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Asia travel
Survival guides, insider secrets, top things to do, eco-tours, independent hotel reviews, family-friendly itineraries: fire your imagination with the South China Morning Post’s travel guides and must-see lists for holiday destinations across China and the rest of Asia.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM
The Tower of Heavenly Success with the Tan River in the background, in Majianglong, Taishan. Photo: Graeme Kennedy

The Chinese city where waffles, watchtowers and world history meet

Guangdong’s ‘hometown of overseas Chinese’ is where architecture and cuisine created by returning émigrés reveal how culture flows both ways.

Reading Time:8 minutes
Living area of the flat in Tsim Sha Tsui designed by GAAN. Photo: Eugene Chan

This Hong Kong home sleeps six – and still feels serene

Reading Time:3 minutes
Chinese writer Hu Anyan pictured in People’s Park, Chengdu, China. Photo: Eric Mast

He thought his life was a failure. Then he wrote it down.

Reading Time:5 minutes
Plaques that form part of the Benin Bronzes, which were taken from Africa by British troops in 1897, on display at The British Museum in London. Photo: Getty Images

Should museums return antiquities to their countries of origin? Some say no

Reading Time:11 minutes
A girl spins a “wheel of fortune” outside the Che Kung Temple, in Sha Tin, on the third day of the Lunar New Year in 1986. Photo: SCMP Archives

In pictures: Hong Kong’s Lunar New Year obsession with good fortune

Reading Time:1 minute
Kinmedai with lemon leaf and zucchini at Ébauche. Photo: Ébauche

Hong Kong’s hottest openings, from Ébauche to the Hilton’s new Motto hotel

Reading Time:2 minutes
MORE IN POSTMAG
Content from SCMP's Specialist Publications
Customers shop at a duty-free store in China’s southern Hainan province. Chinese travellers spend more at airports than any other passengers in Asia, according to a new study. Photo: Getty Images
China travel

Chinese shoppers are Asia’s biggest airport spenders, study finds

China’s travellers outspend even their Indian and Saudi peers, splashing twice the regional average on luxury goods, airport retail study says.

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Japan

Tokyo Skytree tower closed after 20 trapped in lift for 5 hours

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Chinese tourists

Video | Chinese tour bus plunges into Russian ice lake, killing 8 people

Thailand

Thailand ‘buzzing’ with travel boom as Chinese tourists back in droves

The country’s heavy investment in wooing Chinese visitors appears to have paid off as it overcomes safety fears to secure holiday growth.

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A tourist interacts with a lion dance performer in Bangkok’s Chinatown, Thailand, on Monday. Photo: EPA
Tourism

The Shiba Inu story: where does the popular Japanese hunting dog come from?

One woman’s research has sparked interest in the heritage of Shiba Inus and local revitalisation in the city where the first one lived.

China trade

As high-speed railways saturate China, how far can their global reach extend?

As Chinese giants eye Eurasia for new infrastructure, analysts speculate on what it will take to keep overseas projects from going off the rails in different host nations.

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Nepal

Unearthed temple in Nepal sheds new light on Buddha’s early life

Archaeologists hope the newly discovered ruins at Siddhartha Gautam’s childhood palace will help secure Unesco World Heritage status.

Archaeologists at work in Tilaurakot, Lumbini, Nepal. Photo: Department of Archaeology, Nepal
Chinese overseas

The Chinese city where waffles, watchtowers and world history meet

Guangdong’s ‘hometown of overseas Chinese’ is where architecture and cuisine created by returning émigrés reveal how culture flows both ways.

Malaysia

Chinese tourists escaping cold flock to Malaysia for Lunar New Year fun

‘Malaysians still follow many of the traditions that we have stopped observing,’ a visitor in Penang says.

Food and Drinks

At Bangkok’s Aqua Bar, White Lotus luxury meets duck-inspired cocktails

For its 20th anniversary, the Aqua Bar at the Anantara Siam Bangkok Hotel in Bangkok has crafted cocktails that are a throwback to its past.

Dewdrop Whisper at the Aqua Bar is made of gin, elderflower liqueur and fresh lime juice. The drink is part of the new cocktail menu created to celebrate the Bangkok bar’s 20th anniversary. Photo: Anantara Siam Bangkok Hotel
Japan

Chinese tourist arrivals to Japan plunge 41% in January amid simmering tensions

Impact ripples through Japan’s retail sector, with falling duty-free sales at top department stores highlighting the pain for the industry.

