Bangkok Chinatown, Thailand
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With its mom-and-pop noodle joints, incense-infused shrines, and tuk-tuks clattering through centuries-old alleyways, Chinatown has always been one of Bangkok's buzziest districts.
Da Nang, Vietnam
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In 2023, Vietnam Airlines reopened its popular Tokyo route, Taiwan’s China Airlines started direct flights from Taipei, and several Southeast Asian budget airlines launched flights to the city, with plenty more in the works.
Kathmandu Valley, Nepal
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Kathmandu Valley’s standing as Nepal’s cultural hub will be revived in early 2024 with the return of the International Folk Festival-Nepal in March—its first in-person iteration since 2020—and the biennial Film Southasia, South Asia’s premier documentary festival, later in the year.
Kobe, Japan
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Sandwiched between steep mountains and sparkling seas in southwestern Japan, the port city of Kobe is seriously strengthening its design credentials. Taking centre stage is Vague Kobe, a new creative space by Teruhiro Yanagihara Studio (TYS)
Kochi, India
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Kochi’s waterways have lured visitors for centuries, its verdant backwaters, lagoons and rivers as attractive to travelers today as they were to Arab, Chinese, and European merchants in the 1300s.
Mongolia
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Mongolia has long been the destination for thrill-seeking adventure travelers—as participants in the wonderfully chaotic Mongol Rally will attest—but the country is expanding beyond that niche as its tourism board sets its sights on attracting a million tourists per year.
Ras Al Khaimah, UAE
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On an island just off the coast, the 174-room Anantara Mina Al Arab Resort, home to the country’s first overwater villas, will welcome its first guests in January—to be joined by a 155-room Nikki Beach Resort in 2026.