• “I have always said that food is the best healer. So when I smashed my leg in five places by falling down my stairs in March, I knew that I needed to find an hotel with a great restaurant where I could convalesce.” The Times discloses Where Raymond Blanc eats on holiday.
• “In Rome, the capital of Lazio, a number of new restaurants and shops are dedicated to regional food and wine…the emphasis is decidedly on local ingredients from the Lazio region — one long overshadowed by its Tuscan neighbor to the north.” In The New York Times Katie Parla is In Rome, Really Local Food.
• In The New York Times Sarah Wildman reveals that Four Restaurants Enliven Washington. “These new entrants borrow from the rigorous authenticity of the nearby suburban immigrant communities — Korean, Vietnamese, Taiwanese, Burmese, Salvadoran, Cantonese and Thai.”
• In The Guardian Geoff Dyer confesses to My obsession with a New York cup of coffee and a doughnut…”nothing was more urgent than the need to find a local cafe I could go to every day for my elevenses.” Dyer reveals the trials he undertook to find his perfect elevenses, which became tenses, then nineses…

Chengdu’s Museums

Heading west along the Yangtze River you eventually come to the province of Sichuan and its capital Chengdu – a city that will never fail to please the intrepid traveller.

Displayed in one of China’s most dazzling archaeological site museums opened 2006 are the stupendous gold and jade objects unearthed at the Shu kingdom site of Jinsha. Set within a beautiful landscaped area is the Jinsha Archaeological Site Museum (2 Jinshayizhi Road; www.jinshasitemuseum.com) where more than 2,000 graves have been discovered along with sacrificial pits in which some of the finest objects have been uncovered. Three distinct phases have been identified here. Phase II, equivalent to the late Shang to mid Western Zhou, marks the high point of Jinsha Culture and when the finest jade, gold and bronze objects were produced. The craftsmanship of the thousands of jade artefacts excavated here is revealed in the vessels, chisels, daggers, axes and other objects.

The city also plays host to the Shu Brocade and Embroidery Museum (268 South Huanhua Road; www.cdbem.cn) illustrating one of China’s endangered ‘living skills’. As far back as the Warring States period, silk Shu brocade was traded along the Southern Silk Road through south-western China to India and Central Asia. During ancient times over 20,000 looms were weaving the highly prized, elaborately designed silk brocade; today there are twenty people at most capable of operating the looms. Here you can watch some of them in action. Working on replica looms modelled on ancient ones, two weavers move rhythmically together. To produce one centimetre of brocade it takes 160 shuttle movements, producing on average only seven cms of fabric a day depending on the design.

Adjacent to Chengdu’s splendid Huanhuaxi Park is a real jewel – the newly built Sichuan Provincial Museum (no.3, Section 4, Renmin South Road). It is the largest provincial museum in southwest China and displays a large proportion of its exceptional holdings in Ba and Shu Warring States period bronzes, weapons and ritual objects from the tomb at Xindu Majiaxiang, Han pottery figures and bricks, Shu brocade, Tibetan objects and an array of material culture from the fourteen ethnic minorities in Sichuan. The collection continues to grow exponentially as dozens of new sites are being discovered and excavated and the museum promises to up-date their exhibits periodically, enabling its massive collection to be seen in turns.

Those daring enough to take a trip southwards to the city of Zigong will be justly rewarded. Besides housing the China Lantern Museum (6 Gongyuan Road; www.lantern-museum.com), devoted to one of the cities major exports and which plays host to a famous annual lantern festival transforming the city into a riot of colour and light, Zigong is also known as the ‘dinosaur cemetery of China’. When the dinosaurs inhabited the area around Zigong, it was even more lush and fertile than it is today. Little wonder then that it has produced the world’s greatest concentration of Middle Jurassic (180-154 million years ago) dinosaur remains. The Zigong Dinosaur Museum (238 Dashanpu, Da’an; www.zdm.cn) is built on the dinosaur burial site of Dashanpu. This modern complex with excellent information panels will delight Jurassic Park fans of all ages. As well as the museum displays of full-size dinosaur skeletons there is an exposed section of the original excavated site with platforms allowing visitors to get onto the site itself.

