https://www.scmp.com/rss/326357/feed Mercedes Hutton is a Hong Kong-based journalist. She joined the Post in 2018, where she writes about culture, the environment and history for Post Magazine, and covers travel and tourism in Asia in a weekly column, Destinations Known. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Much remains unknown about the Omicron variant of Covid-19, but one thing is certain: it has disrupted many a travel plan this festive season, from Hong Kong to the United States, causing entry restrictions to be tightened and thousands of flights to be cancelled. Its emergence also suggests that the pandemic will quite spectacularly outstay its welcome. The spread of the latest coronavirus variant of concern has highlighted vaccine inequality between the global north and south, and put into... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3161248/coronavirus-omicron-variant-delays-asian-leisure?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3161248/coronavirus-omicron-variant-delays-asian-leisure?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 Dec 2021 00:45:21 +0000 For the Indonesian resort island of Bali, October 14 was not the auspicious date it was supposed to be. It was instead decidedly anticlimactic. That Thursday heralded the long-awaited reopening of the island to vaccinated international travellers – at least, from 19 countries – until it didn’t. In the end, only two foreign tourists arrived in October, compared with about 500,000 in the same month in 2019, “and not a single direct international flight has landed on its shores since”, Time... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3160535/bali-sees-hardly-any-foreign-tourists-2021-travel?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3160535/bali-sees-hardly-any-foreign-tourists-2021-travel?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 22 Dec 2021 00:45:07 +0000 Way back in 2019, before we had become acquainted with “selfish” masks, spike proteins and the Greek alphabet, Tourism Australia was chasing a dream: the high value traveller. “High value travellers (HVTs) are empowered and increasingly knowledgeable about the world around them,” wrote the tourism body in a report. “They know what they want, when they want it and where they want to get it.” Apparently, China is home to 20.4 million of these mythical voyagers, who spend up to three times more... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3159680/does-australia-need-chinese-tourists-confidence-domestic?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3159680/does-australia-need-chinese-tourists-confidence-domestic?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Dec 2021 00:45:10 +0000 Once upon a time, Hong Kong was among the most visited cities in the world. In 2019, even while wracked with political unrest, the city recorded 55.91 million arrivals. According to the Hong Kong Tourism Board, 23.75 million of those were overnight visitors who stayed an average of 3.3 nights and spent HK$5,818 (US$750). But numbers can only tell us so much. As the city prepares to again welcome sightseers from its main source market – mainland China – we are left wondering: is Hong Kong a... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/3158790/hong-kong-good-tourist-destination-food-culture?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/3158790/hong-kong-good-tourist-destination-food-culture?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 Dec 2021 00:45:09 +0000 The festive period is upon us. In “normal” (read: before coronavirus) times, that would signal peak season for some of Asia’s most popular holiday destinations, many of which have been tentatively removing restrictions and teasing border reopenings to usher in a new era of tourism recovery. Hallelujah! However, don’t deck the airport arrival halls just yet, because Omicron is here to steal Christmas. We would much rather a traditional lump of coal but instead we are getting a new, heavily... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3157902/does-new-omicron-variant-justify-hong-kongs-extreme?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3157902/does-new-omicron-variant-justify-hong-kongs-extreme?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 01 Dec 2021 00:45:20 +0000 On January 6, 2012, the Philippines Department of Tourism unveiled a new tourism campaign: “It’s more fun in the Philippines.” It went viral. For a cyber-minute, it topped global Twitter trends and, according to the branding agency behind the slogan, “Google searches for the Philippines increased by 231% and the country’s tourist volumes hit an all-time high of 4.3 million, outgrowing leading rival market, Malaysia.” Now, almost a decade later, the archipelagic country is keen to impress on... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/3157088/philippines-offer-quarantine-free-travel-tourists-places?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/3157088/philippines-offer-quarantine-free-travel-tourists-places?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 24 Nov 2021 00:45:22 +0000 With the news that Hong Kong’s border with mainland China will soon begin to reopen comes hope that the city might finally be released from its coronavirus-induced isolation. The resumption of broader overseas travel is bound to follow, surely? Surely? International businesses and folk with loved ones elsewhere in the world have been clamouring for the city’s border restrictions to be lifted, or at least loosened, for months. However, they aren’t the only ones who stand to benefit from a freer... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3156261/hong-kong-border-reopening-mainland-china-could-make?