Aerials of Beaches Around the World (PHOTOS)) While, he...

Circa 1929: Actress Joan Blondell is seen modeling on the beach. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images) As temperatures creep upward this season, thoughts of summer are on everyone's mind. As illustrated by the images above, a trip to the beach has been a standard summer family activity since the turn of the century, and over time the fashions associated with seaside activities have evolved. Beach vacations started as early as the late 1800s after railroads became a viable source of transportation, according...

Man digging to find Megapode birds eggs in Tavurvur Volcano sands, Rabaul, New Britain Island, Papua New Guinea. (Eric Lafforgue/Caters News) From the ashes of three simultaneous volcanic eruptions, a community of survivors has risen to forage in the cinders for a new life. These haunting portraits by Eric Lafforgue, a French photographer, document a city, its residents and the danger of living in the shadow of still-active volcanoes. The volcanoes Tavurvur, Vulcan and Rabalankaia wreaked havoc on Rabaul, Papua...

'Escape,' 2012/2013. (Danila Tkachenko) Many people have the desire to find solitude, flee society and become one with nature. In his photo series and book, entitled “Escape,” Russian photographer Danila Tkachenko captured portraits of individuals who did just that. Tkachenko’s photos show men, living in the homes they have created for themselves in the forests of Russia and Ukraine. Instead of calling these men hermits or dropouts from society, Tkachenko calls them “Escapers.” (MORE:Extraordinary Lives of People Living Under Active...

On the Uruguay River, which runs along the border between Argentina and Brazil, there is a very unique waterfall: the Moconá Falls (also known as the Yucumã Falls). Unlike most waterfalls, Moconá Falls runs parallel, rather than perpendicular, to its river for a three-kilometer stretch, giving the river a two-tiered appearance. Water spills over the elevated side of the riverbed into a gorge below, creating two streams that run parallel at different elevations. According to Wondermondo.com, the name Moconá means...