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People visiting the “Gateway to Hell”, a crater of burning gas in the heart of Turkmenistan’s Karakum Desert. Photo: AFP
Tourism

It’s finally opening up but is the ‘world’s weirdest country’ worth the trip?

After decades of isolation, Turkmenistan is easing visa barriers and courting visitors to Ashgabat, the ruins of Nisa and the Darvaza crater.

Tourism

3 travel alternatives to Venice, Barcelona and Dubrovnik with fewer tourists

Tourism

Downtown LA goes from best avoided to accessible as Fifa World Cup fans descend

Food and Drinks

The Hong Kong chef who quit teaching to wow Paris diners with Cantonese food

After studying education, Luke Ng’s love of cooking took him to France, where he tells his story through creative dishes and Instagram videos.

Ng’s take on siu mai is wrapped in golden beetroot slices, topped with trout roe and served with a chicken jus infused with Shaoxing wine. Photo: Calambour
Ng’s take on siu mai is wrapped in golden beetroot slices, topped with trout roe and served with a chicken jus infused with Shaoxing wine. Photo: Calambour
Tourism

‘Really powerful’: how Yoko Ono’s Wish Trees are helping US city voice hopes

Wish Trees for Los Angeles invites people to jot down their hopes on paper tags and tie them to the trees, drawing as many as 800 a day.

SCMP Highlights

TCM for a new generation, Dragon Boat Festival picks: 7 Lifestyle highlights

From ancient Chinese healing in the social media age to sticky rice recommendations, here are seven stories from SCMP’s recent reporting.

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Tourism

Trouble in paella-dise: how not to eat the Spanish speciality in its home city

Paella is very important in Valencia, where the dish is communally consumed and the city’s World Paella Day attracts chefs the world over.

French chef Frederic Gallego holds his winning paella at the 2025 World Paella Day in Valencia. The Spanish city celebrates the rice dish in a big way, with its origins lying just a few kilometres south in the Albufera nature reserve. Photo: Santiago Vidal/Visit Valencia/dpa
French chef Frederic Gallego holds his winning paella at the 2025 World Paella Day in Valencia. The Spanish city celebrates the rice dish in a big way, with its origins lying just a few kilometres south in the Albufera nature reserve. Photo: Santiago Vidal/Visit Valencia/dpa
Tourism

How Marilyn Monroe owned her beauty and sexuality with pioneering boldness

Marilyn Monroe’s inspiring efforts to create and shape her public image are being celebrated at LA’s Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.

European travel

What’s under Notre-Dame? History unearthed from 1,700 years ago

Roman artefacts, medieval houses, old latrines – history is being uncovered as the front of Notre-Dame Cathedral gets a revamp.

Asia travel

Best things to do in Wuxi, China’s lakeside city of gardens and sweet cuisine

Nestled on China’s Lake Taihu, Wuxi, with its industrial heritage, serene gardens, temples and decadent cuisine, is great for a weekend trip.

Tourists stroll around a historical district in Wuxi. The city on the shores of Lake Taihu in China’s Jiangsu province is known for its canals, temples, peaceful gardens and decadent cuisine that reflects its wealthy industrial past. Photo: Shutterstock
SCMP Highlights

Tokyo Sézanne’s missing stars; beating arthritis at 68: 7 Lifestyle highlights

From a little-known haven on Hokkaido island to how optimism make you live longer, here are seven stories from SCMP’s recent reporting.

Sézanne at Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo at Marunouchi, Japan. The restaurant has been quietly stripped of its three Michelin stars. Photo: Sézanne
Sézanne at Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo at Marunouchi, Japan. The restaurant has been quietly stripped of its three Michelin stars. Photo: Sézanne
Tourism

‘It’s a Trojan horse’: how the Obama Presidential Centre is dividing Chicago

The presidential museum that opens on June 19 is a bold addition to Chicago’s iconic skyline, but not all local residents are impressed.

videocam
Asia travel

What to do in Furano, a little-known summer haven on Japan’s Hokkaido island

From beautiful lavender fields to amazing local produce, there’s plenty to see and eat in Furano during the summer holiday months.

SCMP Highlights

‘Dying’ Chinese takeaway; ex-smoker’s fitness journey: 7 Lifestyle highlights

From a ‘dying’ Edinburgh Chinese restaurant to an ex-smoker joining an ultra-marathon, here are seven stories from SCMP’s recent reporting.

