The best of China: 14 places you won’t want to miss

Gion, Japan's popular geisha district in Kyoto, will be barring tourists from entering certain alleys, the news agency AFP reported on Friday.

Before the fire, Lytton, British Columbia, was the kind of tiny town visitors alighted upon mid-road trip, pulling off the Trans-Canada Highway to get a drink, or take in views of the Fraser and Thompson Rivers, running slate gray and deep blue more than 200 feet below. A mile up the road, also known as Highway 1, Kumsheen Rafting Resort drew 8,000 visitors annually to take half-day trips on raging rapids. Backpackers heading out on the Stein Valley Traverse stopped at the grocery store — known to locals as Ken Mart, after its owner, Ken Wong — to pick up rope, ramen and fuel before they hit the trail.

American photographer Keisha Scarville is the winner of the Saltzman Prize, a new award for the best Emerging Photographer in the world. This annual prize is a $10,000 award and additional funds to support a solo exhibition of the winning photographer’s work at Photofairs New York each September. The Saltzman Prize is presented in cooperation with the Center for Photography Woodstock (CPW) and Photofairs New York. The winner will also be honored on 20 April 2024 at the CPW Vision Awards.

The joy of train travel is often about the journey – unless you're at these revamped rail stations, where the destination is the prize. 

MADEIRA IS, FOR THE 10TH TIME, THE BEST ISLAND DESTINATION IN EUROPE. PORTO SANTO IS THE BEST BEACH DESTINATION AND THE MADEIRA PROMOTION ASSOCIATION THE BEST TOURISM ENTITY. Funchal will host two international World Travel Awards galas in November this year.

I typically start to think about spring cocktails in the depths of winter. And let me tell you: It’s a wonderful little project to be working on. There’s no better way to spend the bleak, dark months of January than taking some time in the kitchen to tinker with bright and buoyant cocktail recipes that remind you of warmer times ahead: longer days, spring produce, flowers, and all that fun stuff. It’s certainly a lot more fun than participating in Dry January—or as I like to call it, thirty-one days of misery.

In-flight drinking and dining are in the midst of a massive rebirth following the pause in food and beverage services during the pandemic. From Air France linking up with renowned chefs to curate its premium meals, to Delta’s new food and wine options across its cabin categories, and Hawaiian Airlines’ island-inspired in-flight meals, carriers are finding new and innovative ways to tantalize our taste buds, which isn’t always easy to do at altitude.

Τhe renovation and conversion pipeline globally is the highest it has ever been, reaching 3,291 projects/510,584 rooms at the end of Q4 2023.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Jaclyn Sienna India, the founder of the luxury travel concierge Sienna Charles . The following has been edited for length and clarity.

A distinct sense of place is one of the factors that separates a good hotel from a great one.

Self-styled as ‘Asia’s world city’, Hong Kong has seen its fair share of upheaval over the decades, but much of its current prosperity is built on its historic standing as a trading outpost. You sense that when you fly over the freighters that crisscross its waters, and see the skyscrapers that pierce its chockablock centre. A one-time British colony that sits in the South China Sea, it has always been a place where tastes and cultures collide. In this easily navigated destination, travellers typically stay in Kowloon, with its Victoria Harbour views, and on Hong Kong Island, which has exceptional places to eat and the landmark Victoria Peak.  

Cobblestone streets, citadels and canons perched atop fortress walls are unexpected sights in North America – but you can find all of that and more in Québec City.