Tired of those characterless business hotel chains or comfort-deprived inns? The capital offers some marvelous choices for you.
Puducherry, a small town on southern India's Coromandel coast, woos visitors with its easy French colonial charm, food and laid-back calm.
Book lovers seeking a copy of the winner of Canada's premier literary award are out of luck, unless they're ready to settle for an electronic version.
With a diverse landscape and a martial arts tradition rooted in tai chi, Niumulin has everything to calm the mind and soul.
With their gaudy music, ramshackle interiors, sometimes rip-off prices and generally touristy feel, Houhai's bars are not always the ideal location for a memorable night out.
There's a silver lining to those sky-high real estate prices in Beijing. It's apparently prompting more smart couples to wish for a baby girl instead of a boy.
Whenever I feel blue, I have found the best cure is to take a stroll in my neighborhood market.
Leaning on the tombstone and sweeping it gently, Lin Guanghai, 68, murmurs: "Finally I have found you, dear brother. It's been nearly 60 years. May you rest in peace."
A Chinese veteran of the Korean War recalls the sacrifices his compatriots made for the country and his complicated attitude toward Americans.
A reindeer gnaws at the trunk of a birch tree, while canaries sing at a deafening pitch. The smell of wood chip pervades the air, while refrigerators hum in the dark of night. The glowing hands of a wristwatch point to the time: 0:11 am.
Beijingers seem to enjoy grumbling about the capital's transportation system. They moan about hours spent sitting in traffic jams in taxis, moving less than a kilometer an hour.
Some readers might have noticed I've been absent from these pages for the past month. I took a small hiatus from the keyboard to immerse myself in another passion - yoga.