A member of staff stands in front of a CRH high-speed train at Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station during its test run on May 11, 2011 in Shanghai, China. After 3 years construction, from April in 2008, with total investment estimated at 220.9 billion yuan (around 32.5 billion U.S. dollars), the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway begins a one-month trial operation. It is expected to start operation in June this year, with the travel time between the two cities reducing to five hours from the previous 10. (Photo by ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images)

“The popularity of the Internet in China has driven the explosive growth of profitable Web companies and made fortunes for some Chinese entrepreneurs despite government controls on what the public can see online. The number of mainland Internet users rose to 513 million in December, up 12 percent from a year earlier, the government-sanctioned China Internet Network Information Center said”. – AP Business Writer

Photo: Shi Yongxin, abbot of the Shaolin Temple, works on the computer April 8, 2005 in Dengfeng, Henan Province, China. (Photo by Cancan Chu/Getty Images)

A spring breaker takes a shot of tequila during a pool party at a hotel in Cancun March 8, 2015. Like previous Florida spring break hot spots Fort Lauderdale and Daytona Beach, Panama City Beach is facing a crisis of conscience over the trade-offs involved in hosting a binge for some 300,000 students who arrive through mid-April with coolers, beer funnels and credit cards. (Photo by Michael Spooneybarger/Reuters)

“The Songkran festival is celebrated in Thailand as the traditional New Year's Day from 13 to 15 April. It coincides with the New Year of many calendars of South and Southeast Asia. The most obvious celebration of Songkran is the throwing of water upon others. Thais roam the streets with containers of water or water guns. In addition, many Thais will have small bowls of beige colored talc sold cheaply and mixed with water which is then smeared on the faces and bodies of random passerbys as a blessing for the new year” – Wikipedia. (Photo by Seua Yai)

Beautiful seascapes capture the “raw power” of waves rising and crashing in the Indian Ocean. The stunning photos were taken off the coast of Durban in South Africa, and show formations from above and below the surface. Surfer and photographer Marck Botha took the images between April and July, and has always had a passion for the ocean. Here: Marck captured this moment in time from the shore on July, 30, 2015, in Durban, South Africa. (Photo by Marck Botha/Barcroft Media)

Hong Kong art gallery director Sarah Greene said that Wolf, known for his work depicting mega-cities, has died Tuesday, April 24, 2019 night at his home. She said he was 64. Wolf won first prize in the World Press Photo competition in 2005 and 2010. Here: Architecture of Density #119, 2009. (Photo by Michael Wolf, courtesy of Flowers Gallery)

“Kumbh Mela is a mass Hindu pilgrimage in which Hindus gather at the Ganges river. The normal Kumbh Mela is celebrated every 3 years, the Ardh (half) Kumbh Mela is celebrated every six years at Haridwar and Prayag, the Purna (complete) Kumbh takes place every twelve years, at four places (Prayag (Allahabad), Haridwar, Ujjain, and Nashik). The Maha (great) Kumbh Mela which comes after 12 “Purna Kumbh Melas”, or 144 years, is held at Allahabad.

The last Ardh Kumbh Mela was held over a period of 45 days beginning in January 2007, more than 70 million Hindu pilgrims took part in the Ardh Kumbh Mela at Prayag, and on January 15, the most auspicious day of the festival of Makar Sankranti, more than 5 million participated. The previous Maha Kumbh Mela, held in 2001, was attended by around 60 million people, making it at the time the largest gathering anywhere in the world in recorded history”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Sadhus (holy men) smoke at their camp near the ritual site at Sangam, the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati rivers during the Ardh Kumbh Mela festival (Half Pitcher festival) January 18, 2007 in Allahabad, India. Millions of Hindu pilgrims have flocked to the largest religious gathering in the world which lasts for 45 days in northern India. The festival commemorates the mythical conflict between gods and demons over a pitcher filled with the “nectar of immortality”. Devotees believe that taking a holy dip in the Ganges at this time washes away their sins and paves the path to salvation. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

“The Labor Day Parade (or West Indian Carnival), is an annual celebration held on American Labor Day (the first Monday in September), in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York. Ms. Jessie Waddell and some of her West Indian friends started the Carnival in Harlem in the 1920s by staging costume parties in large enclosed places like the Savoy, Renaissance and Audubon Ballrooms due to the cold wintry weather of February. This is the usual time for the pre-Lenten celebrations held in most countries around the world. However, because of the very nature of Carnival, and the need to parade in costume to music, indoor confinement did not work well. The earliest known Carnival street parade was held on September 1, 1947. The Trinidad Carnival Pageant Committee was the founding force behind the parade, which was held in Harlem. The parade route was along Seventh Avenue, starting at 110th St.” – Wikipedia

Photo: A reveler looks on during the West Indian-American Day Parade September 5, 2011 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. More than 2 million spectators were expected to attend the celebration of Caribbean culture. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)