Shanghai/Today’s Shanghai is a model of progress—not just in China but in all the world. In just a few short decades, the city—known in pre-communist years for its glitz and glamour—has reestablished itself as one of Asia’s most vibrant, forward-thinking, and cosmopolitan places to visit. “This is a city with its foot on the accelerator 24 hours a day, blasting off into the future at speeds that leave little time for nostalgia,” says local journalist Richard Baimbridge. But if you really want nostalgia, among the thrumming nightlife and gourmet restaurants, Shanghai has that, too: Neoclassical architecture, Mao memorabilia, historic museums, authentic food down gritty alleyways—all these and more await.
Hongkong/A frantic, hurly-burly mixture of capitalism and exoticism, Hong Kong has been called the “most thrilling city on the planet.” Change is the constant in this city of 6.9 million. Its main attractions lie in Kowloon, which juts from the tip of southern China, and on Hong Kong Island, with its Central downtown district, just across the harbor. The island of Lantau is home to the airport and several large country parks. Outlying islands are less densely populated but readily accessible. An extensive transportation network linking the city’s various districts include tunnels, ferries, subways, and, of course, taxis, which are plentiful and cheaper than those in comparably sized cities.
Los Angeles/“Welcome to the Jungle,” famously sang the band Guns N' Roses. Situated on a wide, dry plain speckled with canyons, mountains, rivers, and beaches, vast and beautiful Los Angeles, California, is anything but a jungle in topography. And even though some jungle-like qualities can emerge, such as during rush hour on the 405, to a visitor the city is a sunny, friendly place, filled with its own rich lore—stories that range from the days of the Spanish missions to the latest gossip about Hollywood stars. History oozes from the streets and buildings of L.A. All you need do is look around and listen.
Moscow/This massive metropolis captures Russia at her most extreme: her communist austerity and her capitalist indulgence; her devout orthodoxy and her uninhibited displays of wealth and power; her enigmatic ancient history and her dazzling contemporary culture. Moscow is the seat of political power in Russia, but it is also the country’s cultural and commercial center. From the storied streets surrounding Red Square to the modern new Moscow-City, the Russian capital is crammed with artistic, historic, and otherwise sacred sites. Sometimes intellectual and inspiring, sometimes debauched and depraved, it is always eye-opening.
Prague/Prague's intact medieval Old Town connects to an equally well-preserved Lesser Quarter by way of a 14th-century stone bridge—all brooded over by a castle that’s part Disneyland and part Franz Kafka. In the 1989 Velvet Revolution, this “city of 100 spires” (more like 500) awoke like a modern-day Rip Van Winkle in the heart of Europe—shrugging off decades of slumber under first the Nazis and then the Communists and, centuries before that, the Habsburgs. Prague drips with history, but it’s hardly a museum piece. The booming tourist industry has fed a revival of the city’s arts and museums, and made its hotels and restaurants the envy of Central Europe.
Shanghai/Today’s Shanghai is a model of progress—not just in China but in all the world. In just a few short decades, the city—known in pre-communist years for its glitz and glamour—has reestablished itself as one of Asia’s most vibrant, forward-thinking, and cosmopolitan places to visit. “This is a city with its foot on the accelerator 24 hours a day, blasting off into the future at speeds that leave little time for nostalgia,” says local journalist Richard Baimbridge. But if you really want nostalgia, among the thrumming nightlife and gourmet restaurants, Shanghai has that, too: Neoclassical architecture, Mao memorabilia, historic museums, authentic food down gritty alleyways—all these and more await.
Hongkong/A frantic, hurly-burly mixture of capitalism and exoticism, Hong Kong has been called the “most thrilling city on the planet.” Change is the constant in this city of 6.9 million. Its main attractions lie in Kowloon, which juts from the tip of southern China, and on Hong Kong Island, with its Central downtown district, just across the harbor. The island of Lantau is home to the airport and several large country parks. Outlying islands are less densely populated but readily accessible. An extensive transportation network linking the city’s various districts include tunnels, ferries, subways, and, of course, taxis, which are plentiful and cheaper than those in comparably sized cities.
Los Angeles/“Welcome to the Jungle,” famously sang the band Guns N' Roses. Situated on a wide, dry plain speckled with canyons, mountains, rivers, and beaches, vast and beautiful Los Angeles, California, is anything but a jungle in topography. And even though some jungle-like qualities can emerge, such as during rush hour on the 405, to a visitor the city is a sunny, friendly place, filled with its own rich lore—stories that range from the days of the Spanish missions to the latest gossip about Hollywood stars. History oozes from the streets and buildings of L.A. All you need do is look around and listen.
Moscow/This massive metropolis captures Russia at her most extreme: her communist austerity and her capitalist indulgence; her devout orthodoxy and her uninhibited displays of wealth and power; her enigmatic ancient history and her dazzling contemporary culture. Moscow is the seat of political power in Russia, but it is also the country’s cultural and commercial center. From the storied streets surrounding Red Square to the modern new Moscow-City, the Russian capital is crammed with artistic, historic, and otherwise sacred sites. Sometimes intellectual and inspiring, sometimes debauched and depraved, it is always eye-opening.
Prague/Prague's intact medieval Old Town connects to an equally well-preserved Lesser Quarter by way of a 14th-century stone bridge—all brooded over by a castle that’s part Disneyland and part Franz Kafka. In the 1989 Velvet Revolution, this “city of 100 spires” (more like 500) awoke like a modern-day Rip Van Winkle in the heart of Europe—shrugging off decades of slumber under first the Nazis and then the Communists and, centuries before that, the Habsburgs. Prague drips with history, but it’s hardly a museum piece. The booming tourist industry has fed a revival of the city’s arts and museums, and made its hotels and restaurants the envy of Central Europe.
