January 12, 2010
By CHOE SANG-HUN
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea on Monday proposed talks with the United States to reach a formal peace treaty that would replace the truce that halted the Korean War 57 years ago, indicating that it would not give up its nuclear weapons until Washington signed such an accord.
North Korea said peace talks should be held either as part of the six-nation talks that focus on ending its nuclear weapons program or as a separate negotiation. But the North also warned that it would not return to six-nation talks — from which it withdrew last April — unless the United Nations lifted sanctions imposed after the North’s nuclear and ballistic missile tests last year.
The North had previously proposed peace negotiations with the United States and South Korea. But its latest overture came as it was trying to shift the focus of the six-nation talks, where a peace treaty had been set aside until North Korea made significant progress toward dismantling its nuclear weapons program.
“If a peace treaty is signed, it will help resolve hostile relations between North Korea and the United States and speed up the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” the North Korean Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by the North’s state-run news agency, K.C.N.A.
After years of unsuccessful talks with Washington, North Korea said it concluded that all agreements were bound to collapse unless the two sides built mutual “trust.” To build such confidence, the statement said, “It is essential to conclude a peace treaty for terminating the state of war, a root cause of the hostile relations.”
The statement reiterated North Korea’s contention that it would not have built nuclear weapons if the United States had assured it of peace.
Stephen W. Bosworth, President Obama’s special representative on North Korea, who visited the capital, Pyongyang, last month, said the United States could discuss a peace treaty and other incentives only when the process of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula had gained “significant traction.”
Last week, Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan of South Korea denounced what he called the North’s “unrealistic” demand that the United States negotiate a peace treaty before the North considers relinquishing its nuclear weapons.
“That’s like saying it will never give up its nuclear programs, or it is a delaying tactic” to buy time to further its nuclear programs, he said.
On Monday, North Korea suggested that peace talks be held among the signatories of the Korean War armistice: the American-led United Nations Command in Seoul, China and North Korea. South Korea refused to sign the truce, but Seoul and Washington insist that any peace talks include the South.
Between 1997 and 1999, the two Koreas, the United States and China held six rounds of peace talks that produced no agreement because the North insisted on the withdrawal of American troops from South Korea and an end to joint United States-South Korean military exercises.
“With its peace proposal, North Korea is trying to gain the initiative as it prepares to return to six-nation talks,” said Kim Yong-hyun, a North Korea analyst at Dongguk University in Seoul. Mr. Kim expected some haggling between Pyongyang and Seoul over whether South Korea should be included.
Earlier Monday, Robert R. King, Mr. Obama’s envoy on North Korean human rights issues, said during a visit to Seoul that the North’s “appalling” human rights situation would impede any efforts to normalize ties.
He also called Monday for the release of Robert Park, a Korean-American missionary who crossed into North Korea late last month to demand the release of an estimated 160,000 political prisoners held in labor camps, according to his supporters in Seoul.
North Korea has confirmed that it has detained an American citizen but has not identified him by name.
Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company
Monday, January 11, 2010
JAPAN: Coming-of-age ceremonies held nationwide
Coming-of-age ceremonies were held nationwide Monday, a national holiday, to celebrate the accession to adulthood of those who have reached 20 years old. In Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, a ceremony was held at Tokyo Disneyland, with Mickey Mouse and other Disney characters congratulating some 1,100 young people on their official arrival to adulthood.
It was the ninth Disneyland ceremony by the municipality, in which 70 percent of its citizens who have newly reached adulthood took part.
It was the ninth Disneyland ceremony by the municipality, in which 70 percent of its citizens who have newly reached adulthood took part.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
JAPAN: 10 Must-See Attractions in Fukuoka
posted in: Asia | posted by: Ian Harrison on January 9, 2010
With a collective apology to Sapporo, Kyoto, Tokyo and Osaka, the city in Japan that incites more praise for livability, sustainability and green space is the capital of Fukuoka Prefecture.
The city of more than 1.5 million is just across Busan, South Korea on the Korea Strait. Though the city of Kitakyushu, a mere 90 minute commute from the capital, has won national acclaim for anti-pollution measures, Fukuoka is the most notable destination in the prefecture.
Check out ten must-see attractions in the most populous city on the island of Kyushu.
10. Ohori Park
The Chuo ward of Fukuoka is home to some of the best points of interest in the city. The eclectic Fukuoka Art Museum for one, as well as the city zoo and botanical garden. One must however, take a stroll in gorgeous Ohori Park, a favorite spot with locals.
9. Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
Baseball is the national pastime of Japan and Fukuoka has one of the best teams in the country. Head to Yahoo! Japan Dome to support the SoftBank Hawks for a memorable experience.
8. Momochi Beach
Fukuoka is on the Kyushu coast and while we do recommend visitors to get out and explore beyond the city, at the very least, head to Momochi Beach. Near the Fukuoka Dome and massive seaside Fukuoka Tower, the beach is a good place to cool off in the hot summer months.
7. ACROS Fukuoka
Built in 1995, the Asian CrossRoads Over the Sea convention and cultural center is a popular tourist attraction in downtown Fukuoka. The architectural triumph is a strange, innovative confluence of skyscraper and urban park.
6. Hakata Machiya Folk Museum
A rare Meiji era landmark is the home of the Hakata Machiya Folk Museum, a wonderful yet diminutive exhibit on late 19th-century life on the island of Kyushu and city of Fukuoka.
5. Tenjin
The downtown core of Fukuoka is indeed the financial heart of the city but is a popular tourist draw for many reasons. The cluster of malls in Tenjin is one of the most impressive in Japan, to start with. A serpentine underground arcade makes exploration of the myriad shops and department stores in the district a snap. Fortunately, weary shoppers can stay in Tenjin when hunger strikes. The area is full of phenomenal izakaya pubs.
4. Fukuoka Asian Art Museum
While the contemporary art on display at the Fukuoka Art Museum is notable, the permanent collection at the Asian Art Museum is without peer on the continent.
3. Mitoma Beach
The advice to get out of Fukuoka proper to explore the coastline, Setonaikai National Park and the ramen noodles of Kurume for example, makes sense when you reach Mitoma Beach. A short ride from the city, the beach has waves decent enough to surf.
2. Genko Historical Museum
Genko Historical Museum chronicles the era of Mongol invasions in Japan and features a slew of artifacts that date as far back as the 13th century. A good reason to visit Higashi Koen park.
1. Kyushu National Museum
One of the most important national museums in Japan, Kyushu National Museum traces the development of the island and indeed, the prefecture and city of Fukuoka.
With a collective apology to Sapporo, Kyoto, Tokyo and Osaka, the city in Japan that incites more praise for livability, sustainability and green space is the capital of Fukuoka Prefecture.
The city of more than 1.5 million is just across Busan, South Korea on the Korea Strait. Though the city of Kitakyushu, a mere 90 minute commute from the capital, has won national acclaim for anti-pollution measures, Fukuoka is the most notable destination in the prefecture.
Check out ten must-see attractions in the most populous city on the island of Kyushu.
10. Ohori Park
The Chuo ward of Fukuoka is home to some of the best points of interest in the city. The eclectic Fukuoka Art Museum for one, as well as the city zoo and botanical garden. One must however, take a stroll in gorgeous Ohori Park, a favorite spot with locals.
9. Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
Baseball is the national pastime of Japan and Fukuoka has one of the best teams in the country. Head to Yahoo! Japan Dome to support the SoftBank Hawks for a memorable experience.
8. Momochi Beach
Fukuoka is on the Kyushu coast and while we do recommend visitors to get out and explore beyond the city, at the very least, head to Momochi Beach. Near the Fukuoka Dome and massive seaside Fukuoka Tower, the beach is a good place to cool off in the hot summer months.
7. ACROS Fukuoka
Built in 1995, the Asian CrossRoads Over the Sea convention and cultural center is a popular tourist attraction in downtown Fukuoka. The architectural triumph is a strange, innovative confluence of skyscraper and urban park.
6. Hakata Machiya Folk Museum
A rare Meiji era landmark is the home of the Hakata Machiya Folk Museum, a wonderful yet diminutive exhibit on late 19th-century life on the island of Kyushu and city of Fukuoka.
5. Tenjin
The downtown core of Fukuoka is indeed the financial heart of the city but is a popular tourist draw for many reasons. The cluster of malls in Tenjin is one of the most impressive in Japan, to start with. A serpentine underground arcade makes exploration of the myriad shops and department stores in the district a snap. Fortunately, weary shoppers can stay in Tenjin when hunger strikes. The area is full of phenomenal izakaya pubs.
