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A collaboration between two of Siem Reap‘s most stylish women, French-Cambodians Nathalie Saphon-Ridel and Sirivan Chak, Galerie Cambodge specializes in beautiful fair trade clothes and accessories made in Cambodia to the highest quality of workmanship. The women work closely with designers and artisans to source, design and produce natural, eco-friendly garments, accessories and gifts. Collections change regularly, however, you can expect to find anything from the lightest of cotton shirts and scarves that are ideal for Siem Reap’s sultry weather to sturdy handmade leather sandals that will survive years of temple scrambling. Not everything is made in Cambodia—the women have made a few exceptions, such as authentic Panama hats, direct from the source. Also handy for long days in Siem Reap’s blazing heat.

Dining at Made in China at the Grand Hyatt is expensive, but the staff creates an excellent experience. Open kitchens allow you to catch a glimpse of the Peking ducks roasting in ovens over fruitwood-fueled fires. I always order the dumplings. —Fuchsia Dunlop This appeared in the May 2013 issue.

The first Smithsonian affiliate in the Northwest, this superb museum chronicles the Asian Pacific American Experience. Among its most poignant exhibits is the Letter Cloud installation: old hotel walls frame tales of aging far away from home. It also offers walking tours of the surrounding International District, including Touch Of Chinatown, which visits the elegant Kobo gallery and Uwajimaya, one of America’s largest Asian grocery and gift stores. Stop into the nearby Panama Hotel, home to a teahouse and the nation’s only intact sentō (Japanese public bathhouse). Lockers and marble baths still stand in the basement, which harbored the belongings of Seattle’s 7,050 Japanese-American residents imprisoned in WWII internment camps—the basis for Jamie Ford’s best-selling novel Hotel On The Corner Of Bitter And Sweet.

Founded in 2004, this exquisite Chinatown boutique sells unique jewelry pieces designed by Cindy Yokoyama. “I started as a painter and fell in love with abstraction,” she says. “Many of my pieces still reflect elements of this, including asymmetry.” She also plays with order and chaos, and mixes urban elements with natural organic ones beautifully. Expect seeds and shells mixed among metallics... and the azure hues of Hawai‘i’s sea and lush greens of its slopes. Of special note: earring sets where two teardrops complement each other, rather than matching—showcasing stones like lapis lazuli, fossilized coral, and bumble bee jasper.

• Neighborhood: Sentosa Island
• Why we love it: A secluded off-mainland retreat with mahjong and feng shui lessons
• From $1,180

Refreshed in 2021 by Hong Kong designer André Fu, the 112-room Capella Singapore plays up its idyllic beachfront setting. The stylish, ultra-comfortable rooms have a palette of soothing sand, sage, and mineral gray and come with deep soaking tubs and window lounges that frame green jungle foliage.

Beyond the striking design, standout amenities include a three-tier infinity pool and an award-winning art collection (there are more than 900 pieces on-site). Also notable is the Capella’s Culturalist activity calendar, which offers lively mahjong lessons, farm-to-table cooking classes, and a sidecar tour with a feng shui master who explains how the ancient Chinese philosophy influenced the placement of Singapore’s iconic Marina Bay Sands and the mystical Merlion statue.

The Forbidden City is not so forbidden any longer...based on the thousands and thousands of people there visiting it! I love the huge city, however it’s a hard sight to visit because of all of the people, the massive space to cover (178 Acres), and the lack of trees! I was absolutely exhausted after our 3 hours there. It consists of 90 palaces and courtyards, 980 buildings and 8,704 rooms. And I had to work really hard to find a few hidden spots to take pictures with very few people in them. And of course it was those quiet areas that were my favorite.

My advice for avoiding the crowds is to head to the Palace Museum. You can see ancient treasures of the dynasty - or you can simply enjoy the quiet gardens and less people!

One block west of the Bund you can find the Rockbund Art Museum, housed in Shanghai’s former Royal Asiatic Society building (1932). Like many of the grande dame Bund buildings, RAS was dreamt up by British design firm Palmer and Turner and done to the nines in art deco style. The museum hosts its share of heavy hitters from the contemporary art world, such as Zhang Huan, Cai Guo-Qiang, and Felix Gonzalez-Torres. Rockbund is small but charming, especially the tranquil top-floor café and lounge, which give way to a small terrace overlooking the Pudong skyline.