Once you’ve been to Zigong, your appetite will be wetted for even more adventure. Besides heading out to see the pandas in the world famous Wolong National Nature Reserve you might also be inclined to visit Mr Fan Jianchuan’s private museum complex. Known as the Jianchuan Museum Cluster (Aren Township, Dayi County; www.jc-museum.cn), this is among the most impressive museum experiences you’ll ever have. Set around a lake are over a dozen museums with more in the making. Choose to go on foot or cruise the complex in a golf cart, but be warned: to see it all will take several days (guest houses and restaurants are on the premises). Built with his own fortune, the displays are designed as a personal expression of his desire for people to face their inhumanity to each other as exemplified in China during both the Cultural Revolution and the War against Japan. Additionally, there is a museum dedicated to the practice of bound feet – an example of man’s inhumanity to women for purposes of sexual exploitation (a practice which generally died out after the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1911). Recently, just after the Sichuan earthquake, Fan opened the Wenchuan Earthquake Museum commemorating those who lost their lives in Sichuan’s tragic earthquake in 2008. On display are relics from the site of the earthquake that have been collected by Fan Jianchuan and others.

Sources of information on China’s museums

The most authorative source is CHINA: museums by Miriam Clifford, Cathy Giangrande and Antony White. It is a guide to 218 of China’s most fabulous museums and hidden gems. Each entry provides you with the name and the address of the museum in Chinese (essential to show the taxi driver where you want to go) as well as pinyin. Alongside these, the telephone, opening times and website are provided where they exist and are reliable. Available on Amazon (UK ISBN: 9781857595932 or US ISBN: 9789622178045), other on-line booksellers and in all good travel bookshops.

The website www.china-museums.com constantly updates the ever-changing museum scene in China and will shortly have some of the book’s content online and available to download onto mobile devices. The following publications provide information on museums, current exhibitions, opening times etc, however the information can be incorrect, so it is always best to ring: Time Out Beijing (www.timeout.com/cn/en/beijing/); the Beijinger (www.thebeijinger.com); City Weekend Shanghai (www.cityweekend.com.cn/shanghai/); That’s Shanghai (www.urbanatomy.com).

uides and magazines in English can be found at a number of bookshops catering for the English speaking community including: The Bookworm (www.chinabookworm.com) with branches in Beijing, Chengdu and Suzhou; Chaterhouse Booktrader (www.chaterhouse.com.cn) with branches in Beijing and Shanghai and Time Zone 8 bookshop (www.timezone8.com) in one of the contemporary complexes in Beijing known as 798.

By Cathy Giangrande & Miriam Clifford

Shanghai’s Museums

Shanghai has its share of wondrous museums and while philatelists should make a beeline to the Shanghai Postal Museum (250 North Suzhou Road), which is housed on the second floor of Shanghai’s Central Post Office, it’s quite easy to hop on a train and head out to the nearby cities of Suzhou, Hangzhou and Nanjing (a new fast train scheduled to begin running mid 2010 will cut the journey time between Nanjing and Shanghai in half – to just over and hour). Textile enthusiasts will enjoy the China National Silk Museum (73-1 Yuhuangshan Road; www.chinasilkmuseum.com) in Hangzhou. Silk has been produced in China from approximately 2700 BC and has played a significant part in the economic and social development of the country for centuries. Eight galleries with excellent English signage explore the origins, production and trade of silk and feature displays of different types of woven, dyed and printed silk fabrics. The costume gallery and cases of rare silks discovered in tomb sites along the Silk Road are among its highlights. One gallery is filled with looms of different periods and types with craftsmen at work on them. And if you ever wanted to know about the lifecycle of the silk moth, the gallery devoted to sericulture will answer all your questions.

