If you were to watch 1939's "The Wizard of Oz", then, immediately after, watch the new movie "Captain America: Civil War", you would clearly see some tremendous differences. 

Technology within the film industry has advanced greatly over the last century, allowing movies to tell greater, more realistic stories than ever before. The cinema has evolved from black-and-white silent films edited by physically cutting film strips to 3D digital content spliced together on computers. The digital age has allowed for better quality, color, sound, and even computer-generated imagery (CGI). 

We've found 18 photos that show just how much filmmaking has changed over the past century.

SEE ALSO: What 7 iconic New York sites looked like in the 1930s — and what they look like today

The first successful full-length feature film was "The Birth of a Nation", directed in 1915 by David Wark Griffith, also known as the "inventor of Hollywood". The movie cost $100,000, which was a very large amount at the time.

Source: TIME

The budgets for today's movies usually range from $100 million to $400 million. The most expensive movie ever made was "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End". It cost $341 million and came out in 2007.

Source: Business Insider, iMDB

Film cameras such as the Super Parvo and the Mitchell Standard used to be the go-to for movie production. These film cameras needed to be reloaded frequently when the film would run out. Film is very delicate, so even the smallest scratch could ruin an entire scene.

Every year since 1999, hundreds of supercar owners have gathered together to drive around the world in convoy for the Gumball 3000 rally — a 3,000-mile cross-country rally that takes place on public roads. 

In between long drives, participants stay at luxury hotels and pop champagne at decadent nightclubs. Entry to the week-long rally costs around $50,000. And you need to provide your own supercar, obviously.

Business Insider was invited to take part in one leg of this year's 3000-mile rally from Dublin to Bucharest by Car Throttle — an app-based online car community dubbed "Buzzfeed for Cars"— which had entered Gumball 3000 with a Nissan GTR that was inexplicably wrapped in emojis.

We were only with the team for one day — from London to Kent on day three — but it gave us a flavor of the event. Inside the "EmojiTR," Car Throttle CEO Adnan Ebrahim filled us in on what we had missed.

SEE ALSO: I went for a ride with the 25-year-old millionaire media CEO who drives supercars for a living — and still lives with his parents

We joined the Gumball 3000 on Tuesday morning (day three) at Golden Square in Soho, London.

It looked like one of the most expensive gridlocks the city has ever seen.

The plan for the day was to drive to Folkestone and then onto mainland Europe by Eurostar. Initial progress was slow, as not everyone had yet woken up from the party the night before.

Earning a lot of money doesn't necessarily make you rich.

At the end of the day, no matter what your paycheck reads, you still have to save and invest your money if you want to accumulate wealth.

Are you setting aside enough? To help you evaluate, we've rounded up nine red flags to watch out for.

SEE ALSO: 7 signs you can't afford to buy a home

You can barely pay your bills each month

Are you just meeting your obligations each month? This is known as "living paycheck to paycheck," and makes it nearly impossible to build up significant savings.

How to improve: You have two options: Earn more money, or spend less. If you go the first route, take a look at lifestyle changes to make if you want to earn more, steps to negotiate a raise, and ways to make extra cash while working full-time.

If you're aiming to spend less, check out lifestyle changes to make if you want to spend less and saving strategies from everyday people who retired before 40. You may also want to think about reducing your largest costs, like your rent or transportation, on top of spending less on a daily basis.

You tell yourself you'll save more when you start making more

This is one of the most common "money lies" people tell themselves, Patrice C. Washington, author of "Real Money Answers for Every Woman," told Business Insider.

"How you manage $100 is likely how you'll manage $100,000," she says. "You're the same person with the same attitude, and the same behaviors and habits. It's not about getting more money. It's about being more disciplined with the money you have."

Plus, she adds, "when I earn more" isn't a date of action. "Someday is not a day on the calendar. We really have to do a better job of buckling down and saying 'I'm ready to take action.'"

How to improve: Don't wait until the new year, after graduation, for a birthday, or when a tax refund arrives in the mail to start saving.

