They say that on a sunny day, you can see 1,000 malls from the top of the Petronas Towers. While all too simple to dismiss that bit of fiction, it only represents a wee embellishment of the truth. Simply put, Kuala Lumpur is a shopper’s paradise. The federal capital of Malaysia is the kind of … More

To call China a nation of contrasts is the banal understatement of the century. This is a country, after all, where supertall skyscrapers blot the sun and cast shadows over pig and rice paddy farmers. Or maybe it just seems that way. With exceptional economic expansion comes curious contrasts. Any visitor to Shanghai, Beijing or … More

Shop ’til you drop. Not necessarily the first phrase that comes to mind with regard to Beijing. The capital of the People’s Republic of China has a lot going on, most visibly as the political and cultural nexus of a country that is home to 18.5% of humanity. We know Beijing is a vital global … More

A lazy sun on the horizon. Satiny golden sand. Limpid emerald water. Cold drinks and parasols. Barefeet. Ah, the good life. Even the most antsy, bookish city habitué needs the tonic of a brilliant beach now and then. Tropical escapes thrive in Asia and evince the kind of magnetic multiplicity the continent is singular for. … More

A Tale of Two Cities, the Taiwanese version, usually has Taipei in the mix. And why not. The linchpin capital of the Republic of China is impossible to ignore, what with a high-octane economy and over 7 million people. But as dynamic as Taipei is, from the spire of Taipei 101 to the noodle and … More

For a time, it was the “Paris of the East”. One of many, in fact, since a host of capitals, from Beirut, Lebanon to Hanoi, Vietnam, have held the cachet sobriquet over the last century. The original motive was to flatter Shanghai, of course, but comparisons to Paris, or New York for that matter, feel … More