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3156261/hong-kong-border-reopening-mainland-china-could-make?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 17 Nov 2021 00:45:13 +0000 All good things come to those who wait, apparently. And so, after years of waiting, Hongkongers have been rewarded for their patience with the multibillion-dollar M+, billed as “Asia’s first global museum of contemporary visual culture”, in the West Kowloon Cultural District. A Legislative Council PowerPoint presentation from July 2011 envisioned M+ as “a museum first and foremost for the people of Hong Kong”. One of the slides asserts: “M+ shall be a museum of its time and of its place. Hong... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3155417/hong-kongs-long-delayed-m-museum-opens-it-may-not?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3155417/hong-kongs-long-delayed-m-museum-opens-it-may-not?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 10 Nov 2021 00:45:11 +0000 It’s official, Thai tourism is back in business. After 18 long and economically arduous months, the Land of Smiles is getting back to doing what it does best – showing international travellers an excellent time. Since November 1, vaccinated visitors from 63 “low-risk” countries and territories have been able to enter the kingdom without having to undergo quarantine. And while this might be the norm again for those jetting around Europe, on this side of the world the move is pioneering. Among... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3154596/thailand-travel-opens-vaccinated-visitors-who-asia?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3154596/thailand-travel-opens-vaccinated-visitors-who-asia?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 03 Nov 2021 00:45:08 +0000 Watching Squid Game shouldn’t make you want to visit South Korea. The wildly successful show is many things: disturbing dystopian fantasy, socio-economic commentary, the most watched show on Netflix, with some 142 million households and counting having watched players 456, 067 and 218 battle it out. But an advertisement for South Korea as a tourist destination? Believe it or not, apparently so. “In response to the worldwide sensa­tion of Squid Game, local governments aim to promote the cities... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3153745/squid-game-locations-south-korea-jeju-island-see?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3153745/squid-game-locations-south-korea-jeju-island-see?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 27 Oct 2021 00:45:29 +0000 In 2014, English-language state-run newspaper China Daily called Sri Lanka “pretty much the perfect holiday destination”, touting its “golden beaches, towering mountains, ancient monuments and stunning wildlife all enclosed in a compact island”. At the time, the South Asian nation was on a tourism charm offensive “with a heavy focus on attracting Chinese revenue, from tourists and investors alike”, according to China Daily. And in its sights were 2.5 million “high-spending tourists” by 2016, 1... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3152894/million-chinese-tourists-year-sri-lanka-it-could?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3152894/million-chinese-tourists-year-sri-lanka-it-could?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 20 Oct 2021 00:30:21 +0000 Among the countless things that Covid-19 has shone a spotlight on is the complex, often harmful, relationship that humans have with nature. Back when lockdowns were a novelty, we marvelled at viral videos showing animals reclaiming streets and waterways, ignoring the fact that the pathogen behind the pandemic was probably a direct result of our exploitation of the natural environment, not to mention our unnatural intimacy with wild creatures. Few fauna manifest this paradox quite like Bali’s... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/3152209/elephant-tourism-vicious-circle-why-balis-sumatran?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/3152209/elephant-tourism-vicious-circle-why-balis-sumatran?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 14 Oct 2021 00:45:10 +0000 Thailand is ready for the world’s tourists – at least those who have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19. As of October 1, inoculated arrivals from anywhere have been welcome in Phuket and other provinces taking part in the nation’s “sandbox” scheme. That development came swiftly on the heels of a report by Reuters on September 27 that “Thailand will waive its mandatory quarantine requirement [also] in Bangkok and nine regions from November 1 to vaccinated arrivals”. “Authorities will also... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3151317/quarantine-restrictions-thailand-lifted-or-reduced?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3151317/quarantine-restrictions-thailand-lifted-or-reduced?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 06 Oct 2021 03:00:16 +0000 As far as global forks in the road go, there’s not much that can compete with the coronavirus pandemic. It has affected almost every­one, upended almost every industry and amplified geopolitical issues, among them China’s decoupling from the United States and, some argue, from the wider world. Usually discussed in terms of trade, when the barricaded borders of mainland China eventually reopen – post Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at the latest, please – there could be another element to this... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3150440/will-singapore-win-battle-chinese-tourists-amid?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3150440/will-singapore-win-battle-chinese-tourists-amid?