If Chinese classical gardens take your fancy, Suzhou is the place to see them, but you may also want to visit I M Pei’s contribution to his home city, the Suzhou Museum (204 Dongbei Street; www.szmuseum.com/szbwgen/index.html ). It abuts the Humble Administrator’s Garden in the heart of old Suzhou. The building combines Pei’s distinctive modern style with classical Suzhou style – with steel and glass used to create a random structure full of movement found in traditional Suzhou building. Objects dating from the Neolithic to the Qing are housed in galleries which encircle a central garden. Of note are treasures from the Tang and Song dynasties and paintings and calligraphy from the Ming and the Qing.

And for opera buffs, the Kunqu Opera Museum (14 Zhongzhangjia Lane, Pingjiang District; www.kunopera.net/ ) is well worth a stop. Recently restored, this opera venue was built by a Shanxi businessman during the Qing dynasty and opened as a museum in 2003. Music fills the air in the courtyard giving visitors a flavour of this art-form. For the full effect of Kunqu opera’s artistic and dramatic power, performances are often scheduled in the main building with its classical stage covered by a saddle-shaped roof and decorative well-shaped ceiling. Collections of costumes, scripts, masks, instruments, photographs and historical documents are displayed in exhibition areas offering a concise introduction to Kunqu. Performances can be booked in advance for small groups and now that it has been listed by UNESCO as one of the Masterpieces of Oral and Intangible Cultural Heritage, government funding has been made available to support public performances in China as well as abroad.

By Cathy Giangrande & Miriam Clifford

Dare to be adventurous and you will find yourself viewing the burial site of the greatest concentration of Middle Jurassic (180-154 million years ago) dinosaur remains anywhere in the world, or goggling in amazement at a private museum complex comprising more than a dozen separate museums showcasing a selection of over eight million items in connection to two tragic periods of Chinese history – the Cultural Revolution and the War against Japan. China is a vast treasure-house waiting to be discovered by those with a sense of adventure and genuine curiosity for things Chinese. Here is a taste of what lies hidden in and close to, Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu; three of China’s most well-known cities.

Beijing’s Museums

Housed in a former bank building in the old Legation Quarter of the city is the Beijing Police Museum (36 Dongjiaominxiang Lane). In well-lit cases, over three floors are displays covering the history of the Beijing police from its beginnings in 1947. Palace guard uniforms and Qing dynasty police attire mingle with displays of documents and photographs documenting the history of the force including the travails of the police during the Cultural Revolution when many members of the force were persecuted and imprisoned. Once you’ve had your fill of gory images, signed confessions and other relics of criminals and their nemeses, be sure to explore the local neighbourhood, as it is key to understanding China’s domination by foreign powers. After the First Opium War (1840-42) and the Treaty of Nanjing, the Qing government was forced to allow foreigners to create a walled legation quarter in Beijing. The area became an international town within Beijing with its own restaurants, hotels, banks and post offices, as well as the offices of the occupying governments including Britain, France, Japan, Sweden and Russia. Pop in for a bite at Capital M (3/F, No 2 Qianmen Pedestrian Street; + 86 10 6702 2727; www.captial-m-beijing.com ) the newest M venture and one of the coolest restaurants in town, with spectacular views of Tiananmen Square, right up to the entrance of the Forbidden City.

Nearby is another of China’s extraordinary museums – the Beijing Tap Water Museum (Qingshuiyuan, A6 Beidajie Dongzhimen) housed in the original pump house of the Beijing Water Plant. It’s one of the city’s newer technology-based museums offering a compelling narrative of how this vital resource was first delivered to the city and is currently processed, stored, purified and delivered. There is a room devoted to the topical issue of water conservation. The importance of this subject has encouraged the authorities to construct a new museum building nearby to house an additional exhibition space and a lecture hall for conferences and symposia which will open in the very near future.