Think about your savings as a fixed cost — something you must pay every month, like rent and your cell phone bill — before you spend on dinners out and other "wants." Next, consider setting up a recurring automatic transfer from your checking account to a savings account — this way, you'll never even see the money and will learn to live without it.

You haven't started saving for retirement

Saving for retirement can't wait, no matter how far off it may seem.

If you're putting it off, you're not alone: A third of Americans have $0 saved for retirement, according to a 2016 GOBankingRates.com survey. Moreover, the survey found, 56% of Americans have less than $10,000, and approximately 75% of Americans over 40 are behind in their savings.

How to improve: Saving for retirement can take a few different forms — a company-sponsored 401(k) or an IRA are two of the most popular savings vehicles — but no matter how you choose to save, the best thing you can do is start early.

Many experts recommend setting aside at least 10% of your income. That being said, if you're only comfortable with setting aside 1%, it's better to start there than not get started at all.

There's a lot of advice on saving for retirement out there: Check out the seven questions to ask yourself before deciding you're ready to retire, ways to guarantee you won't save enough money to retire, and how much money you'd need to save every day to become a millionaire by 65.

Figuring out how to start an email — especially when you're writing to someone you don't know very well — can be a real challenge.

Is "Hey" too casual? Is "Dear" overly formal? Is "Morning!" too cheery?

If you're thinking the email greeting isn't all that important and that it's silly to overthink it, you're wrong. How you begin an email sets the tone and may shape the recipient's perception of you. It may also determine whether they keep reading. So, yes, it's very important.

"Many people have strong feelings about what you do to their names and how you address them," Barbara Pachter, a business-etiquette expert, tells Business Insider. "If you offend someone in the salutation, that person may not read any further. It may also affect that person's opinion of you."

We had Pachter and Will Schwalbe, who coauthored "Send: Why People Email So Badly and How to Do It Better" with David Shipley, weigh in on a handful of common email greetings.

Of course, the perfect way to start an email will depend on who you're writing to, but in general, when you're writing a business email to someone you don't know well or at all, they say there's one safe choice — and a bunch you should usually avoid:

SEE ALSO: Here is the perfect way to end an email — and 27 sign-offs you should usually avoid

WINNER: 'Hi [name], ... '

If you want to make it a little more formal, you can always use the person's last name: "Hi Mrs. Smith, ..."

"The reason I like this one is that it's perfectly friendly and innocuous," says Schwalbe.

It's also Pachter's favorite. She says it's a safe and familiar way to address someone, whether you know them or not.

So when in doubt, go with "Hi."

'Greetings, ...'

This is a good backup to "Hi, [name] ..." if you don't know the recipient's name. But you should always do whatever you can to find out that information.

'Hey!'

This is fine to use with your friends, but the very informal salutation should stay out of the workplace. It's not professional — especially if you're writing to someone you've never met, says Pachter.

Schwalbe agrees: "I can never get out of my head my grandmother's admonition 'Hey is for horses.'"

Also avoid "Hey there." It tells the person, "I don't know your name, but if I try to sound cool and casual, maybe you won't notice."

Ten years ago there wasn't an Uber for anything. You couldn't ping a network of technicians for immediate service — the closest thing was the Yellow Pages — and technicians couldn't find clients through the same.

Then Uber came along, and within years there was an Uber for almost everything.

Using Google Autofill, we picked out the top Uber ideas for every letter and noted some examples when those startups really exist.

See: BlackJet, Skyüber, and Stat.

See: UrbanSitter and Boatbound. BlackBerry users, if you were wondering, can only access regular Uber through a workaround.

See: Handy, Clowder, and Kitchensurfing. Does Uber for car rentals really not exist?

The richest public universities in the country boast endowments above 10 figures, placing them in the upper echelon of higher education. Texas A&M University at College Station, for example, has an endowment of $10.52 billion, not only making it the wealthiest public university in America, but also the sixth wealthiest among all universities, right behind MIT and Princeton. 

Whether public or private, university endowments support a school's operating budget and help it invest in its future, from providing scholarships and financial aid to funding research and other initiatives. The richest colleges, frequently the most prestigious, can offer more of these opportunities to their students and community, giving them a leg up in recruitment and helping them burnish their academic reputation.

