In 1771, China's Qianlong Emperor ordered the construction of an ornate retirement retreat within the grounds of the Forbidden City.

He called it "The Palace of Tranquillity and Longevity," and planned to spend his golden years there writing poetry, watching opera performances, cavorting with concubines, and meditating.

Twenty-eight years later, the Emperor died without ever having moved in to his exquisite little palace.

The New York Times recently posted a photo slideshow of the fifth Qing Emperor's beautiful but neglected creation, which the World Monument Fund and the Chinese government are restoring.

Even better, this imperial nest will open to the public soon. It must be about time for another trip to Beijing!

Photo from the Forbidden City by Peter Fuchs on Flickr.com.

My colleague Barbara O'Brien, the About.com Guide to Buddhism, recently posted a photo gallery of some of the world's biggest Buddha statues.

The photos are accompanied by descriptions of each Buddha's history.

Personally, I like the Lingshan Buddha best. My all-time favorite Buddha image, though, is much smaller; it's the beautiful, serene Buddha at Seokguram Grotto in South Korea, built c. 750 A.D.

How about you? Do you have a favorite Buddha?

Photo of the huge reclining Buddha at Wat Pho in Bangkok, Thailand by Kallie Szczepanski.

On January 7, 1979, the Cambodian capital city of Phnom Penh fell to the Vietnamese army. The Vietnamese ousted the murderous Khmer Rouge government, led by Pol Pot, which had murdered as many as 2 million (25%) of its own citizens in a genocidal fury against modernization.

Although the people of Cambodia traditionally viewed the Vietnamese as regional rivals, many rushed to assist the invasion.

The Khmer Rouge was not destroyed in 1979; instead, it retreated into the jungles and fought on until 1998. Some Khmer Rouge leaders were tried for crimes against humanity. Pol Pot died in 1998, before he could be tried.

Photo of the bones of some Khmer Rouge victims by welsh boy on Flickr.com.

On Friday, Sri Lankan government troops captured Kilinochchi, the de facto capital of the militant Tamil nationalist group, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam or Tamil Tigers.

This is a major government victory in the Sri Lankan Civil War, which has claimed at least 70,000 lives since it began in 1983.

Sri Lanka, formerly known as Ceylon, is a large island about 20 miles south of India. Formerly a British colony (although not technically part of the British Raj), Sri Lanka gained it independence in 1948. Since then, the island has been rocked by violence between the Buddhist Sinhalese majority and the Hindu Tamil minority.

The Tamils' goal of creating a separate nation, called Tamil Eelam, in the northern and eastern parts of Sri Lanka seems even less likely, now that their capital city has fallen to the government.

Photo by John Moore / Getty Images