South China Morning Post - Travel & Leisure

A yogi’s quarantine workout: yoga poses, body weight exercises for strength, movement ...

Fri, 26 Feb 2021 18:30:16 GMT

On my return to Hong Kong in late January from the UK, I went into a three-week quarantine in a hotel. As a mature yoga teacher with a long-standing practice, I would fold myself in and out of yoga poses, known as asanas, and time would pass easily in a Zen-like state.That was not the actual plan, though.As a sexagenarian – someone in his 60s, not someone who likes sex – I’m feeling in good physical shape. I have been active in sports all my life and took up yoga in 1999, so my flexibility,…

‘Lucky’ coins that visitors throw into Chinese spring risk polluting the water, staff warn

Thu, 25 Feb 2021 23:15:20 GMT

More than 60,000 yuan (US$9,300) in coins has been scooped out of one of China’s most renowned natural springs over the past three years.The coins are tossed into the water by the millions of tourists who visit the Baotu Spring Park in the city of Jinan, in China’s eastern Shandong province, each year.The coin tossers believe their act will bring them good luck, love, and whatever else their hearts desire. The result is a scene reminiscent of that which confronts visitors to Rome’s 300-year-old…

Thailand travel without quarantine could be possible soon for vaccinated tourists as country ...

Thu, 25 Feb 2021 09:45:12 GMT

Thai authorities are preparing a plan to ease restrictions for travellers vaccinated against the coronavirus, senior officials said on Wednesday, as the country looks to revive a tourism industry battered by travel curbs.Measures for vaccinated visitors would be introduced step-by-step and could include shortening the mandatory quarantine for all arrivals from two weeks to three days for those vaccinated, or waiving it entirely, Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) governor Yuthasak Supasorn…

Thailand golf quarantine: the country welcomes South Korean visitors in pilot scheme to eke out ...

Wed, 24 Feb 2021 07:15:06 GMT

Thailand has welcomed golfers from South Korea for the country’s new golf quarantine programme in a bid to boost tourism revenue hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.About 40 South Koreans are undergoing quarantine at Artitaya Country Club, an hour north of Bangkok, where they were tested on arrival last week, Tourism Authority of Thailand deputy governor, Thapanee Kiatphaibool, said.Thailand has been successful in controlling coronavirus cases, but strict border controls have decimated its…

Can Indian tourists fill the void left by their Chinese counterparts?

Wed, 24 Feb 2021 00:45:09 GMT

Last year offered Asian travel destinations a glimpse of what life would be like without Chinese tourists. For many, it was economically bleak. Of course, visitors from China weren’t the only ones staying away, as a great proportion of the global population “sheltered in place” to try and stem the spread of the coronavirus, but by virtue of their colossal pre-pandemic numbers – 169 million outbound trips were made from the mainland in 2019, according to the National Bureau of Statistics – their…

Woman’s ride-hailing death in China sparks fresh anger over lack of safety and security

Tue, 23 Feb 2021 23:20:13 GMT

Chinese police are investigating the death of a 23-year-old woman who is alleged to have leapt out of the window of a van she had hired through online platform Huolala, which is known as Lalamove in other Asian markets. The incident has rekindled public anger in China over the lack of driver security checks and passenger safety for those using vehicle-hailing apps. Two women were murdered by drivers for another ride-hailing platform, Didi Chuxing, in the space of three months in 2018. In a…

Shanghai Disneyland show cancelled, police called after audience member attacks actor. ...

Tue, 23 Feb 2021 05:50:18 GMT

A Shanghai Disneyland show was cancelled and police were called after an audience member assaulted an actor in the middle of a performance. The 35-year-old woman, surnamed Guan, walked onto the stage during a Pirates of the Caribbean show and began beating an actor across the head. “You consider yourself Chinese? Look at him! Try taking off your trousers and waving a whip in front of everyone next time and see what happens,” she yelled, going on to call the actor an “American’s pig”. Her…

Something different to do in Taiwan: farm stay gives glimpse of tribal life, from planting ...

Mon, 22 Feb 2021 23:45:12 GMT

The crew of seven crouching over to plant red quinoa for half a Sunday in February aren’t villagers. They aren’t hired hands. They won’t make money from the crop four months from now, when it ripens into red metre-high stalks known worldwide for their nutrition. These labourers have paid to plant hundreds of quinoa seedlings and in the process help nearby Xianglan Village. Most of the 150 people in this village on the tropical, palm-studded Pacific coast of Taiwan are indigenous, a tiny ethnic…

Spa hotel converted from cave homes like those Mao Zedong hatched a revolution in

Mon, 22 Feb 2021 11:15:09 GMT

Incorporating converted cave dwellings, or yaodong, the hotel taking shape on a verdant hill overlooking Sanmenxia in northern China is far removed from the rest of Chali village.When completed – by October, according to the schedule – the Chali Village Inn will include hot springs, a restaurant, a coffee shop, a bar (built into a cave home) and other amenities. The conversion will have cost around 50 million yuan (US$7.7 million), raised from investors found by the local government…

Escape from Hong Kong: what three wanderers miss about the city, and like about their new homes

Sun, 21 Feb 2021 02:15:18 GMT

Disturbed by upheavals in the city in recent years, some young Hongkongers have surrendered to the lure of wanderlust, heading off to pastures new. Here, three “escapees” talk about their experiences.Fiona Leung, Rotterdam: “The pros outweigh the cons”Fiona Leung (not her real name; once politically active, she asks for anonymity) ended up in Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, by chance. When she and her partner got itchy feet in 2019, they thought that Vietnam – more or less next door to Hong Kong…

Angkor Wat as it was, Gardens by the Bay for children, Bagan temples by bike – virtual tours ...

