Destination: Asia
Shangri-La: It’s Real, and It’s a Successful Marketing Ploy
by Michael Yessis | 06.05.07 | 8:03 AM ET
Perhaps too successful. Five years ago the Chinese town of Zhongdian renamed itself Shangri-La, claiming that the town was the basis for the Shangri-La described in James Hilton’s 1933 novel “Lost Horizon.” “Evidence is sketchy,” we wrote back then, “but no matter.” They moved forward with their plan and now Shangri-La has become besieged by tourists. Whether that’s good or not depends on your perspective.
Email to friend
del.icio.us
Digg
Facebook
Furl
Ma.gnolia
Mixx
Reddit
StumbleUpon
Yahoo! BuzzTiananmen Square, 18 Years After the Massacre*
by Jim Benning | 06.04.07 | 5:35 PM ET
When I walked up a stairway into Tiananmen Square during a trip to China several years ago, the first thing to pop into my mind was the massacre. Tiananmen, of course, is synonymous with the government crackdown that left hundreds of demonstrators—or possibly more; facts are in dispute—dead 18 years ago today. But visiting Tiananmen is different from visiting other sites known for atrocities. Unlike Dachau or the Killing Fields, which have memorials marking the events, there’s no monument or public acknowledgment in Tiananmen that the massacre even happened.
Bill Gates’s Yacht Inspires Plans for Thai Island
by Jim Benning | 06.01.07 | 4:01 PM ET
Oh, to be Bill Gates’s yacht. The waters you’d sail. The navigational software that would chart your course. The luxury tourism developments you’d inspire. Developer Gulu Lalvani says a conversation he had with Gates in Phuket, Thailand earlier this year has inspired him to build a small island just off the Thailand coast in Phang Nga Bay. As Lalvani recalled, Gates told him: “If I could bring my yacht, I would come here every year.” The trouble is, Gates’s 54-meter yacht (a little larger than the pleasure craft pictured here) is too big for Phuket’s marina, which holds yachts up to 40 meters long.
Out: Buddha G-Strings. In: Jesus Thongs.
by Jim Benning | 06.01.07 | 1:48 PM ET
Or something like that. CafePress.com has removed G-strings and dog attire featuring images of the Buddha from its online catalog after Thais protested the sale of the products. “Such products offend not only Thais, but Buddhists elsewhere in the world,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Piriya Khempon told Reuters.
Where in the World Are You, Kelsey Timmerman?
by Jim Benning | 05.31.07 | 1:00 PM ET
Today, we debut “Where in the World Are You?”—a nearly up-to-the-minute interview with a traveler somewhere in the world. Our first traveler is a writer, Kelsey Timmerman, whose response landed in our inbox this morning.
World Hum: Where in the world are you?
The Case of the Disappearing $1 Million Hotel Bathtub
by Jim Benning | 05.30.07 | 10:09 AM ET
We like travel-related mysteries, and this is a good one. An 18-carat-gold bathtub that weighs nearly 175 pounds has vanished from an oceanfront Japanese hotel, baffling police. The tub resided in the shared men’s bathroom on the 10th floor of the Kominato Hotel Mikazuki, east of Tokyo. Guests were allowed to use it for free each afternoon, but it was reported missing Wednesday. “We really don’t know how this happened at this stage,” a police official told Reuters. “But what we can assume now is that more than one person was involved in this incident.” Our advice: Even though it’s not exactly their area of expertise, call in the sushi police.
A ‘Random Guide to International Behavior’*
by Jim Benning | 05.29.07 | 12:18 PM ET
In his Sunday column, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel’s Thomas Swick has some sage advice for international travelers, ranging from ways to stay out of trouble to simple pronunciation tips. Among them: “In Vietnam, don’t say pho with a long ‘o’ when ordering the popular noodle soup. (It’s pronounced more like ‘fuh’). In Ireland, don’t ask, ‘Are there any good books by local authors?’ In Singapore, don’t do a lot of things.”
Burma Extends Activist’s Detention. Should Travelers Stay Away?
by Jim Benning | 05.25.07 | 1:10 PM ET
When travelers debate the ethics of visiting Burma, they invariably invoke the case of Aung San Suu Kyi, the pro-democracy activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who has been detained for years by the nation’s repressive military junta. In recent days, human rights activists and political leaders around the world have called for her release—her detention was set to expire Sunday—but, sadly, news comes today that her house arrest has been extended by yet another year. The question remains: Should travelers visit Burma or stay away?