Chinese ceramic fanciers should visit the Palace Museum’s recently opened Gallery of Ceramics in the Hall of Literary Brilliance (Wenhuadian) displaying 400 highlights of the collection in chronological order from their vast repository of 350,000 ceramics. More fabulous examples of ceramics and bronzes are also shown in museums such as the Beijing Art Museum at Wanshou Temple (Wanshou Temple, Suzhou Street) and the Arthur M Sackler Museum of Art and Archaeology at Beijing University. If you are in the mood to view wall paintings, head west to the Fahai Temple (Moshikou, Shijingshan District). Here at the foot of the Cuiwei Mountain is a Buddhist temple built with funds raised by the Ming dynasty eunuch, Li Tong. He hired the very best painters of the period and the results are stunning. Beautiful Ming dynasty wall paintings grace three facing walls. Painted on prepared clay with mineral pigments in a glue medium, they can be viewed only by torch light. Such conditions of darkness have preserved their colourful, bright paintwork.

By Cathy Giangrande & Miriam Clifford

CITY

• Where is The last real cabaret in Paris? Dea Birkett goes on the hunt for the Observer. “I’d been tramping the dark streets of Paris until these early hours, in my search for the soul of the Folies Bergère. I adore cabaret — the heady mix of hip-swinging scantly-clad performers, camp costumes and comedy, all addictively irreverent and self-deprecating.”
• Sarfraz Manzoor in The Observer writes an Ode to Rome, a city of passionate pilgrimage…and roses. “I am here on a sort of romantic quest: I have come to find the most romantic places in this city and to follow in the footsteps of Keats, Shelley and Byron, three giants of Romantic poetry who all lived, and in the case of Keats, died in this city.”
• “Almost without noticing it, Madrid is on its way to becoming as cosmopolitan as Paris or Berlin,” reports Victor Mallet in the FT.  Mallet reveals the Unexpected pleasures of Lavapiés (the old Jewish quarter), Las Huertas (the literary district) and tackling the city on foot.
• “Shanghai is gearing up to host the six-month-long World Expo which opens in the Pudong district in May 2010,” writes Evelyn Chen in The Independent. A raft of new hotels and restaurants are opening their doors to cope with rising tourist numbers. City Slicker in Shanghai reveals what’s hot and what’s new in China’s largest city.
• “It was witness to Byron’s seduction of Mary Shelley, crucible of the luxury watchmaking industry, and is now the international home of the UN, WTO, multinational companies and tax exiles, alike.” James Twining offers his guide to Geneva, Switzerland: My Kind of Town in the Telegraph.

ESCAPE

• Justine Picardie is in Barbados: Sun, sea and GT for The Sunday Telegraph. “There is much about Barbados that has changed since its day as a British colony, but as the gin and tonics clink, you can still see why the island became known as Little England.”
• “We are here on a strange safari – we are hunting silence, elusive and endangered in Europe and threatened even here,” says Sara Maitland in Silent witness in the Sinai in The Observer. “… it was beautiful, awesome, challenging and rewarding – a real adventure. I’ll be back.”
• “According to recent chemical analysis at the Egyptian section of Manchester Museum, the blue lily contained phosphodiesters, the active ingredients of Viagra. That was enough to convince me. That night was my last in Luxor. I knew exactly how I would spend it.” Author Howard Marks discovers the Viagra of old Egypt in the Sunday Times.
• “The view from our veranda is one of the most beautiful I have ever seen,” says Adrian Mourby in The Independent. “It’s a landscape of the greenest greens, impossible reds and the bluest of skies…Yet, the Foreign Office has only just advised that travel to this part of Colombia is safe.” A government crack down on drug gangs and guerrillas has opened up a whole new area of Colombia to tourists. It’s time to wake up and smell the coffee.