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), an organization under the US government that collects and analyzes education data, provided Business Insider with the most recent figures on US college endowments (the fiscal year ending in October 2014). It also provided its most recent data on the annual cost for a student to attend each college while living on campus. 

The following 12 colleges each have endowments of more than $2.4 billion, making them the richest public universities in America.

Additional reporting by Alex Morrell.

DON'T MISS: The 20 wealthiest private colleges in America

SEE ALSO: The 30 richest colleges in America

12. Purdue University

Location: West Lafayette, Indiana

Endowment: $2.45 billion

Tuition: $23,002 (in-state); $41,804 (out-of-state)

Purdue University is home to the country's best undergraduate biological and agricultural engineering program. Discovery Park — the school's 40-acre collaborative research hub with more than $1 billion in research investments — is a leader in several areas from cancer treatment and drug discovery to environmental and STEM learning.

11. Michigan State University

Location: East Lansing, Michigan

Endowment: $2.55 billion

Tuition: $25,350 (in-state); $47,115 (out-of-state)

MSU was founded as a land-grant university and the first US institute of higher education to teach scientific agriculture. The school now offers 15 majors focused on environmentalism and reports that it's one of the top-five campuses for sustainability.

10. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Location: Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Endowment: $2.66 billion

Tuition: $25,650 (in-state); $50,732 (out-of-state)

In the late 18th century, UNC Chapel Hill became the first public university in America to award degrees. Today, it's revered as one of the best public colleges in the nation for its accomplishments in research, innovation, and healthcare. The school — which is part of the 16-school UNC system — also boasts a top-rated undergraduate business program with specialties in marketing, management, and finance.

Every professional field has a distinct set of competencies required for success.

But there are certain skills that are absolute must-haves, no matter what type of career you pursue.

Unfortunately, no one tells you what those skills are until they realize you don't have them — like when you fumble through your first presentation at work because you never learned the art of public speaking.

To help you out, we rounded up 14 skills that every professional should develop, if they haven't already. Some of them are easier than others, but all of them will help you stand out and advance in your career.

SEE ALSO: 10 life skills every young professional should have

1. Networking

Handing out business cards at an industry event and telling people how much you'd love to "connect" over coffee? Ugh. Gross.

Unfortunately, networking is crucial to your success in pretty much any field, at any stage of your career. One way to make it less off-putting is to think of yourself as someone with something to give— as opposed to someone who just wants to feed off others' expertise and experience.

Start by asking people how you can help them, as opposed to how they can help you.

And if you're afraid you'll get stuck talking about the weather forecast with every new acquaintance, learn to get better at small talk by sharing anecdotes and showing interest in your conversation partner.

2. Communicating via email

These days we're all bombarded with email, meaning if you want someone to open (and read) your message, you've got to craft it carefully.

If you're emailing a really busy person, you'll want to write a short subject line and send your message sometime between Monday afternoon and Wednesday morning.

If you're emailing a potential employer, be sure to address your message to the appropriate person and tailor it to the specific job you're applying for.

In many cases, your email will be the first impression someone has of you — so make it a stellar one.

3. Writing a resume

Many of us have been writing and sending out resumes since high school — but that doesn't necessarily mean we're doing everything right. And when a hiring manager is only spending a few seconds scanning each resume they receive, every detail counts.

Amanda Augustine, career-advice expert for TopResume, told Business Insider it's important to include some of the keywords from the job posting in your resume — without making it look like you copied and pasted.

Meanwhile, experts say you definitely shouldn't include information about your hobbies or time off from work.

Learn more about the ideal resumes for people at different career levels here.

Sales is hard. Some people say it's more art than science.

Selling can get especially tricky in today's tech environment, where things change so fast. 

To help you master the art of selling, Salesforce recently published an e-book called "100 Sales Tips for 2016."