‘Welcome to Pyongyang’: The City in Photos
by Michael Yessis | 05.25.07 | 10:23 AM ET
Photographer Charlie Crane and writer Nick Bonner of Koryo Tours have teamed for a new book, Welcome to Pyongyang, which compiles photos and commentary from three trips they took to the North Korean capital. “Pyongyang” comes out in the U.S. next week, but The Guardian and Budget Travel both have sneak-peak slideshows. The pair’s commentary accompanies the Guardian presentation, and Budget Traveler has an excerpt from the book’s introduction.
Inside Great Sushi and the World’s Biggest Fish Market
by Jim Benning | 05.24.07 | 10:48 AM ET
As we’ve noted a number of times lately, Japanese cuisine is getting lots of press these days, from stories about the sudden popularity of 500-year-old kaiseki among hip Western chefs to Tokyo’s thriving restaurant scene. But among the, uh, meatiest pieces I’ve read recently is Nick Tosches’s story in the June issue of Vanity Fair about the world’s greatest fish market, officially called the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Central Wholesale Market, but often referred to simply by its place name, Tsukiji. It’s huge, spanning nearly 40 football fields. Roughly 60,000 people work there. But the most stunning statistic is this: An estimated 2,000 tons or more of fish move through the market daily—by comparison, Tosches notes, at the world’s second largest market, Fulton Fish Market in New York City, 115 tons pass through in an entire year.
Recalling Afghanistan and a Father’s Wanderlust
by Jim Benning | 05.24.07 | 8:36 AM ET
When he was just 14, Scott Anderson embarked on a nearly yearlong journey through Europe and Asia with his father in a VW bus. In Afghanistan, the two took a detour up a remote, bumpy road to a place called Band-i-Amir. His father wasn’t sure the detour was a good idea, but the younger Anderson insisted the pair go. He recalls the trip In a beautifully written essay in the latest issue of National Geographic Adventure. “I think my desire to go to Band-i-Amir had less to do with actually seeing the lakes or with whatever it was I imagined I might find there, than it was a symptom of how I’d changed since reaching Afghanistan,” he writes. “The land had roused a fascination in me, an engagement with my surroundings. On this trip, I was no longer merely along for the ride. For the first time, I was pointing the way, leading my father.”
Western-Style Supermarkets Threaten Traditional Indian Vendors
by Michael Yessis | 05.22.07 | 2:04 PM ET
Local markets where Indians—and many travelers—have traditionally purchased their food staples are losing about 40 percent of their business to Western-style supermarkets, according to a BBC story. And that’s before Wal-Mart and Tesco move in with markets of their own next year.
Confessions of a ‘Shameless Hoarder of Unmarketable Collectibles’
by Michael Yessis | 05.22.07 | 10:33 AM ET
Those “unmarketable collectibles” are otherwise known as travel souvenirs, such as toothpaste from halfway around the world or the receipt for the “donation” to Maoist rebels or, in my case, the “Three Minutes Happiness” bath soak from Japan (pictured) that has graced my bathroom for years. They have a value that could never be recognized by a bidder on eBay.
Eating Japanese: The World’s ‘My Boom’ Food
by Michael Yessis | 05.21.07 | 10:03 AM ET
Japanese cuisine is having a moment. As we’ve noted, Western chefs are beginning to embrace kaiseki, a 500-year-old Japanese eating tradition. The Los Angeles Times recently highlighted it, and the writers of that story also hit Tokyo’s restaurant scene with Spago chef Lee Hefter. In Sunday’s New York Times T Style Magazine: Travel, Adam Sachs takes his own “professional eating” tour through Tokyo, offering up a quick history of Japanese food and his take on a dining scene that, for depth and variety, “has no equal.”
The World Hum Travel Zeitgeist: From Chocolate to Kaiseki
by Michael Yessis | 05.18.07 | 5:09 PM ET
Or, in other words, travelers’ interests this week range from Hershey, Pennsylvania to the streets of Japan. Here’s the Zeitgeist.
Most Popular Travel Story
Netscape (this week)
Magnificient Trees of the World
* The Lone Cypress in Pebble Beach, California (pictured) makes the list.
Most Viewed Travel Story
Los Angeles Times (current)
A Tour of Japanese Cuisine With Spago Chef Lee Hefter
* From the same writers: A look at kaiseki
Most Read Weblog Post
World Hum (this week)
Japan’s Latest Budget Accommodation: Internet Cafes
* The nation that brought us the capsule hotel has done it again.
Most E-Mailed Travel Story
USA Today (current)
Hershey Honors its Past, Looks to the Future
Most Viewed Travel Story
Telegraph (current)
Amsterdam: Telegraph Travel Guides
Most Popular Page Tagged Travel
Del.icio.us (recent)
Farecast
Most Read Feature Story
World Hum (this week)
Mark Ellingham: Rough Guides and the Ethics of Travel
“Hot This Week” Destination
Yahoo! (this week)
Playa del Carmen