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 Sep 2021 00:45:12 +0000 The big news – that Bali’s long-awaited reopening has been slated for October, if Covid-19 cases continue to decline – has been overshadowed by a throwaway comment made by Indonesia’s coordinating minister of maritime affairs and investment, Luhut Pandjaitan, during a recent visit to the island. “We’ll aim for quality tourism in Bali, so we won’t allow backpackers to enter once the reopening plan for international travellers is officially put in place in the near future,” Luhut said on September... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3149581/bali-ban-backpackers-no-quality-tourism-comments?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3149581/bali-ban-backpackers-no-quality-tourism-comments?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 22 Sep 2021 00:45:09 +0000 Whether it liked it or not, pre-pandemic Pattaya was synonymous with sex tourism. But when Thailand closed its borders in March 2020, “The country’s tourism industry – which is entwined with the sex worker industry – collapsed”, American media organisation NPR reported in February. Eighteen months into the pandemic and Pattaya is reportedly unrecognisable. In a follow-up interview with NPR, one of the sex workers featured in the February report spoke about having no choice but to leave the city... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3148713/should-thailands-sex-capital-ready-itself-chinese?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3148713/should-thailands-sex-capital-ready-itself-chinese?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Sep 2021 00:45:09 +0000 Angkor Wat is one of the most famous temples in the world. Before the coronavirus stopped tourists from travelling around Asia, the 12th century Hindu complex in Cambodia’s Siem Reap province attracted 2.2 million visitors in 2019. In contrast, Sihanakhon, a temple complex under construction in Thailand’s Buriram province, is not a name many will be familiar with. Unless, perhaps, you are Cambodian and spend time on the internet. Pictures of the scaffolded structure were recently posted on... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3147949/angkor-wat-temple-copycat-thailand-sparks-cambodian?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3147949/angkor-wat-temple-copycat-thailand-sparks-cambodian?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 Sep 2021 03:15:21 +0000 The international image of Hong Kong is built on clichés, perhaps none more foundational than that it is “Asia’s World City”, with all the freewheeling, East-meets-West appeal that encompasses. This image is fundamentally flawed. Those free wheels have all but stopped turning, East and West have turned on each other, and as for this “world city”, right now it feels more like a walled city. The travel restrictions imposed on Hong Kong to keep the coronavirus out are among the strictest in the... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/3147046/why-hong-kongs-travel-restrictions-are-hurting-more-just?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/3147046/why-hong-kongs-travel-restrictions-are-hurting-more-just?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 01 Sep 2021 00:45:08 +0000 Comprising more than 17,500 islands and home to upwards of 270 million people, Indonesia is the world’s fourth most populous nation and third largest democracy. Also, at the time of writing, it leads in the daily average number of deaths from Covid-19, according to Reuters, accounting for one in every eight reported worldwide each day. Despite this, Indonesia apparently lacks name recognition abroad, something that former president Megawati Sukarnoputri lamented during a recent virtual event.... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3146228/why-everyone-so-obsessed-bali-yet-ignorant?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3146228/why-everyone-so-obsessed-bali-yet-ignorant?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Aug 2021 00:15:14 +0000 In 1999, Australian filmmaker Baz Luhrmann released a seven-minute spoken word song. Based on an essay written by Chicago Tribune columnist Mary Schmich, it was the perfect riposte to the prevailing Y2K dread and dispensed pithy pearls of wisdom, such as: “If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it.” Although Y2K dread has given way to exponentially more dreadful – and existential – climate concerns, the benefits of sunscreen remain as applicable as ever. Unless you... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3145347/thailand-bans-sunscreen-marine-parks-preserve?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3145347/thailand-bans-sunscreen-marine-parks-preserve?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Aug 2021 00:45:13 +0000 The problem with being a pioneer is that all eyes are on your every move, be they good or bad. The Thai resort island of Phuket and its way-paving “sandbox” programme have been widely hailed as an exemplar for Asia’s battered tourism industry. “Phuket reopening offers model for Asia as travel bubbles burst,” proclaimed news service Bloomberg on June 16. On August 6, CNN Travel affirmed “Why Phuket’s ‘sandbox’ pilot project matters to other islands in Asia.” However, since the scheme allowing... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3144504/how-phukets-sandbox-scheme-became-entangled-alleged?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3144504/how-phukets-sandbox-scheme-became-entangled-alleged?