We put together 21 of the best tips from the book:

SEE ALSO: 19 LinkedIn hacks that could help your business make tons of money

"Higher the risk, higher the payoff. That’s just how life works. So go big or go home."— Mia Dand; CEO, Lighthouse3

"Prepare more questions. Salespeople spend too much time preparing what they want to say to a customer and not enough time thinking of the questions they should ask. The best sales presentations are the ones never given, because the salesperson and the customer are having a discussion around the questions being asked."— Mark Hunter; The Sales Hunter

"Incorporate video into your sales pitch. Try not to go slide by slide in a monotone fashion. Instead, walk around the room and engage your audience, then interject videos to explain valid points. Consider making a video about how you can help the company you’re pitching and interview multiple team members."— Yaniv Masjedi; VP of Marketing, Nextiva

We tend to assume everyone sporting a lab coat and stethoscope is bringing home the big bucks — and that's certainly more true for doctors in some medical specialties than it is for doctors in others.

For instance, the average optometrist makes $115,750 a year, while the average surgeon earns more than double that.

Here are the top 15 highest-paying jobs for medical doctors, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics: 

SEE ALSO: The 27 jobs that are most damaging to your health

15. Optometrists

Average annual income: $115,750

Growth outlook (2014-2024): +27%

What they do: Optometrists examine the eyes and other parts of the visual system; diagnose and treat visual problems and manage diseases, injuries, and other disorders of the eyes; and prescribe eyeglasses or contact lenses to patients.

14. Podiatrists

Average annual income: $136,180

Growth outlook (2014-2024): +14%

What they do: Podiatrists provide medical care for people with foot, ankle, and lower-leg problems; they diagnose illnesses; treat injuries; and perform surgery involving the lower extremities.

13. Prosthodontists

Average annual income: $161,020

Growth outlook (2014-2024): +18% 

What they do: Prosthodontists construct oral prostheses to replace missing teeth and other oral structures to correct deformations of the mouth and jaws.

On March 5th, Airmen from all over the US converged on Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona for the 20th annual Heritage Flight, showcasing 70 years of US air superiority.

The P-38 Lightnings, P-40 Warhawks, P-47 Thunderbolts, and P-51 Mustangs, that ruled the skies during World War II flew alongside the F-16s, F-22s, and the F-35 in this moving tribute to the US's military aviation.

"The best thing about being a part of Heritage Flight is the impact that is has on people when they see us at an airshow,” said Dan Friedkin, the founder of the Air Force Heritage Flight Foundation and demonstration pilot, Airman Magazine reports.

“The music, the sound of the airplanes, and the visuals, inspire great feelings. It makes people proud to be an American, proud of the US Air Force and happy to see others inspired.”

See the highlights of the flights below:

SEE ALSO: Step inside the cockpit of the US's most iconic war planes

The aircraft, old and new, have to be meticulously maintained by the airmen.

93-year-old Fred Roberts, a World War II P-51 Mustang pilot who took it to the Luftwaffe, was a hit at the event. “I love joking with young pilots and talking about our ventures,” Roberts said. “It truly puts a visual to the lineage of the aircraft.”

Here's a view from inside the Mustang's cockpit with the pilot who flew in the Heritage Flight.

The first new "Star Wars" in 10 years, "Star The Force Awakens," launched a franchise reboot in 2015, which will consist of six films through 2020.

Featuring a group of characters from the original trilogy alongside a new team of young Rebels, "The Force Awakens" is the first in a trilogy, taking place 30 years after the events of 1983's "Return of the Jedi."

The First Order has risen from the fallen Empire and the Resistance is fighting back.

In addition to that series, three standalone spin-off films make up a "Star Wars" anthology series. "Rogue One," the first, will hit theaters December 16, 2016. Two more films will round out the series, for now.

In honor of "Star Wars" day, here's what you can expect in the next four years: 

"Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," will be the first film in a "Star Wars" anthology series.

The standalone film takes place before the events of the 1977 original film and follows Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) and a group of Rebel fighters on a mission to steal plans for the Death Star.

The idea for the film stems from a line in the opening crawl of "A New Hope," which reads: "During the battle, rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire's ultimate weapon, the Death Star."

The first new "Star Wars" in 10 years, "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," launched a franchise reboot in 2015, which will consist of six films total through 2020.