OUTDOOR/ADVENTURE

• “I had never seen so much snow with absolutely no evidence of any other skier,” writes Susan Greenwood from Sweden’s highest ski lodge for The Guardian. “Nestled 250km north of the Arctic Circle in Swedish Lapland, it’s a place where you can let yourself believe in magic.”
• In The Guardian Eddi Fiegel is Walking Spain’s Olive Oil Route. The Vía Verde del Aceite, or ‘Olive Oil Green Route’ is “a network of walking and cycle trails set up by the Spanish Railways Foundation along miles of disused railway tracks criss-crossing beautiful countryside.”
• In The Independent Simon Calder offers the Traveller’s Guide to Antarctica – how to get there, how to get around and what to expect. “Until travel to space becomes commonplace, this is the closest you will get to visiting an alien planet.”
• “Teenagers and holidays: it’s a nightmare combination. When they’re little, kids are easily pleased – any thin strip of sand will suffice, and maybe a pool in case they get bored with the sea. As they get older, ski trips and city breaks do the job. But by now, we are into the too-cool-for-school, raging-hormones phase.” In Teenage tearaways in Egypt Vincent and Daisy Crump report on a more adventurous family holiday.
• “I was less than enamoured by the idea of the French Alps. Too many British people and concrete villages,” says Mary Novakovich in The Independent. “I asked a few people where I could find a resort that could more or less guarantee snow, wasn’t completely anglicised, had more than two restaurants and didn’t resemble a Sixties modernist horror. “Samoëns,” they chorused.” Samoëns: A resort that goes down a treat

FOOD

• “I am here because I absolutely cannot cook,” says Camilla Long in the Sunday Times, “and when I told a well-travelled pal about the contents of my fridge (brie, vodka, Kinder Bueno fingers), he looked horrified and arranged an emergency airlift. I thought Thailand might be nice, because Thai food is healthy and simple and good for impatient people, and much less pretentious than French or Italian.” Long reveals all in Spicing up my life in a Thai cooking school
• “El Mercado de San Miguel is the Spanish capital’s first, and so far, only, ‘gourmand’ produce market,” reveals Mark Mulligan in the FT. “The feel is that of a southern European version of Borough Market in London. There are 33 upmarket stalls, housed in a beautifully restored, cast-iron and glass pavilion, just off the historic Plaza Mayor near the heart of old Madrid.”
• In The Guardian Jamie Crawford reveals Buenos Aires’ secret restaurants. “Across Buenos Aires, behind nondescript front doors and in family living rooms, a host of homespun restaurants are the latest foodie fad. The tricky bit is finding them…” But thankfully Crawford does all the hard work for us.
• Daphne Beal reveals the evolving arts and culinary scene in Marfa, “which had once been…so desolate that tumbleweeds rolled down the main street.” Not now…In Marfa, Texas, Minimalist Art and Maximum Flavor in the New York Times Marfa’s culinary gems are revealed.
• “The city’s culinary scene has expanded from its famous shwarma stands and falafel joints to embrace a host of swank Asian fusion restaurants, intimate French bistros and authentic Italian trattorias. The night-life scene evolves so quickly that hot spots open and close almost before their fabulousness can make it into print in magazines or guidebooks.” A Newly Stylish Amman Asserts Itself says Andrew Ferren in the New York Times.

CULTURE

• Kate Connolly hits the High notes in America’s Deep South for The Guardian. “Savannah, a coastal city in southwest Georgia, boasts a springtime arts marathon that has become a requisite port of call for a growing number of music lovers and musicians from around the world.”
• Camilla Nicholls explains How to navigate the Golden Art triangle in the FT. “The Golden Art Triangle is a term used to describe the three great Madrid museums. The sheer size of the big three world-class museums and the wealth of art they exhibit means it is wise to pick out works, genres and temporary exhibitions in advance to conserve energy and enhance enjoyment.”
• “…old Rajasthan endures, evoking rulers with giant mustaches, harems of beautiful women in the finest colored silks and some of the most spectacular palaces ever built,” writes Kabir Chibber in the New York Times. 36 Hours in Rajasthan, India reveals the best palaces, restaurants and markets in this region of India.
• “The National Palace Museum is one of the world’s greatest collections of Chinese antiquities,” writes Michelle Jana Chan about Taiwan’s remarkable national museum for the FT. “For the first time, the palace museums of Taiwan and China are bringing pieces from each collection under one roof. Fung Ming-chu, chief curator of the new exhibition, says “You cannot exaggerate the importance of this. It is a breakthrough in Chinese art history.”