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Aug 2021 00:45:19 +0000 The goalposts for post-pandemic tourism – as with just about every­thing else to do with Covid-19 – keep shifting, especially as the Delta variant announces its ascendance. At this rate, the Earth could complete another orbit of the sun before Asian destinations are released from border restrictions. In the travel-free meantime, no destination wants to be forgotten by its fans. Take Singapore as an example, the island state having reached out to grounded Indians through the medium of… kids’... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3143663/why-singapore-banking-cartoon-keep-indian-tourists?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3143663/why-singapore-banking-cartoon-keep-indian-tourists?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Aug 2021 00:45:08 +0000 Spare a thought for Macau. While the media has made much ado about the absence of arrivals at other tourism-dependent Asian destinations, Hong Kong’s neighbouring special administrative region has escaped attention. Travel and tourism are Macau’s bread and butter – the industry accounted for 72 per cent of the city’s GDP (gross domestic product) in 2019, according to data platform Knoema – but although it has for some time been open to mainland Chinese tourists, its lifeline, visitor numbers... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3142808/what-if-macau-gifted-chinese-island-hengqin-where?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3142808/what-if-macau-gifted-chinese-island-hengqin-where?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 28 Jul 2021 03:39:27 +0000 The Indonesian island of Bali is no stranger to Hollywood. It provided the backdrop, cast and folk narrative for 1935’s Legong: Dance of the Virgins, a silent exploitation film whose poster advertised “native customs, native music, native cast”, and in 2010 it was where Julia Roberts found herself in Eat Pray Love. The island could be making more movie cameos after it was revealed at the Cannes Film Festival on July 9 that “Southeast Asian content producer and financier United Media Asia [UMA],... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3141893/bali-get-hollywood-treatment-upcoming-partnership?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3141893/bali-get-hollywood-treatment-upcoming-partnership?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 Jul 2021 03:00:08 +0000 The year 2020 was always going to be a memorable one for Japan. Unfortunately, it turned out to be 12 months most would rather forget, hijacked and thrown wildly off course by the coronavirus pandemic. And while far from being alone in that predicament, it was the only country that had spent seven years preparing to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Tokyo 2020 Olympics – which kicks off on July 23 after a year’s delay – was supposed to demonstrate Japan’s resilience and ability to... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3140930/tokyo-olympics-how-much-will-lack-tourists-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3140930/tokyo-olympics-how-much-will-lack-tourists-and?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 Jul 2021 00:45:04 +0000 There are a lot of islands in Asia. So many, in fact, that some might say singling one out for any specific accolade is not only challenging but futile too. Still, that doesn’t stop us in the media from trying to match superlatives to destinations, with one of the latest being “Asia’s coolest island”, as decided by online news platform the Asia Times. And the winner is not one of the usual suspects – or Lamma, in Hong Kong. Forget the Philippines’ Cebu and Visayas (Condé Nast Traveler’s “best... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3140032/asias-coolest-island-jeju-apparently-or-it-just?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3140032/asias-coolest-island-jeju-apparently-or-it-just?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Jul 2021 00:45:07 +0000 On June 24, a glimmer of hope flickered from Taiwan, when Reuters reported that the self-ruled island was “in talks with international bodies about Covid-19 vaccine passports”. According to the news agency, the director general of the Taiwan Centres for Disease Control, Chou Jih-haw, told reporters that discussions “with governments and international organisations about vaccine passports have already started”, although no further details were provided. However, the very next day, another Reuters... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3139189/when-will-taiwan-open-travel-again-shortage-covid-19?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3139189/when-will-taiwan-open-travel-again-shortage-covid-19?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 30 Jun 2021 00:45:05 +0000 To say that relations between China and Australia are strained is some­thing of an understatement. Wine, the Great Barrier Reef, lobsters, 5G technology and the origins of Covid-19 have all been caught in the crosshairs by the duelling nations, and analysts predict things will remain “complicated” for the foreseeable future. “I see no prospects on the horizon for this relationship to get back on track,” said James Laurenceson, director of the Australia-China Relations Institute (ACRI) at the... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3138352/australia-china-relations-are-worsening-so-why-do?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3138352/australia-china-relations-are-worsening-so-why-do?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 23 Jun 2021 00:45:00 +0000 In Malayalam, the official language of the southwestern Indian state of Kerala, as well as in Sanskrit, the word lakshadweep means “hundred thousand islands”. In fact, there are but 36 in the remote Indian archipelago of that name, which spreads across 32 sq km of the Arabian Sea, about 300km off Kerala’s coast. Ten of those islands are inhabited by a total population of about 65,000, and none is wider than 1.6km. All of them, though, are under threat from tourism, at least as far as islanders... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3137382/save-lakshadweep-indian-island-dwellers-protest?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3137382/save-lakshadweep-indian-island-dwellers-protest?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 16 Jun 2021 00:45:00 +0000 After 15 long months, quarantine-free holidays in Phuket are on the horizon, courtesy of the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s (TAT) pilot Phuket Sandbox plan, which will see the resort island open to vaccinated foreign travellers on July 1. But before you book your stay in the sun (or rain – it is monsoon season, after all), consider these dos and don’ts. Do ensure that you have been fully inoculated against Covid-19 at least two weeks before your departure date with one of the vaccines approved... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3136514/phuket-sandbox-dos-and-donts-no-quarantine-reopening?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3136514/phuket-sandbox-dos-and-donts-no-quarantine-reopening?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 09 Jun 2021 00:45:00 +0000 Think of Bali and a motorcycle grand prix probably isn’t the first thing that springs to mind. But a circuit for such races is under construction in Mandalika, a coastal resort area on the neighbouring island of Lombok, one of 10 “new Balis” designated by Indonesian President Joko Widodo.  Designed to replicate the international appeal and associated financial success – at least before Covid-19 exposed the weaknesses of a visitor-dependent economy – of Indonesia’s biggest tourism brand, the... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3135663/welcome-indonesias-new-bali-site-alleged-human?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3135663/welcome-indonesias-new-bali-site-alleged-human?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 02 Jun 2021 00:45:18 +0000 What do Hong Kong, Thailand and Russia have in common besides political dissent that has recently manifested in protest movements? Answer: mainland China was the largest source for tourism arrivals for each of them in 2019. The three destinations are far from being alone in having recorded considerable numbers of Chinese tourists crossing their borders before the coronavirus all but closed them, though, and they are not the only ones wondering when – perhaps even whether – travellers from the... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3134775/when-will-chinese-tourists-deem-international-travel?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3134775/when-will-chinese-tourists-deem-international-travel?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 26 May 2021 00:45:06 +0000 In pre-pandemic times, many seeking to escape reality would look no further than Bali. The Indonesian island promised something for everyone, from spirituality styled for the Instagram era to waves befitting surf champions and luxury bolt-holes where the rich, famous and otherwise fortunate would go to recharge. It even offered such wonders as Pirate Booty Yoga Adventures, wherein yogis could stretch their sea legs aboard a wooden phinisi sailing ship and align their chakras while dressed like... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3133958/no-sex-yoga-please-were-balinese-reaction-should?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3133958/no-sex-yoga-please-were-balinese-reaction-should?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 19 May 2021 00:45:10 +0000 If you are finding the pandemic punishing, spare a thought for museums and cultural institutions. At least, that was the urging, or “unanimous opinion”, of four gallerists who took part in a talk at Gallery Weekend Beijing, according to online publication Jing Culture & Commerce.  Although that art event, which ran from April 23 to May 2, was able to welcome visitors in person to seven spaces in the capital, it also went online. Amber Wang Yifei, the director of Gallery Weekend Beijing, told art... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3133064/chinese-tourists-look-forward-visiting-europes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3133064/chinese-tourists-look-forward-visiting-europes?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 12 May 2021 00:45:13 +0000 Travel teaches us a lot. Visiting a destination gives us insight into its people, culture, cuisine and history. The latter was apparently high on the agenda of mainland Chinese tourists, whose Labour Day holiday itineraries were led by visits to sites central to the founding of the Communist Party, ahead of its upcoming centenary on July 1. Before the extended public holiday, which ran from May 1 to 5, online travel agent Trip.com predicted that as many as 200 million domestic trips would be... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3132256/red-tourism-china-ahead-communist-party-centenary?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3132256/red-tourism-china-ahead-communist-party-centenary?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 05 May 2021 00:45:09 +0000 “Mr Clark Gable, well-known motion picture star […] will arrive in Hongkong on Monday,” reported the South China Morning Post on November 13, 1954. “[He] will stay for more than a month, shooting a 20th Century Fox CinemaScope picture called ‘Soldier of Fortune’ which is set in Hongkong,” the story continued. At a press conference after arriving in the colony, Gable, “the great screen lover”, was asked “many questions about his personal love life by local reporters”, according to a November 16... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3131550/when-clark-gable-came-hong-kong-film-soldier?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3131550/when-clark-gable-came-hong-kong-film-soldier?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 04 May 2021 02:45:12 +0000 In 2018, overtourism was an Asia-wide affliction, with destinations from Boracay, in the Philippines, to Thailand’s Maya Bay engaging in damage control after too many visitors had descended. Heck, the term even made it onto the Oxford English Dictionary’s “word of the year” shortlist. The South Korean island of Jeju also suffered from “too many tourists” that year, according to The Korea Times. Speaking to the English-language daily in 2018, Jeju resident Kang Won-bo lamented: “Jeju residents... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3131281/south-koreas-jeju-island-damned-if-tourists-do-come?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3131281/south-koreas-jeju-island-damned-if-tourists-do-come?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 28 Apr 2021 00:45:14 +0000 “Twelve bystanders and five policemen were injured yesterday in what is believed to be the most violent gunbattle between police and criminals in Hongkong’s history,” reported the South China Morning Post on April 25, 1992. “The rampage began when a police raid on a flat in Tai Kok Tsui went badly wrong,” the story continued. “Police were expecting to find car thieves in the flat but instead stumbled on armed men believed to have been involved in [a] $700,000 robbery at a Chow Sang Sang... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3130651/how-failed-police-raid-triggered-most-violent?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3130651/how-failed-police-raid-triggered-most-violent?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 23 Apr 2021 02:15:17 +0000 “The 21st century will be the millennium which resurrects for humans a dilemma which has been dormant for 10,000 years – humans will be able to ask themselves: ‘Am I a Nomad or a Settler?’” wrote tech pioneer Tsugio Makimoto and author David Manners in their 1997 book, Digital Nomad, which presented theories on how technology would change our working lives and introduced us to the now ubiquitous term used as the title. In the decades since, digital nomads – loosely defined as... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3130296/will-thailand-beat-indonesia-offer-asias-first?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3130296/will-thailand-beat-indonesia-offer-asias-first?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 Apr 2021 00:45:06 +0000 Ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev visited Hong Kong in 1989 for three performances as part of his farewell tour. It also marked his first appearance in the city, a fact he was well aware of, asking, “Why did you wait 28 years to invite me here?” when he arrived on April 23 of that year, according to a South China Morning Post report. Nureyev, who defected from the Soviet Union in 1961 while on tour with the Kirov Ballet in Paris, France, took to the stage at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3129628/rudolf-nureyevs-first-and-last-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3129628/rudolf-nureyevs-first-and-last-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Apr 2021 06:15:18 +0000 It is no secret that Aussies love Bali. But because of the coronavirus, Australians – along with everyone else – have been denied access to their favourite island since March 2020, when Indonesia’s borders closed to foreign arrivals and Australia pulled down its own shutters. So when an event popped up in Mandurah, Western Australia, “dedicated to bringing Bali and its culture, food, entertainment, shopping and leisure lifestyle to Australia”, there was bound to be some interest. Planned for... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3129367/bali-fest-australia-promised-bring-indonesian-island?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3129367/bali-fest-australia-promised-bring-indonesian-island?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 Apr 2021 00:45:07 +0000 “HK salutes the Queen,” ran a South China Morning Post headline on January 24, 1977. “Hongkong is planning a series of events to mark the 25th year of the reign of the Queen,” the story continued. Celebrations began on February 7 at HMS Tamar, where “a naval gun party make Hongkong’s salute to the Queen at noon”, the Post reported the following day. Next on the agenda was to be the “Biggest and best parade ever”, scheduled for April 21, the queen’s birthday. A Post article from March 15... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3128757/when-hong-kong-put-parade-fit-queen-complete?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3128757/when-hong-kong-put-parade-fit-queen-complete?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 13 Apr 2021 00:45:06 +0000 The oldest Chinatown in the world is in Binondo, Manila, in the Philippines. It was established in 1594 by the Spanish colonial government as a settlement for Chinese immigrants who had converted to Catholicism and intermarried with Filipinos. At the other end of the continuum is a Chinatown currently under construction in South Korea’s Gangwon province and expected to be completed in 2022. According to an article published by AirAsia, “Binondo was said to have been intentionally situated to put... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3128486/chinatown-south-korea-supposed-attract-tourists?