Asia

Trail of the unexpected: Haneda

New flights to Haneda airport provide a convenient and colourful route to the heart of the Japanese capital.

Inside Asia

A journey through Vietnam's hill country

Saturday, 19 February 2011

Discover vivid tribal culture and spectacular mountain scenery

Singapore: Reach for the sky. To infinity and beyond

Sunday, 13 February 2011

This busy commercial hive just can't keep still. But, despite perpetual transition, its oriental soul remains intact, says Mark Rowe.

The Experts' Guide To The World: Amritsar

Sunday, 13 February 2011

If there is a more serene place in the centre of an Indian city than the Golden Temple at Amritsar, I have yet to find it. From the moment you slip off your shoes, knot a headscarf under your chin and step through the compound's high, vaulted doorway, you feel certain that the step you have taken over the temple's threshold is more than just a physical act.

The Experts' Guide To The World: Beijing

Sunday, 13 February 2011

Once you get out of the Beijing suburbs, the road takes you through the hills, an increasingly dry landscape as you head north along a dusty, winding course. After just 50km, you are in a craggy, mountainous area where the breakneck expansion of the Chinese economy has no influence – more like the China we know from the long, shimmering ancient tapestries on silk.

The Experts' Guide To The World: Tokyo

Sunday, 13 February 2011

how better to sample the Sturm und Drang of the planet's busiest metropolis than on its most famous train? The Yamanote Line loops overland around the buzzing heart of Tokyo, stopping at many of its biggest attractions. One of the transport wonders of the world, its brisk, frictionless efficiency should be on any list of Japan's best, most inexpensive pleasures.

Spice girl: Kate Humble visits Indonesia

Saturday, 12 February 2011

Nutmeg was once thought to cure the plague – but for European explorers, the journey to its source in Indonesia was perilous.

Trail of the unexpected: Singapore station

Saturday, 12 February 2011

Mark Smith: The Art Deco station is to close, but the building will remain a national treasure.

Mad about Madagascar

Wednesday, 9 February 2011

David Attenborough loves its exuberant wildlife, but this island in the Indian ocean has much more besides lemurs to offer, reveals Kate Eshelby

China: Explore a 1,000-year-old trade route

Saturday, 5 February 2011

Gabrielle Jaffe discovers a charming rural idyll as she explores the trade route from southern China to Tibet.

Haruki Murakami's Japan: See the real – and surreal – land of the rising sun

Saturday, 5 February 2011

At the Uniqlo UT store in Harajuku, Tokyo, printed T-shirts, packaged in canisters, are delivered to the customer automatically on vending-machine shelves. Some have manga designs, but discriminating shoppers also browse four styles of shirt bearing the words "Norwegian Wood", the coming-of-age book that made Haruki Murakami a literary star in 1987. The writer is due another big year in 2011. Norwegian Wood has been adapted into a movie to be released in UK cinemas next month. In September, his latest novel, 1Q84, will be published in English.

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