4. Fukuoka Asian Art Museum
While the contemporary art on display at the Fukuoka Art Museum is notable, the permanent collection at the Asian Art Museum is without peer on the continent.
3. Mitoma Beach
The advice to get out of Fukuoka proper to explore the coastline, Setonaikai National Park and the ramen noodles of Kurume for example, makes sense when you reach Mitoma Beach. A short ride from the city, the beach has waves decent enough to surf.
2. Genko Historical Museum
Genko Historical Museum chronicles the era of Mongol invasions in Japan and features a slew of artifacts that date as far back as the 13th century. A good reason to visit Higashi Koen park.
1. Kyushu National Museum
One of the most important national museums in Japan, Kyushu National Museum traces the development of the island and indeed, the prefecture and city of Fukuoka.
EAST ASIA: The 31 Places to Go in 2010
Several destinations in East Asia made the list: Seoul, Shanghai and Shenzhen.
-HHC
January 10, 2010
1. Sri Lanka
For a quarter century, Sri Lanka seems to have been plagued by misfortune, including a brutal civil war between the Sinhalese majority and Tamil minority. But the conflict finally ended last May, ushering in a more peaceful era for this teardrop-shaped island off India’s coast, rich in natural beauty and cultural splendors.
The island, with a population of just 20 million, feels like one big tropical zoo: elephants roam freely, water buffaloes idle in paddy fields and monkeys swing from trees. And then there’s the pristine coastline. The miles of sugary white sand flanked by bamboo groves that were off-limits to most visitors until recently are a happy, if unintended byproduct of the war.
Among the most scenic, if difficult stretches to reach, is Nilaveli Beach in the Tamil north. While a few military checkpoints remain, vacationers can lounge on poolside hammocks under palm trees or snorkel in its crystal-clear waters. Or they can order cocktails at the Nilaveli Beach Hotel (www.tangerinehotels.com/nilavelibeach), a collection of recently renovated bungalows with private terraces.
An international airport in Matara, on the island’s southern shore, is under construction, which will make the gorgeous beaches near the seaside village of Galle easier to get to. Decimated by the tsunami in 2004, the surrounding coastline is now teeming with stylish guesthouses and boutique hotels.
Unawatuna, a crescent-shaped beach a few miles south of Galle, may be furthest along. Higher-end hotels there include Thambapanni Retreat (www.thambapanni.biz), which features four-poster beds, yoga and an ayurvedic spa. The Sun House (www.thesunhouse.com), in Galle, looks like a place where the Queen of England might stay, with its mango courtyard and colonial décor. One stylish place tucked within Galle’s city walls is the Galle Fort Hotel (www.galleforthotel.com), a refurbished gem merchant’s house run by a couple of Aussies. — Lionel Beehner
2. Patagonia Wine Country
Ten years ago, a group of adventurous winemakers set their sights on an Argentine valley called San Patricio del Chañar, an unusually fertile and eerily beautiful corner of Patagonia. They plowed, planted and waited. The outcome? A blossoming wine country with delicious pinot noirs and malbecs and smartly designed wineries.
One of the area’s pioneers, the 2,000-acre Bodega del Fin del Mundo (www.bodegadelfindelmundo.com), which works with the influential wine consultant Michel Rolland, is racking up international medals for its complex merlot, cabernet and malbec blends. And NQN (bodeganqn.com.ar), which is associated with the Argentine oenologist Roberto de la Mota, has seen its 2006 Colección NQN Malbec get 92 points from Wine Enthusiast. Nearby is the new Valle Perdido winery (www.valleperdido.com.ar), which includes an 18-room resort surrounded by vineyards. At the spa, ask for antioxidant wine-infused treatments. — Paola Singer
3. Seoul
Forget Tokyo. Design aficionados are now heading to Seoul.
They have been drawn by the Korean capital’s glammed-up cafes and restaurants, immaculate art galleries and monumental fashion palaces like the sprawling outpost of Milan’s 10 Corso Como and the widely noted Ann Demeulemeester store — an avant-garde Chia Pet covered in vegetation.