CITY

• No, not Venice or Paris, but Bulgaria: Plovdiv for our anniversary. Katie Wood is surprised by this Bulgarian city, “you will have an experience that is charming and sometimes challenging. Few locals speak English and the infrastructure for tourism barely exists, but you will find history and folklore, and see a side of life that is fast disappearing in Europe.”
• BBC correspondent Matt Frei reports on the city he loves, highlighting the best of where to sleep, eat and shop, on a Washington city break.
• Whilst Geoff Garvey explains that Cadiz is “literally crumbling,” he finds that “the city has tremendous atmosphere: slightly seedy, definitely in decline, but still full of mystique.” Garvey goes in search of Unsung cities: Cadiz – a light less ordinary.
• If you want to steer clear of bland chains or highly-priced designer hotels, here is the Best of the rests guide to city BBs. Gemma Bowes highlights a new generation of European urban guesthouses offering “individual style, owners on hand with local tips – and great value.”
• Andrew Ferren reports on Madrid’s latest shopping street to become pedestrianized. As Street Becomes Sidewalk, and Shopping Blooms Ferren highlights the best of where to shop and what to buy in this Spanish city.
• “If there were a textbook case of a city that has been spoiled by tourism, then Prague should be it,” says Sophie Cooke in Reality Czech: an artist’s tour of Prague. But, “if you peel back the skin, it is very easy to find the old Prague…[it] has one of the most original and lively art scenes in Europe.”
  

ESCAPE

• “Heavenly. What a place, what a discovery, what a magical island.” Steven Berkoff soaks up the enduring appeal of the Italian island Capri.
• “Bermuda has lots to celebrate in 2009. Four hundred years ago, an English sailing vessel was shipwrecked on this mid-Atlantic archipelago, giving birth to the island nation of Bermuda, one that is now in full-swing party mode,” says David Lahuta in 36 Hours – Bermuda.
• If apartment and city living are leaving you feeling a little cramped – spending the night in a French chateaux could be just the answer. Lucy Golding takes us through military headquarters, hunting lodges and neo-classical piles in The Big Six: Modern French chateaux.
• “Ko Samui has had a truly horrible year. Economic crisis, political turmoil and swine-flu scares kept visitors away,” says Rob Ryan. If this hasn’t put you off, keep reading, as Ryan still finds plenty that’s good about the island. “The west and south coasts remain relatively uncrowded and peaceful…it has excellent offshore islands, including a stunning marine park, and a stock of top-notch hotels.” Come on, everyone – back to Ko Samui.
• Despite forecast rain and thunderstorms, Sankha Guha finds out Why the sun always shines on lucky Lucca – and along the way discovers pizza heaven, medieval hilltop villages, and (by a timely stroke of luck) fireworks.
  

OUTDOOR/ADVENTURE

• For a seaside BB with a difference, rent your own private yacht says Tom Robbins, discovering that it’s as cheap as a “grubby B&B on shore.” There is just one catch. You’re not actually allowed to sail the boat anywhere.
• Between paddling the Grand Canal and the Venice Lido, Teresa Machan takes “obligatory gelato stops and lazy lunches.”  In Kayaking in Venice: who needs a gondola? Machan writes, “0ne afternoon we paddled right into San Marco and bobbed about in a ’safe zone’ near the Doge’s Palace, grinning at the cheek of it.”
• It’s easy to be green in this pleasant town says Rhiannon Batten, of Llandeilo in the Brecon Beacons. Organic (and comfortable) mattresses, stylish eco-friendly B&Bs and home-grown Welsh tapas – responsible tourism doesn’t have to be tough.
• Stephen Regenold does 2 Days, 3 Nights, on a Path Named for a Devil in New York State. “The Devil’s Path, an east-to-west voyage along the spine of the Catskills, is often cited as the toughest hiking trail in the East. In 25 miles it ascends six major peaks, plunging into deep valleys between climbs.”

