FEATURED MEMBER
Meet Kenji Ashikaga, a founding member of the Orient. Kenji writes haiku and is a practitioner of Kendo. We have it from unimpeachable sources that Kenji is in the market for a wife!
The handsome and genial host of The Kublai Khantina, the social hub of the Orient, invites you to stop by his fine establishment for a drink and a sample of Dango, a delicious specialty of the house.

FEATURED HOOD
Visit the Chinese city of Chengdu, a thriving commercial hub specializing in tea and silk brocades. Papermaking was invented in Chengdu and the merchants of this city were the first to use paper money. The real estate agents are waiting for you in the three newly completed districts of Chengdu!

FEATURED GROUP
The Green Papaya is a group dedicated to exploring and discussing the cultures of Southeast Asia - Laos, Vietnam, Burma, Cambodia, Malaysia and Indonesia.

FEATURED ARTICLES
This month we are featuring two most interesting articles by Sementawy Horemheb, one of the Orient's Egyptian friends.

Ikebana
The History of Kites



Reporters
Dhanishta Kanishka
Shuai Taio Han
Shibori Murasaka
Flower Song

World Editor
Feiyan Zhou

Cool June, a most lovely time of the year to be in the Orient! Read on to find out what we've been doing, and what we have planned for the summer.


The competition for the Best Homes of Ancient Worlds awards was fierce this year. There were so many beautiful homes up for judging, and the residents of the Orient made a fine showing. Please take a moment to stop by our winners' homes and congratulate them!

Bronze Design - Chaka Khan
Silver Design - DavidBowie Song
Gold Content - Dhanishta Kanishka
Silver Content - Chaka Khan


During the recent round of awards for The Best Places in Ancient Worlds, the Orient received the Special Places award for several of its neighborhood districts. Please do explore our honored districts!

Edo
Kamakura
Hangzhou
Delhi


Plans are afoot for Tanabata, the Japanese Star Festival, to be celebrated the weekend of July 7-8. Events will center around the Kublai Khantina and highlighted by our efforts to aid Kenji in his search for a wife. There will be good food and drink, and even a prize or two. Mark that weekend on your calendar and check The Dancing Lion Festivity Center for further details as the time draws closer.


RP is alive and well in the Orient hoods!

In his home in the Western Market of Chang'an, Shuai Tiao Han has begun a tale of trade, travel and intrigue set during the Tang dynasty in The Silk Road Caravan. When I asked Shuai Tiao about the story, he described the it as "a historical fantasy that concerns the misadventures of a small group of unlikely travelling companions, who for various unfortunate reasons have found it necessary to embark on the long and hazardous Silk Road to Samarkand. Between the inevitable personality conflicts and the natural (and supernatural) hazards of the route, actually reaching their destination is probably going to be the least of their worries."
If you are interested in joining the caravan, please contact Shuai Taio Han before posting.

In the Japanese neighborhood of Kamakura, a legendary tale in the tradition of wuxia and anime storytelling is unfolding in Pearls of Wisdom. When I spoke with Shibori Murasaka, she told me that "the chronicles of Pearls of Wisdom are not accounts of history but of myth in the making. Here, the heroes meet demons, dragons, spirits, and deities in a colourful landscape infinitely more lush than the world we live in. The adventures are set against the colourful and varied background of Oriental myth and legend. The clash of men and arms burning bright with the flames of martial spirit, intermixes with the soft rustle of rice paper screens and whispered secrets older than time itself."
If you are interested in joining the story, please contact Ji Nu Chi, Jia Li Shen Chi or Shibori Murasaka before posting.

For more information on roleplaying at AW, please refer to Cornellia's Roleplay Etiquette.




There are so many interesting places one might visit in the Orient! In this edition, we are very fortunate to have a report from Dhanishta Kanishka on her RL trip to Kathmandu.

Kathmandu in Nepal is an exotic location in the foothills of the Himalayas. Home to both Buddhists and Hindus, there is a lot to see and experience there. The main Durbar square houses the old royal palace with some exquisitely carved wooden temples dedicated to Shiva. People can tour inside the palace and see how the ancient kings lived. The house of the living goddess Kumari is at the edge of the square and visitors can enter her inner courtyard for darshan and her blessings. At the onset of puberty, the goddess Kumari is said to enter another young girl who is then installed as the living goddess in the same residence.

Overlooking the city on a hill is the great Swayambunath temple where the eyes of Buddha atop the stupa gaze out in all directions. To reach this stupa one has to climb many stairs through a forest with monkeys which makes for interesting photo opportunities. The Thamel district is a great place to shop with markets galore and Freak street over towards the other side of town has many flute makers and sellers. This is the starting off point for those trekking into the Himalayan mountains and many trekking guides can be found here. To reach Kathmandu, it is better to fly in rather than come by road from India. Road conditions are not that great, so expect a bumpy hair raising ride.

Photograph of the Swayambunath Stupa by Dhanishta Kanishka

Chinese writing now appears to be almost twice as old as previously thought.
8000 year old Chinese writing

Archaeologists have begun to raise a large cargo ship which sank in the South China sea during the Southern Song dynasty.
Salvage begins on sunken ship

Newly discovered artifacts in the Cholistan Desert in Pakistan raise archaeologists' hopes of finding ruins from the Harappan era.
Possible ruins in Pakistan