"The Force Awakens" takes place 30 years after the events of 1983's "Return of the Jedi." The First Order has risen from the fallen Empire and the Resistance is fighting back. Featuring a group of characters from the original trilogy alongside a new team of young Rebels, "The Force Awakens" is the first in a trilogy. 

In addition to that series, three stand-alone spin-off films make up the Anthology series. "Rogue One," the first, will hit theaters December 16, 2016, and has a new trailer. A Han Solo origin film and Boba Fett film will round out the series for now.

In honor of Wednesday's Star Wars Day, here's what you can expect in the next four years: 

SEE ALSO: Everything you need to know about the next 'Star Wars' movie, 'Rogue One'

"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" smashed box-office records, taking only 12 days to gross $1 billion and only 20 to become the highest-grossing domestic film. The film has successfully rebooted the "Star Wars" franchise and set high expectations for the Disney-produced films to follow.

Source: Business Insider

The next film, "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," jump-starts the anthology series.

The stand-alone film takes place before the events of the 1977 original film and follows Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) and a group of Rebel fighters on a mission to steal plans for the Death Star.

While English has a solid 171,476 words in use, there's still not a name for all the things in human experience. 

Other languages — French, Hindi, Gaelic — spot things that English just doesn't hit. 

Here are a few of the most amazing words that English lacks. 

"Lihai" is Mandarin Chinese for intense, bold, or aggressive.

"Lihai" isn't a value judgment. It's doesn't say whether something is good or bad, but that whatever you're describing is powerful. 

A storm that tears down trees is lihai, a teacher that demands the most out of students is lihai, and a spicy soup is lihai. Lions are lihai; pandas are not.

Craic: Irish for good times, gossip, and the roaring goodwill of a big night out.

No one in Ireland can really define craic, but everybody knows that it means. 

If you've ever belted out songs while arm-in-arm with a few of the lads and a few more pints of Guinness, you'll know it too. 

Gemütlichkeit: German for chummily kicking it.

When welcome, comfort, and joy all come together, you've got Gemütlichkeit.

"A soft chair in a coffee shop might be considered 'cosy,'"explains a German language blog. "But sit in that chair surrounded by close friends and a hot cup of tea, while soft music plays in the background, and that sort of scene is what you’d call gemütlich."

There's an amazing new game on iPhone and Android phones and I can't stop playing it. The game is "Clash Royale."

Look familiar? That's because it's from the same folks who created "Clash of Clans," the enormously popular smartphone game.

Good news: "Clash Royale" is like ten trillion times better than "Clash of Clans." Here's why!

Like "Game of War" or "Clash of Clans,""Clash Royale" requires an internet connection to play.

By making "Clash Royale" an online-only game, every battle you fight in the game is played against another actual human being somewhere on Planet Earth. Yes, that means you can't play it when you're, say, underground in the subway. And I wouldn't suggest playing it on an airplane over in-flight WiFi. But it also means that every game is unique — each match pits you against the wits of an entirely unique competitor.

Better yet, it's seamless! Seconds after you push the button to start a game, it's already matched you with another player!

This is the main screen of "Clash Royale." There's a lot going on here, I realize. Allow me to break it down.

Starting from the top, you'll notice there are two boxes that involve chests. The one on the left is based on a four hour timer, and straight up doles out free stuff — every four hours, you get a new free chest full of stuff you use in the game itself. The one on the right, the "Crown Chest," is earned by winning matches.

In each match of "Clash Royale," you earn "crowns" by taking out enemy castles. If you take out all three, you get three crowns. You also win the match! Alternatively, if you have more crowns than the competition when the counter ticks to zero, you win. 

There's other stuff on the screen here, but what matters the most is the giant yellow "Battle" button in the middle. If you hit that, you'll be near-instantly matched with a human competitor.

Here's the beginning of a game between me — "BenGilla" — and someone named "gideão."

You may notice that the arena is divided in half. My three castles are on the bottom (slightly covered by the blue banner), and the competitor's three castles are on top. 

You may also notice that there are cutouts in the ground that look like lines — they are lines! The lines show the paths that run between bases, and these paths are traversed by your cavalry. 