FOOD

• Kara O’Reilly finds out Where the world’s best chefs go to eat. Michel Roux Jr, Olvier Peyton, Terence Conran, Valentine Warner and more reveal their favourite places in the world for good food.
• The famously diverse city of Vancouver is “producing some delicious and affordable cuisines,” says Matt Gross. “Over four days, I pursued this accidental fusion style around Vancouver, and the quest led me down some strange and tasty paths.”  Asian Cuisine as Diverse as Vancouver highlights the best of Asian food in this Canadian city.
• “The journey alone to the borough of Brooklyn made it worth venturing out of Manhattan,” says Isabel Choat, taking a water-taxi across New York’s East River. Choat goes to Another side of New York: Brooklyn’s Red Hook, and discovers restaurants and bars worth making the trip for.

DIFFERENT CULTURES

• In Basque Country, Without Borders Sarah Wildman goes in search of the unique Basque culture driving the coastal roads along the south of France and the north of Spain. “I was bowled over by the depth, nuance and tenacity of Basque culture, so different, it seemed, from the mores of Spain and France.”
• “A new generation of Indian entrepreneurs and leaders are making their influence felt in tourism, bringing a sensitive, updated sensibility to hospitality, along with a renewed emphasis on authenticity,” writes Bonnie Tsui, as she visits “some of the most gorgeous, intriguing and remote places of Native American territory.” Finally, Navajo Nation opens window to its world.
• “The combination of the end of Ramadan, and the lowering of temperatures in the Gulf region towards something that most of us would consider tolerable, makes this a good time to plan a visit to Doha,” says Cathy Packe in 48 Hours In: Doha. “This rapidly changing city…has a surprising amount to offer, particularly as it gears up for its role as the Arab Capital of Culture in 2010.”
• Mishi Saran takes A ‘red tour’ of Shanghai. “This October the People’s Republic of China turns 60…By October, too, Shanghai’s sticky summer recedes and osmanthus blossoms exude perfumed clouds; it’s the perfect time to trace the heady, idealistic, early years of communism.”
• Peter Shadbolt reports on the surprises of China’s third city in Guangzhou’s revelations. “In terms of art, culture and food, Guangzhou has a raison d’être and a sense of continuity that Hong Kong can’t hope to match.”

Quick links:

• Art/design
• Eco
• Foodie
• City
• Outdoors/adventure
• Escape

Art/design

• In Concrete Dreams: France’s Housing Utopias Sally McGrane takes a new architecture tour around Lyon, including two Le Corbusier buildings, remarking that “the tours offer an everyday glimpse into a less-travelled side of France’s cities and suburbs.”
• In Zen and the art of rural regeneration Danielle Demetriou enjoys a drink with Anthony Gormley as she wanders around his new artwork for the Echigo-Tsumari Triennial, the world’s largest outdoor art festival in Japan: “I spent time drinking sake with some locals and the former residents of the house last night,” he said…”One 83-year-old woman who was born in this house lay down on the floor and stared at it for a long time before declaring that she liked it.”

Eco

• Kate Grubb, manager of Ecocabin reveals some of her insider knowledge in My Shropshire: a local’s guide.
• Green travel: 10 trips to break clean from daily life has great ideas for those who want an inspirational ‘clean break’ -  holidays that are the opposite of the ‘fly and flop’ style where you fly in and veg out for the duration of your stay.

