TAIPEI (AFP) - Taiwan authorities are confiscating pebbles collected as mementos by tourists and returning the rocks to the island's picturesque beaches as they step up moves to preserve the scenic east coast. 　In the latest geological repatriation, a cache of stones taken from outbound visitors by airport immigration were last week sent back to Taitung county, where rugged seascapes attract tourists, particularly from mainland China. 　The haul of pebbles, collected over two months at Taipei’s m

TOKYO (AFP) - Hundreds of aspiring ninjas from abroad have overwhelmed tourism officials in Japan looking to hire six full-time secret assassins, massively outnumbering local applicants.　Central Japan's Aichi prefecture is hiring a troupe of ninjas -- the martial-arts masters and stealth assassins of feudal times immortalized in history books and period dramas -- to promote tourism.　In a job ad published earlier this month, the prefecture said candidates of any nationality were welcome. A week l

Chin Eun-sun, a 27-year-old Korean lecturer at a local college, is like no other Seoulite when it comes to craving a break from the daily grind and taking a few days off to travel.While a rising number of South Koreans, from typical office workers to travel enthusiasts, go abroad to escape from hectic urban life in Asia's fourth-largest economy, Chin, however, says she prefers spending time in quiet provincial areas to standing in long lines at Incheon International Airport."The merit of traveli

YANGON (AFP) - Visitors to Myanmar's ancient capital Bagan will no longer be able to climb the venerated pagodas for a view of the country’s most famous archaeological site, following a government edict railing against “disgraceful” tourist behaviour.　The ban, which starts March 1, will end the daily ritual that sees hundreds of tourists and local pilgrims scaling the ancient structures to watch the sun set over a vast plain dotted with more than 2,500 Buddhist monuments.　Myanmar's Ministry of C