Lisa He with her mother Sophie at their family restaurant, China Star. The Edinburgh takeaway is months away from closure, but He’s viral social media post has brought lots of attention, and hope. Photo: courtesy of Lisa He
Chinese culture

How China’s ‘Excalibur of the East’ souvenir swords sparked airport warning

Tourists with replicas of the ancient Sword of Goujian, from the Hubei Provincial Museum, were told not to hand-carry them onto planes.

Visitors take photos of the ancient Sword of Goujian at the Hubei Provincial Museum in Wuhan, in central China’s Hubei Province, on May 17, 2026. An airport notice at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport warning not to hand-carry replicas of the sword on board planes has gone viral on Chinese social media. Photo: Xinhua
Visitors take photos of the ancient Sword of Goujian at the Hubei Provincial Museum in Wuhan, in central China’s Hubei Province, on May 17, 2026. An airport notice at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport warning not to hand-carry replicas of the sword on board planes has gone viral on Chinese social media. Photo: Xinhua
Tourism

James McNeill Whistler’s Asian muse: Chinese ceramics and Japanese fans

Chinese pottery and textiles and Japanese crafts profoundly influenced James McNeill Whistler’s work, as seen in a retrospective at Tate Britain.

US travel

He got drunk and bought a motel. Stories behind Route 66 motel owners

We meet the owners of three motels who all found themselves running roadside establishments on America’s iconic Route 66.

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Art

This digital ‘puppet’ critiques a screen-obsessed world at Venice Biennale

Li Yi-fan, a video artist from Taiwan, is making waves with his creepy and funny avatars that question the way we see the world around us.

A scene from “Screen Melancholy” (2026), by Li Yi-fan, for the Taiwan collateral event at the 2026 Venice Biennale. Li's digital puppet critiques our screen-obsessed era. Photo: courtesy of the artist and Taipei Fine Arts Museum
A scene from “Screen Melancholy” (2026), by Li Yi-fan, for the Taiwan collateral event at the 2026 Venice Biennale. Li's digital puppet critiques our screen-obsessed era. Photo: courtesy of the artist and Taipei Fine Arts Museum
Tourism

Great holiday escapes to help you unwind and reset your nervous system

These seven destinations will help you calm your mind and body through nature, science, scenery and a slower pace of life.

United States

Is the US unsafe and unwelcoming? Trump’s tourism chief addresses ‘myths’

Donald Trump’s former pick for ambassador to Malaysia takes the helm of an ambitious US travel recovery effort.

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Tourism

Checklist tourism trends as travellers go for selfies over ‘real stories’

From Paris to Turkey, tourists blitzing through sites for social media snaps are causing crowding and concerns that they’re missing the point.

Tourists in Paris pose for a selfie with the Eiffel Tower in the background. From France to Aruba, more tourists are treating historical sites as merely boxes to tick off a list and reducing them to social media backdrops. Photo: AP
Art

How Asian artists at the 2026 Venice Biennale are making their voices heard

Using everything from baby dolls to tapestries, Asian artists’ perspectives are strongly reflected in a number of memorable exhibitions.

Japanese-American artist Ei Arakawa-Nash holds two of the 208 baby dolls that are part of their exhibition “Grass Babies, Moon Babies” at the 2026 Venice Biennale’s Japan Pavilion. Photo: Uli Holz
Japanese-American artist Ei Arakawa-Nash holds two of the 208 baby dolls that are part of their exhibition “Grass Babies, Moon Babies” at the 2026 Venice Biennale’s Japan Pavilion. Photo: Uli Holz
China travel

Saunas, sure. But sleep? A couple stays overnight at a 24-hour spa in Shenzhen

A writer and her husband visit Shenzhen’s Tenz spa to see what it offers besides massages and how easy it is to get a good night’s rest there.

Art

Once an Indonesian guerrilla fighter, she’s now a ‘quantum ghost’ in Venice

Len Karamoy, a leader of an Indonesian rebel movement, is the focus of Natasha Tontey’s video installation at the 2026 Venice Biennale.

Tourism

From Hong Kong to London, travellers have a plan B lined up for summer 2026

War in the Middle East and the rising cost of air travel and fuel have pushed many to plan shorter, more local and flexible holidays.

The Madrid Chamartin-Clara Campoamor train station in Spain. Some holidaymakers are opting for rail-based trips, because of rising fuel costs. Photo: Getty Images
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