Best Of 2019

Here’s The Stories You Loved The Most From Asia in 2019

Wow, you guys like a lot of really weird stuff.
Favorite stories
Collage by VICE

What a year it’s been for us on this side of the world.

From Australia to Japan, India to Indonesia, we told stories in Asia-Pacific that were fun, interesting, impactful and just… plain weird. Not only did we cover the region with more fervor, we also started looking a little closer at Korea, the Philippines and Singapore, and closely followed the big stories in neighbouring countries.

We’ve had our eye on Hong Kong. We watched five elections across Asia through our series VICE Votes. We sought out stories of sex and drugs, the fight for gender rights, and deeply covered the environment, highlighting the climate crisis through Environmental Extremes.

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Our writers were in protests and parades, concerts and festivals, and met the most fascinating people. And we brought you powerful images which celebrated the diversity and beauty and charm of the East.

As we wrap up the year, we take a look back at the stories you seemed to love the most. Here are some of our most-read stuff from 2019.

You guys really, really loved this dead shark we found floating in a tank of chemicals in an abandoned wildlife park in Melbourne:

You all also really care about the environment. This piece from India was widely read, shared and commented on:

Japan’s culture is always a favourite. You loved this photo essay of passed out men:

No surprise here. You also love weird stories about sex like this one:

You also like meeting interesting people. Like this woman we found online who found a pretty authentic/brutal/smart way to deal with bad breakups:

Speaking of social media, it looks like you’re into this whole theme of social media authenticity…

And finally, you absolutely love the weird things coming out of this region as much as we do. And we love finding them for you. Like this woman who had a very bad day:

For the rest of our best content from across the region including those we loved writing, those we discovered first, and those that made the most impact, head over to our Best of 2019 section.