The long and short of "Clash Royale" is one simple goal: destroy all three of the enemy's castles before yours are destroyed. Alternatively, if you destroy more of the enemy's castles than they destroy of yours before time runs out, that's also a win. It's also possible to draw — and to lose, of course!

Time to study up!

Whether your student is college-bound in the fall or still in the early years of their high school career, understanding the college financial aid world is probably an important part of your—and their—education.

That’s why we at LearnVest are offering this crash course in college financial aid lingo on everything from FAFSA to Ford. This list is especially helpful if you’re in the middle of deciphering a financial aid offer letter.

SEE ALSO: 7 secrets to getting money for college, from someone who scored over $500,000

1. Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)

Each year, the office of Federal Student Aid provides more than $150 billion in financial assistance to more than 13 million students—and the FAFSA is how they do it.

The federal financial aid application is filled out every year by current and prospective college students. By submitting your FAFSA, you can become eligible to receive grants, loans or work study to help fund your kid’s studies.

The FAFSA is free to submit and available online, and every college student should submit it every year. The deadline for the FAFSA varies by state—but some aid is first come, first served, so it’s best to be the early bird on this one.

Beginning with the 2017-2018 academic year, you’ll be able to submit your FAFSA as early as the October before your aid year using tax data from two years prior to your aid year.

2. CSS (College Scholarship Service)/Financial aid PROFILE

The CSS/Financial Aid PROFILE is a nonfederal online application for financial aid. Nearly 300 schools in the U.S. use it to determine financial aid eligibility and connect students with nongovernmental aid, from internal funding to scholarships and loans. You should submit a PROFILE only if your college or scholarship program instructs you to do so.

The PROFILE is more thorough than the FAFSA and determines aid eligibility a little differently, considering factors such as your family’s medical expenses, debts, home equity and business net worth. Unlike the FAFSA, the PROFILE has a fee (for the 2016-2017 academic year, it was $25 for the first school and $16 thereafter), though eligible students may apply to have it waived.

3. Student Aid Report (SAR)

After you’ve filled out your FAFSA, you’ll receive a Student Aid Report that will handily summarize all the information you provided in your FAFSA application. You can request your SAR online or through the mail. When you receive it, review it carefully to make sure all information is correct and complete. If you do find an error, you’ll need to correct and resubmit your FAFSA.

The first few years after college can be the launching pad for the rest of your career — it's why successful people often advise young people to start doing what they love as soon as they can.

But while some tech geniuses and business tycoons took this route to success, finding the optimal career path right away is easier said than done for many, and others found career bliss many years down the road.

To show that no two paths to success are alike, here's what 23 highly successful people were doing right out of college.

Aaron Taube contributed to an earlier version of this article.

SEE ALSO: 19 highly successful people who prove it's never too late to change careers

DON'T MISS: The unglamorous first jobs of Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and 18 other highly successful people

Donald Trump worked for his father's real-estate-development company.

After graduating from Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania in 1968 with a degree in economics, Trump went to work as a young real-estate developer at his father's company, Elizabeth Trump & Son.

In 1971, he was given the reins of the company, which he later renamed the Trump Organization, according to Bio, and soon became involved in large, profitable building projects in Manhattan.

Steve Jobs dropped out of college, but kept learning.

The Apple cofounder dropped out of Reed College, an elite liberal-arts school in Portland, Oregon, where he started doing lots of LSD and learning about spirituality, after six months, according to "Steve Jobs" by Walter Isaacson.

Jobs said he didn't see the value in paying for an expensive college when he didn't know what he wanted to do. But his edification didn't end when he dropped out.

For the next 18 months, he would sleep on the floor in friends' rooms, live the bohemian lifestyle, and return soda bottles for spare change, and drop in on the creative classes he wanted to take at Reed College, like calligraphy.

"If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts," Jobs said during his commencement address at Stanford in 2005. "And since Windows just copied the Mac, it's likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do."

Marissa Mayer became Google employee No. 20.

At 24, fresh out of grad school, Mayer became the 20th Google employee and the company's first female engineer. She remained with the company for 13 years before moving on to her current role as CEO of Yahoo.