Foodie

• There’s more to Danish dining than rashers and pastries claims Trine Hahnemann. She gives a handy overview to the best in current contemporary Danish cooking and urges you to try Lagkagehuset, at Christianshavns Torv. “I can recommend everything here…Try the kartoffelcake”
• Harry Eyres is enthused by the history of Armagnac and its brandy, visiting distilleries both old and modern in search of something that hits the spot.
• Ever wondered what mopanie worms taste like? Find out from Anissa Helou as she experiences The global flavours of South Africa.
• Rowley Leigh, head chef at Le Cafe Anglais reminisces on La Rosetta, an old restaurant loaded with memories, in Peace reigns in Perugia – “The gang…to my horror, they ordered 12 different pasta dishes…Somehow, extraordinarily, the kitchen produced all the dishes at the same time and to a uniformly high standard.”
• Maura J Casey goes Drinkless in Ireland: Pubs but No Pints and asks the question “for the tourist who doesn’t drink, is Ireland a country to be avoided?”
• A tapas pilgrimage in Spain is the account of Norman Miller’s intrepid tour around the bars of Logrono (capital of La Rioja) in search of the perfect tapas – “I’m secretly relieved that veal snout (morro de ternera), traditionally stewed with tripe, onion, garlic and chorizo, and skinned pig’s face (careta de cerdo) are both niche, home-cooked specialities I never got to try.”

City

• Patrick Healy visits Beirut, the Provincetown of the Middle East and presents an in-depth look into the gay scene in this increasingly tolerant city: “Beirut represents a different Middle East for some gay and lesbian Arabs: the only place in the region where they can openly enjoy a social life denied them at home.”
• Save or Splurge: Budapest – Evan Rail lays out your options whether you’re on a modest budget at $250 a day, or in the mood for spending big at $1000 a day.
• In Rising by a Tower in Istanbul Yigal Schleifer takes an insider-y look into Galata, an up-and-coming district in the city, noting the new places of interest that are springing up.
• For Ian Belcher Marseillan is The French port that’s like St Tropez before Bardot – “it’s the town’s protected 17th-century harbour that really captures the early Riviera vibe. Low-level houses laced with wrought-iron balconies and splattered with flowers swaddle a channel that jiggles with small boats and yachts, with a left bank of thriving restaurants and cafes.”
• Annabelle Thorpe questions where the true China is, in Suzhou, real China outside Shanghai – “Shanghai may be China’s future, but it is the sleepy, shabby streets of Suzhou that I remember most vividly — a rare glimpse of the country’s fascinating, and fast disappearing, past. “

Outdoors/Adventure

• Matthew Fishbane feels Above the Clouds in a Secret Colombia as he visits El Cocuy National Park: “Unlike congested climbing destinations like Kilimanjaro and Aconcagua, Cocuy, both remote and, until recently, risky to visit, has been South America’s undiscovered gem of mountaineering. “
• In All aboard the time machine Marcel Theroux travels in style, by train from Moscow to Russia’s White Sea, explaining “there’s no better way to appreciate the natural beauty and heartbreaking immensity of this extraordinary country.”
• David Baxter decides to Follow the Ebro – a highway through Spanish history (and the largest river in Spain), on bike whilst exploring the history of the local towns along the way.
• Mark Rowe eschews the crowds and picks The top 10 peaceful summer walks around the UK. Examples include Strawberry Line in Devon and Cordwell Valley in the Peak District
• This is the future of safaris says Chris Haslam, after spending time at the hi-tec Londolozi game reserve in Kenya where they’ve just taken delivery of a specialised photographic safari vehicle.
• Jeremy Lazell makes the best of a wet British summer and gives us 12 of the best British wildlife breaks: “Ospreys are fledging in Scotland, seals are pupping in Norfolk, gannet chicks are squawking off the stunning coast of Kerry. “

Escape

• In Sardinia: Entranced by the 10.23 to Tempio Marc Zakian rattles through the hills of Sardinia on the trenino (little train): ‘[it's] as good as its name; a pocket-size, twin-carriage affair that hardly seems big enough to make it out of the station, never mind taking on the gruelling gradients ahead of us”
• Clover Stroud plays at being Scarlett O’Hara in Carolina, USA: Alligators and Southern hospitality, staying at Palmetto Bluff, a 20,000-acre nature reserve on the May River.