In the 8th arrondissement of Paris, just down the street from the Parc Monceau, is this unexpected piece of...China? On a corner of the Place du Pérou, this ‘pagoda’ has been a landmark in this part of the French capital for decades. Ching Tsai Loo, a Chinese art collector and dealer, transformed this 17th-c. building into a pseudo-Asian landmark in the 1920’s. Paris is a world unto itself...

With the Spanish conquest of the Aztec empire, Iberian overlords set about imposing their customs on the subdued populace, eliminating traces of pre-Hispanic religions they deemed heretical by demolishing major temples and building churches and other structures atop their ruins. Centuries later, in 1978, workers laying electrical lines happened upon the remains of the Templo Mayor, the Aztecs’ most important ceremonial center (and, yes, the location of their notorious human sacrifices). Subsequent excavations have revealed superimposed pyramid foundations and priceless artworks, many now displayed at the on-site museum. Thrillingly, treasures keep turning up—including the spring 2017 discovery of a stone box containing some of the finest Aztec gold ever found, just off the Templo Mayor’s steps.

Craft cocktails and modern Asian cuisine reign at this hip noodle bar in Honolulu‘s Chinatown. Dig into a bowl of ramen, garnished with sesame seeds, green onion, ginger, a soft egg, and wakame (dried seaweed). From there, things get lively with additions like oxtail won tons and togarashi shrimp with housemade kimchi. Other standouts include lamb lumpia and pork belly bao (buns). Adventurous eaters should try the uni gnocchi—made with creamy urchin gonads—enhanced by leeks, tomatoes, and butter cream sauce. A popular late-night stop, Lucky Belly serves its full menu until 12 a.m. every night except Sunday. Its takeout window serves specials—announced via @_dawindow on Instagram—until 2 a.m., Thursday to Saturday.

Big baggy aloha shirts—that could double as canoe sails—goodbye. Instead head to this Chinatown boutique, featuring the sharp, tapered designs of the eponymous Roberta Oaks. She draws on her hippie, farmhouse childhood and mid-century modern Hawai‘ian flair to create prints, which she then combines with a more fitted and form-flattering modern silhouette. These fabrics also take a star turn on graceful day dresses and even doggie bandanas. Open since 2009, this alluring boutique goes beyond attire, selling jewelry, candles, surf photography, and scents like Sándalo (a moody meditation on the islands’ vulcanism with ash, patchouli, and Royal Hawai‘ian sandalwood).

The most impressive ruins in the Old Town of Zadar can be found at the ancient forum, just steps from the seafront. Commissioned by the first Roman emperor, Augustus, and built between the 1st century B.C.E. and 3rd century C.E., the spectacular square offers a glimpse of life in early Zadar through its temples, porticoes, and colonnades. Walk around to find the remains of a temple dedicated to Minerva, Jupiter, and Juno; frescoes of mythological scenes; and an intact column that was repurposed as a pillory in medieval times.

Delhi Darbar is an excellent Indian restaurant in Xi’an. I usually order palak paneer and malai kofta when trying a new Indian restaurant, because unlike curries, it’s really hard to make these without fresh ingredients. (In China, you either need to make your own paneer or serve something with shelf-stable cheese in it.) The dishes were perhaps a bit bland and safe, but they unambiguously passed the quality test. We also had some veggie raita and garlic naan, both of which were highly delicious. We knew this place was legit when we asked for some pickles and they brought us a half-full jar of imported spicy Indian pickles.

Muslim noodle restaurants are ubiquitous all over China, but Xi’an, with its large Muslim population, has a far better class of them. Most restaurants have photos of the various dishes on the wall, and all you have to do is point. My personal favorite is 面片, which translates as “noodle flakes.” The chef has a clump of dough and flicks thin slices of noodle off into boiling water. At Lanzhou Muslim Traditional Beef Stretched Noodles I like the noodle flakes with beef and potato gravy, but the options for toppings are endless.

If you only have time to shop one place while in Cape Town, make it the Watershed market on the V&A Waterfront. A magnet for, well, virtually everything, the stalls and shops feature all the classic South African goods, from gorgeous green malachite bowls and bracelets to souvenirs made of springbok hide, recycled bottle caps, and even pressed protea flowers. There are also outposts of beloved local brands like Skoon (for sustainable beauty products), plus art (both affordable and aspirational), East African kitenge fabrics fashioned into simple Western styles, adorable baby clothes, and hand-painted leather clutches that are guaranteed to get compliments no matter where in the world you take them.