Google didn't have the sorts of lavish campuses it does now, Mayer said in an interview with VMakers. "During my interviews, which were in April of 1999, Google was a seven-person company. I arrived and I was interviewed at a ping pong table which was also the company's conference table, and it was right when they were pitching for venture capitalist money, so actually after my interview Larry and Sergey left and took the entire office with them."

Since everyone in the office interviewed you in those days, Mayer had to come back the next day for another round. 

China is a nation of food lovers. And everyone has strong opinions about which of the country’s many regional cuisines are the best.

So where do Chinese travelers go when they want to spend their vacations eating amazing foods? They head to Yunnan, China's southwestern-most province. This mountainous region might not be on most Americans' radars, but it's one of China's (and the world's) most exciting culinary destinations. Here’s why.

SEE ALSO: We tried the $150 'platinum' doughnut that's infused with tequila — here's how it tasted

DON'T FORGET: Follow Business Insider's lifestyle page on Facebook!

1. Its borders

Yunnan borders Tibet, Burma, Laos, Vietnam, and the Chinese provinces of Guangxhi, Guizhou, and Sichuan. And it shares characteristics with all of them. The northern edge of the region actually sits on the Tibetan plateau; the jungles in the south look just like those in Laos or Thailand; and the west has the same beautiful karst mountains that tourists head to central China to see. From a food perspective, this means you can find dishes that range from yak hotpot to Lao-style green papaya salad to numbingly spicy Sichuan-style stir fries all within a few hours' drive.

2. Minorities

Yunnan is also China's most culturally diverse region. 25 of China's 55 minorities live there, and each community retains its own unique foodways. If you head to the beautiful central city of Dali, you'll find Bai minority dishes like cold rice noodles topped with stewed chicken, peanuts, vinegar, and sesame sauce. Down south, in jungle-filled Xishuangbanna, you'll find Dai dishes like grilled fish stuffed with fresh herbs and chiles. And throughout the province you'll find Hue Muslim restaurants that specialize in flavorful beef stir fries and stews.

3. "Barbarian" foods

Cheese is not something you expect to find in China. Or raw, leafy salads. In fact, both were historically called "barbarian foods" by China's Han majority (who considered any group outside of China's traditional borders, including their minorities, "barbarians"). But in Yunnan, both of these foods have a long, delicious history. At restaurants in Kunming, the provincial capital, you'll find slices of milky white cheese grilled with slivers of local ham, zesty chrysanthemum greens dressed with soy sauce and sesame oil, and even butter-based pastries that were introduced to the region by 19^th century French missionaries (a different kind of invading "barbarian").

J.J. Abrams has established himself as the king of the nerds and creator of blockbuster hits. 

The 49-year-old director, writer, and producer has been at the helm of two reboots of iconic franchises set in space — "Star Wars" and "Star Trek"— and jumped into the action world by joining the "Mission: Impossible" franchise.

He's taken on the sci-fi world with his own film, "Super 8," which he produced with his idol Steven Spielberg. The film provides an obvious glimpse at the inspiration Spielberg's earlier films provided.

And even before the two had a chance to officially collaborate, Abrams, as a teen, helped refurbish old films for Spielberg. 

Before he was a blockbuster director, Abrams was at the head of hit TV shows, creating or cocreating "Felicity,""Alias," and "Lost," which became a cultural hit. 

He's also delved into some franchise-making of his own, producing "Cloverfield" and its surprisingly successful sequel, "10 Cloverfield Lane."

With the celebration of Star Wars Day and Abrams primed to produce more hits, here's a look at his established career: 

SEE ALSO: RANKED: Every character in 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' from best to worst

Jeffrey Jacob Abrams was born June 27, 1966 on Long Island but grew up in Los Angeles with his parents, producers Gerald W. and Carol Ann Abrams. His sister, Tracy, is a screenwriter.

Source: The New York Times Magazine

Abrams adored films by directors such as Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, and when he was 13, his grandfather gave him a Super 8mm camera, prompting Abrams to begin filming home movies.

