INVESTMENTS (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	0 Months Ended
	Aug. 06, 2014 Ctrip.com International, Ltd. [Member]	Sep. 30, 2014 Short-term Investments [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Short-term Investments [Member]	Sep. 30, 2014 Long-term Investments [Member]	Sep. 30, 2014 Foreign government securities [Member] Short-term Investments [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Foreign government securities [Member] Short-term Investments [Member]	Sep. 30, 2014 U.S. government securities [Member] Short-term Investments [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 U.S. government securities [Member] Short-term Investments [Member]	Sep. 30, 2014 U.S. government securities [Member] Long-term Investments [Member]	Sep. 30, 2014 U.S. commercial paper [Member] Short-term Investments [Member]	Sep. 30, 2014 U.S. corporate debt securities [Member] Long-term Investments [Member]	Sep. 30, 2014 U.S. government agency securities [Member] Short-term Investments [Member]	Sep. 30, 2014 U.S. government agency securities [Member] Long-term Investments [Member]	Sep. 30, 2014 Ctrip corporate debt securities [Member] Long-term Investments [Member] Ctrip.com International, Ltd. [Member]	Sep. 30, 2014 Ctrip equity securities [Member] Long-term Investments [Member] Ctrip.com International, Ltd. [Member]	Oct. 17, 2014 Ctrip.com International, Ltd. [Member]
Investments, Current
Cost		$ 1,193,505	$ 5,462,613	$ 1,999,475	$ 189,491	$ 4,019,530	$ 650,518	$ 1,443,083	$ 232,951	$ 182,788	$ 1,045,353	$ 170,708	$ 70,257	$ 500,000	$ 150,914
Gross Unrealized Gains		32	483	190	24	233	2	250	0	5	178	1	12	0	0
Gross Unrealized Losses		(184)	(376)	(34,483)	0	(356)	(7)	(20)	(960)	(163)	(1,754)	(14)	(23)	(20,500)	(11,246)
Fair Value		$ 1,193,353	$ 5,462,720	$ 1,965,182	$ 189,515	$ 4,019,407	$ 650,513	$ 1,443,313	$ 231,991	$ 182,630	$ 1,043,777	$ 170,695	$ 70,246	$ 479,500	$ 139,668
Debt Investment, Term	5 years
Maximum Ownership Percentage in Ctrip	10.00%
Beneficial ownership percentage																7.90%