Sat, 20 Feb 2021 10:15:17 GMT

Actual travel may still be some way off, even with Covid-19 vaccination programmes being rolled out in many countries, but tourism players in Southeast Asia are whetting appetites with virtual tours. From a visit to Cambodia’s Angkor Wat and an exploration of Myanmar’s Bagan temples by bike to the discovery of Indonesia above and below water, online tours are feeding the travel bug by enabling viewers to experience the region’s delights from their armchair. Here are some of the best:Bike…

In South Africa, rescued pangolins are being reintroduced to the wild, even without the ...

Fri, 19 Feb 2021 21:15:15 GMT

Early accounts of the likely origin of Covid-19 implicated a little-known creature called the pangolin, although that animal certainly had no interest in its own capture, killing or consumption.The scientific jury is still out on this question, but it’s surprising that wanted posters have not been pasted up worldwide featuring the agreeable animal’s long-snouted features.Few people know what the supposedly criminal pangolin, of which there are eight species – four found in Asia (including…

Thousands of ancient tombs uncovered on construction sites in Xian, home of the terracotta army

Fri, 19 Feb 2021 14:15:11 GMT

Thousands of archaeologically significant finds have been discovered at two construction sites in Xian, one of China’s oldest cities and home to the terracotta army, forcing archeologists to skip holidays and work overtime.More than 1,000 archaeologists and assistants have been working nonstop to dig up cultural relics in Xian over the Lunar New Year holiday to avoid delaying the construction projects. Xian, the capital of Shaanxi province in northwestern China, is where the world-famous…

A trek through Hong Kong’s Bronze Age history, visiting its ancient rock carvings

Thu, 18 Feb 2021 23:15:12 GMT

In 2020, I visited all nine Bronze Age rock carvings in Hong Kong. Besides working from home, like many in the city during the coronavirus pandemic, I spent most of last year hiking and exploring the far reaches of its territory. I thought I knew Hong Kong fairly well after 20 years, but 2020 made me realise that I was wrong. It gave me the opportunity to make up for lost time. I roamed the rocky shores of Tung Ping Chau in the east, the Po Toi Islands in the south, had a staycation in Tai O on…

Indonesia’s Trash Hero leads Bali’s fight against plastic pollution, educating children and ...

Wed, 17 Feb 2021 10:15:15 GMT

The photos prompted an outpouring of horror around the world: tons of plastic waste piled high on the beaches of Indonesia’s otherwise paradise island of Bali. It may seem paradoxical given that tourists have all but disappeared in the pandemic, but they are not the primary source of the problem.This tide of litter arrives on Bali’s beaches every year, the result of monsoon-influenced ocean currents, growing pollution of the oceans, mass consumption and a broken global waste disposal system…

The Tourism Authority of Thailand unveils a ‘SEXY tourism concept’ – just don’t ...

Wed, 17 Feb 2021 00:45:11 GMT

Despite a distinct lack of international arrivals, tourism bodies are working overtime to ensure that when visitors from overseas can return, they will. Latest among them is the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), which has adopted an irreverent acronym to tempt travellers back – SEXY. Like many acronyms, SEXY is tenuous. “To be rolled out during 2021-2022, the ‘SEXY’ tourism concept is in response to the changes in travel behaviour and TAT’s goal to restore Thailand’s tourism: S – Safety and…

Justin Bieber went to Iceland, Taylor Swift to Paris: music video locations around the world

Tue, 16 Feb 2021 12:15:07 GMT

Pop videos were around long before August 1, 1981, but, with the launch of 24-hour music channel MTV, it was clear that visuals were about to become as important as songs. And when it came to eye-catching images, performers were (and still are, Covid-19 permitting) more than happy to pile onto a plane and head off somewhere exotic to film a mini movie.Here are a few of the most notable music videos filmed around the globe.In the early 1980s, Duran Duran were synonymous with stylish, cinematic…

Young Singapore chefs give its street food culture a shot in the arm

Tue, 16 Feb 2021 04:15:13 GMT

After the pandemic torpedoed his chance to work at a Michelin-starred New York restaurant, Lim Wei Keat returned to his roots by becoming a Singapore street-food chef cooking local fare.The 25-year-old is among a growing number of young street-food vendors – or hawkers – fuelling hopes that a new generation will preserve the city state’s culinary traditions.Singapore is full of open-air food courts offering a wide variety of cuisines influenced by its ethnic Chinese, Indian and Muslim…

He can’t fulfil his travel wish list but his black T-shirt can: furloughed Indian ropes in ...

Mon, 15 Feb 2021 04:15:04 GMT

The camera pans across Tokyo, from the old quarter of Asakusa, and the Sensoji Temple, to the glittering skyscrapers of the business district. Masked locals go about their lives as the Japanese capital adjusts to the pandemic. A voice-over explains that, with Japan’s Summer Olympics having been postponed, 2020 has been a difficult year for everyone, but one has to face the situation with hope – or, in the case of Nonaka Takashi, the video’s narrator, Hope; a black T-shirt that was sent to him…

‘World’s friendliest city’ Chiang Mai suffering with Covid-19 crippling tourism industry, ...

Sun, 14 Feb 2021 08:45:06 GMT

By one measure, Chiang Mai, Thailand’s northern capital, has not suffered badly from the Covid-19 pandemic, with only a handful of cases and a single death in the province. Yet on the economic level, the lack of international visitors has crippled tourist-related businesses such as restaurants, hotels, bars, elephant camps and massage teachers. “It’s a disaster,” says Ratana Jaikusol, owner of Ratana’s Kitchen, on Tha Pae Road, Chiang Mai’s main street. “[At this time of year] these tables are…