Top Stories
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Where does the world’s largest aircraft A380 mostly fly? Asia, of course
TransportThere are 103 A380s in service as of early May-2013. Emirates has 33 and Singapore Airlines has 19, so when assessing network scheduling, these two and their hubs predominate: of the 1,048 weekly A380 flights, 402 are from Emirates alone. Dubai and Singapore airport see the most A380 flights. But there are some less predictable [...]
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Asian hotel groups fight for their share of China’s growing tourism sector
DestinationsThe Carlyle hotel overlooking New York’s Central Park exudes glamour, history and, most of all, fabulous wealth. And for nearly two years, it has been owned and run by the Hong Kong family behind one of China’s most common high-street jewellery chains. The Cheng family, which runs New World Group, made its fortune with the Chow [...]
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Fashion brands flock to Hong Kong to greet shopaholic Chinese tourists
DestinationsArmed with empty suitcases and same-day return tickets, an army of mainland Chinese is descending on suburban outlet shopping malls and international fashion chains in Hong Kong, turning cheap into the new chic as luxury falls out of favor. Wealthy Chinese used to stop over in Hong Kong for a few days to pick up [...]
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Pakistan’s ailing trains show a country a long way from getting on track
DestinationsFor all the wonders offered by a train journey across Pakistan — a country of jaw-dropping landscapes, steeped in a rich history and filled with unexpected pleasures — it also presents some deeply troubling images. At every major stop on the long line from Peshawar, in the northwest, to the turbulent port city of Karachi, [...]
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Falling yen in Japan is leading to rising tourism numbers
DestinationsAttention, bargain-hunters around the world: Japanese goods — from cars to televisions — are going on sale. Credit Japan’s drive to pump cash into its economy to stimulate growth. The extra money flooding its financial system is helping shrink the value of the yen. A U.S. dollar now buys about 100 yen. Last fall, it [...]
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Indian circuses struggle to stay alive without children and wild animals
DestinationsIn the early morning heat and dust, daily practice at the Rambo Circus is in full swing. A trapeze creaks as two performers perfect their throws. A Colombian daredevil shouts to his colleagues scrambling atop a giant set of spinning wheels called the Ring of Death. Looking on with worry is circus manager John Matthew. [...]
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China prime minister worries tourists are ruining country’s reputation abroad
DestinationsWhile tour operators and department stores from New York to Paris court Chinese visitors to boost their coffers, one of the country’s top leaders has warned that ill-behaved tourists are damaging the national image. Wang Yang, one of China’s four deputy prime ministers, said that while other countries had welcomed Chinese tourism, the quality of [...]
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The Chinese firm that wants to cram an entire city into the world’s tallest building
DestinationsA Chinese firm best known for building air conditioning units is constructing a vertical city. Broad Sustainable Construction (BSB) said this week that next month it will finally break ground on its the tower that will not only be the world’s tallest but could, according to BSB, become a model for how China deals with mass urbanization. The 838-meter-tall (2,749 [...]
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Military flight restrictions in China are a major threat to airline growth
TransportChina’s skies don’t have enough space. The country’s air force controls airspace and allots only 20 percent to civil aviation. With China’s three biggest airlines planning to add at least 273 planes in the next three years, traffic congestion that already delays 25 percent of flights is set to worsen. “At present, the limited airspace [...]
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Tokyo is the world’s most dynamic food city, even without the Michelin stars
DestinationsIn 2007, Michelin published its first-ever restaurant guide to Tokyo and awarded the city more stars than even Paris. Jean-Luc Naret, Michelin’s editorial director at the time, was emphatic: Tokyo, he said, was “by far the world’s capital of gastronomy,” a comment that seemed as much an indictment of Paris, and of France, as it [...]