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Chinese tourists in kimonos seen at the Sensoji Temple in the Asakusa district of Tokyo on November 15, 2025. Photo: AFP
Tourism

Chinese tourists flock to Korea for beauty treatments ahead of Lunar New Year

Korean dermatology clinics have seen a surge in Chinese customers of late and are courting them via Chinese social media.

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Lunar New Year

Video | Chinese tourists have a new favourite country this Lunar New Year

Arrivals by Chinese tourists to South Korea are expected to rise by 52% in February 2026.

Indonesia

Sumba – where horses, black magic and beaches shape island life

Sleepy Sumba provides an ideal quiet break during the Year of the Horse. Just don’t mention Bali.

Action from a charity horse race in Sumba, Indonesia. Photo: Charukesi Ramadurai
Hong Kong transport

Star Cruises ‘fully prepared’ for next sailing after anger over axed trip

Cruise operator apologised for cancelling three-day, two-night voyage to Xiamen on Friday evening.

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Hundreds of passengers queue at Ocean Terminal waiting to board the ship. Photo: Facebook/Longman Lo
Thailand

Thailand plays down ‘too expensive’ concerns from South Korean visitors

The perceived squeeze on the wallet is a result of exchange rate volatility rather than the kingdom’s inflation, tourism officials say.

Vietnam

Why tourists are choosing Vietnam, over Thailand and Cambodia in 2026

At a time when other popular parts of Asia are struggling with dwindling tourist numbers, how is Vietnam ⁠hitting record numbers of visitors?

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Indonesia

How a major Bali bust is putting Indonesia’s tourist visa in the spotlight

The case also underscores Indonesia’s struggle against online gambling, which continues to flourish despite repeated crackdowns.

Tourists walk through a shopping area in Kuta, Bali, Indonesia. Photo: EPA
Malaysia

‘Do you know who I am?’: minister slams rude staff hindering Malaysia tourism

Tourism minister says Visit Malaysia 2026 success hinges on attitude, highlighting complaints of rudeness from tourists and locals alike.

South Korea

South Koreans swap ancestral rites for Japan getaways this Lunar New Year

Short holidays and a weak yen drive the ‘aeroplane instead of the ancestral table’ trend.

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Malaysia

‘Cheaper to buy from outside’: Malaysia pushes for airport pricing overhaul

Tourism Minister Tiong King Sing urges Malaysia Airports Holdings to review costs, promote local cuisine and enhance visitor experience.

Passengers at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia. Photo: EPA-EFE
South Korea

‘Smaller than a closet’: the tiny Seoul flats going viral on YouTube

YouTuber Drew Binsky tours Seoul’s US$250-a-month micro-flats, sparking conversation on urban housing and South Korea’s hidden pressures.

Drew Binsky inside a Seoul gosiwon on February 1, his outstretched arms nearly spanning the narrow room. Photo: YouTube/Drew Binsky
Tourism

Amazing detox at 5-star Desa Potato Head – from both wellness and Bali belly

Glorious beachfront dinners and sunrise meditations kicked off this reporter’s stay at Desa Potato Head before the dreaded Bali belly struck.

China travel

China’s cruise industry passes major milestone as Beijing eyes travel boom

As domestic liner handles 1 millionth passenger, Beijing says it aims to turn yachts and cruise ships into major new consumption drivers.

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Food and Drinks

Unsung Eats: 5 best places to eat – and drink – in Singapore

Discover the city’s hidden culinary gems ensconced in side-street speakeasies, revamped warehouses and intimate supper clubs.

Singapore’s restaurants and bars, like Barely Aged, offer a smorgasbord of gastronomical adventures. Photo: Handout
Lunar New Year

Video | Over 1.4 billion trips forecast for first week of Lunar New Year holidays

The official Lunar New Year holiday spans nine days this year, with the resulting travel rush projected to last until March 13, 2026.

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Tourism

Women-only travel tour to Vietnam sparks adventure and sisterhood

Amid growing demand for safe, small-group female travel, 17 women travelled with US-based AdventureWomen to explore Vietnam’s treasures.

Editor's Letter

This week in PostMag: Lunar New Year and the meaning of home

As the Fire Horse approaches, this issue looks at the emotional pull of tradition – from mahjong tables to ancestral villages.

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