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3128486/chinatown-south-korea-supposed-attract-tourists?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Apr 2021 00:45:05 +0000 On September 8, 1957, the South China Morning Post posed a simple question: “Bridge or subway?” The topic at issue was how to connect the new Star Ferry pier with Connaught Road Central “to speed the flow of passengers and to eliminate as far as possible their personal inconvenience” and to ensure that “east-west vehicular traffic” is not “unduly impeded”. On August 15, 1958, the government announced its decision to build a subway. “The subway will be a continuation of the existing covered way... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3128317/connaught-road-central-subway-was-built-ease?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3128317/connaught-road-central-subway-was-built-ease?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 06 Apr 2021 00:45:11 +0000 Before the pandemic, China was not only the world’s largest exporter of tourists, but also one of its most visited countries, welcoming 65.7 million international arrivals in 2019, behind only France (89.4 million), Spain (83.6 million) and the United States (79.3 million), according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization. Needless to say, times have changed, and with overseas visits to the Middle Kingdom out of the question and Western politicians and media focusing their attention on... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3127638/xinjiang-tourism-explodes-domestic-travellers-flock?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3127638/xinjiang-tourism-explodes-domestic-travellers-flock?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 31 Mar 2021 00:45:08 +0000 “Bomb blast stuns Central,” ran a South China Morning Post headline on April 1, 1981. The explosion “ripped through the 16th floor of the 17-storey building shortly after a hand-delivered note demanding $500,000 was reportedly received” at the Shell oil company’s headquarters, injuring 22-year-old “office messenger” Chan Kwok-wai. “A tooth, his tie, broken spectacles and a fountain pen” were found near the spot where Chan was flung by the blast. The explosion followed a 14-month spate of... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3127039/when-bomb-laying-blackmailer-shook-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3127039/when-bomb-laying-blackmailer-shook-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 30 Mar 2021 02:15:10 +0000 Among the benefits of receiving a Covid-19 vaccination – beyond protecting yourself and perhaps others from the disease, of course – is that it’s probably one small step towards the resumption of international travel. For former frequent fliers itching to take to the air once again or anyone who hasn’t seen their family for many months, the prospect of a “vaccine passport”, documentation proving that you have been vaccinated against Covid-19, is especially alluring. For the travel industry, the... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3126659/vaccine-passports-enormous-can-worms-will-widen?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3126659/vaccine-passports-enormous-can-worms-will-widen?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 24 Mar 2021 00:45:12 +0000 “355 caught in hijack drama,” ran a South China Morning Post headline on March 23, 1984. “A lone Hongkong hijacker forced a Peking-bound British Airways jumbo to change course and land in Taiwan yesterday,” the story continued. Dennis Leung Wai-keung, 28, boarded the flight at Kai Tak airport, where it picked up 221 passengers. “Leung, travelling economy, was immediately given a first-class seat in the upper deck after he handed a note to a stewardess saying that he wanted the plane to divert... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3125963/when-hongkonger-hijacked-beijing-bound-flight?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3125963/when-hongkonger-hijacked-beijing-bound-flight?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 23 Mar 2021 02:15:05 +0000 Donald Trump – the brand, the man, the myth – has been trend­ing down recently. First, the then United States president lost his bid for re-election, next his Twitter account was permanently suspended to prevent “the risk of further incitement of violence” after his supporters stormed the US Capitol, and now the man’s name “has been scrubbed” from promotional materials for what was to become his organisation’s first Asian resort project, according to financial newspaper Nikkei Asia. Sad. “Plans... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3125671/has-trump-been-dumped-indonesia-dream-projects-brand?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3125671/has-trump-been-dumped-indonesia-dream-projects-brand?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 17 Mar 2021 00:45:18 +0000 “Steve McQueen Flies In,” ran a South China Morning Post headline on March 23, 1966. The “versatile actor” had arrived the previous day “with a whole film company to carry out location shooting here for the 20th Century Fox film Sand Pebbles”. The crew arrived from Taiwan, where they had spent several weeks shooting. At a press conference on March 23, McQueen admitted that he found Taiwan “very trying” because “the people there took advantage of them in financial matters”. The film’s... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3125144/when-terribly-moody-steve-mcqueen-came-hong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3125144/when-terribly-moody-steve-mcqueen-came-hong?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 15 Mar 2021 00:45:16 +0000