Source: The New York Times Magazine

He met Matt Reeves at a young filmmakers festival in Los Angeles and soon began collaborating with him. The two were asked by Kathleen Kennedy, then working for Spielberg, to repair and refurbish some Super 8mm films he had made as a teen.

Source: Vanity Fair 

Imagine if instead of wasting hours in traffic, you could  one day fly above it for a price only slightly higher than a subway ride.

That's the idea behind SkyTran, a self-driving monorail designed to hover 20 feet above roads and travel up to 155 mph. The system would turn a two-hour car commute into a 10-minute trip, SkyTran CEO Jerry Sanders tells Tech Insider.

The company just announced that it will launch its first-ever track in Lagos, Nigeria by 2020. The World Bank commissioned Systra, a global transportation consulting firm, to find a railway that could help alleviate traffic in the city, and SkyTran was chosen.

Lagos has some of the worst traffic jams in the world, due largely to its island-locked financial hub and exponential population growth. To put things in perspective, the city has more than twice the population as New York City but roughly the same land area.

"Everyone hates commuting, but there are no solutions," Sanders tells Tech Insider. "The only way to get around traffic is to literally go above it."

Take a look.

SkyTran opened a 900-foot test station on the campus of Israel Aerospace Industries near Tel Aviv in late 2015. By the end of 2016, it will start construction of a 25-mile track in Lagos (An exact route in the city has not yet been planned).

Developed by Doug Malewicki, an engineer at NASA's Ames Research Center, the 300-pound pods use magnets to hang from slender rails.

NASA and SkyTran designed four different types of steel and aluminum pods: one that seats two people, one that seats four, one for the disabled, and one for larger cargo. Here's the latest prototype:

We all know it's important to save money.

Saving for retirement and socking away cash for emergencies often involves making sacrifices. The money that you would have spent on a trip to Uruguay or on new shoes could instead go into your IRA or your savings account.

Making responsible financial decisions can be difficult, of course, and if you're having trouble holding onto your coins, here's how to stop spending money recklessly.

Check out our budget calculator.

SEE ALSO: A woman who lived on $14,000 a year used a simple, free strategy to resist impulse buys

1. Find out what you're wasting money on

If you're trying to start spending less and saving more, it's a good idea to find out where your money is going. Are you spending a large percentage of it on baked goods or electronics? By being aware of what's causing you to waste money unnecessarily, you can be proactive about avoiding those triggers.

2. Keep tabs on your spending

Having a budget in place is essential if you want to avoid overspending. But if you realize that's not enough, you might have to take things a step further and either use an app or actually write down how much you're spending on a daily basis.

While that might seem tedious, it could also be a huge wake-up call for someone who's prone to making impulse purchases. Seeing that you used two-thirds of your paycheck to wine and dine your significant other might be enough to convince you that it's time to rein in your spending.

3. Get an accountability partner

Kicking a bad habit can be hard, especially if you're doing it all on your own. Finding a friend or family member who can hold you accountable for your actions can be an effective way to curtail your spending.

Your accountability partner can serve as a source of encouragement. Plus, if he or she is also committed to saving more, you can challenge each other to see who can save more money within a certain window of time.

4. Pay with cash

Not everyone has this issue, but for some people it's easier to waste money when you're swiping a card to make a purchase. Paying for $100 jeans might hurt a lot more if you have to hand over a $100 bill instead of pulling out a credit card. If you're guilty of living beyond your means, it might be better to pay with money you already have rather than accumulate interest and credit card debt that might take years to pay off.

Try out our credit card calculator.

5. Don't shop without a list

Another good tip for anyone with a spending problem: Always make a shopping list and try your best to stick to it. If sales and clearance signs usually drive you to overspend, it probably isn't wise to enter a store or go into certain sections unless you have a legitimate reason for being there.

To take things up a notch, you can make a list in advance, estimate how much each item will cost and only bring enough cash to cover those purchases. That way, you can't buy more than you planned to.

6. Plan your meals in advance 

If you find that you're spending too much on food, meal prepping can help you cut back. By taking the time to think about what you're going to cook for the week (or even for a few days) and setting up a budget, it might be easier to save money. Randomly buying whatever you're craving could be costing you more than you think.