And now Seoul, under its design-obsessed mayor, Oh Se-hoon, is the 2010 World Design Capital. The title, bestowed by a prominent council of industrial designers, means a year’s worth of design parties, exhibitions, conferences and other revelries. Most are still being planned (go to wdc2010.seoul.go.kr for updates). A highlight will no doubt be the third annual Seoul Design Fair (Sept. 17 to Oct. 7), the city’s answer to the design weeks in Milan and New York, which last year drew 2.5 million people and featured a cavalcade of events under two enormous inflatable structures set up at the city’s Olympic stadium. — Aric Chen
4. Mysore
You’ve completed 200 hours of teacher training, mastered flying crow pose and even spent a week at yoga surf camp. What’s next? Yogis seeking transcontinental bliss head these days to Mysore, the City of Palaces, in southern India.
The yogi pilgrimage was sparked by Ashtanga yoga, a rigorous sweat-producing, breath-synchronized regimen of poses popularized by the beloved Krishna Pattabhi Jois, who died at 94 in 2009. Mr. Jois’s grandson is now director of the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute (www.kpjayi.org). First month’s tuition is 27,530 rupees, or $600 at 46 rupees to the dollar. Classes generally require a one-month commitment.
Too much time or money? Mysore’s yoga boom now has shalas catering to every need. Off the mat, the yoga tribe hobnobs at Anu’s Bamboo Hut or the Regaalis Hotel pool, studies Sanskrit, gets an ayurveda treatment or tours the maharaja’s palace. — Mary Billard
5. Copenhagen
As thousands of environmentalists heckled world leaders in Copenhagen last month for the climate summit, a solitary unifying note could be heard amid the cacophony of discord: the Danish capital has already emerged as one of the world’s greenest — and maybe coolest — cities.
Copenhageners don’t simply preach the “progressive city” ethos, they live it. Long, flat urban thoroughfares are hemmed with bicycle paths where locals glide around the city, tourists saddle up on the free bikes that dot the city center, and fashion bloggers take notes on the latest cycle chic (see copenhagencyclechic.com). Over in the harbor district, a public bath at Osterbro, due to open in 2010, will complement the two swimming areas set off on Copenhagen’s inner harbor, a formerly polluted waterway recently transformed into the city’s summertime hub.
Away from all the modernism and the happy cyclists, cultural thrill-seekers are being coaxed to the once dangerous district of Norrebro, which has arguably become Copenhagen’s edgiest hub. A heady mix of hipsters, students and immigrants mingle in the cafes and galleries around the district’s focal square, Sankt Hans Torv, and the city’s young and excitable night owls can be found dancing in local clubs until the early hours. — Benji Lanyado
WAITING IN THE WINGS
6. Koh Kood
Is this the next Koh Samui? The Trat islands are emerging as Thailand’s new luxury outpost. Inaccessible for many years because of tensions with neighboring Cambodia and a poor transportation infrastructure, islands like Koh Kood are starting to draw venturesome paradise seekers, thanks in part to new direct flights to the port city of Trat. The recent opening of Soneva Kiri, a 42-villa suite retreat by the Six Senses brand (www.sixsenses.com/Soneva-Kiri), definitely ratchets up the high-end quotient on this Robinson Crusoe-like island. Coming soon: X2 Koh Kood (www.x2resorts.com), a designer eco-resort with 14 pool villas. — Gisela Williams
7. Damascus
The next Marrakesh? Perhaps mindful of the way that renovations of historic riads have drawn upscale travelers to Marrakesh, Damascus hoteliers are trying to mine tourism gold in the rundown buildings of the Syrian capital’s Old City. These 18th-century homes — many with inviting courtyards and rooftop terraces — are now boutique hotels, like the nine-room Old Vine (www.oldvinehotel.com) and the Hanania (www.hananiahotel.com), which doubles as a hotel and a small museum. — Don Duncan
8. Cesme
The next Bodrum? While revelers continue to descend upon that seaside retreat, another corner of Turkey’s Aegean coastline has begun to emerge as a stylish alternative: the once-sleepy villages of the Cesme Peninsula. The main draw is Alacati, a sheltered beach town that last summer was the site of the Professional Windsurfers Association Slalom World Cup. Scheduled to open in the spring, the seven-room Hotel Nars Alacati (www.nars.com.tr), set in a converted 19th-century mansion, promises to become the popular weekend gathering spot for Istanbul’s smart set, along with the adjoining garden restaurant, Mesa Luna. — Andrew Ferren
9. Antarctica
This may be the last year that Antarctica is open to mass tourism — not because the ice is melting too fast (though it is), but because of restrictions that would severely curtail travel around the fragile continent.
Until recently, most vessels passing through Antarctica were limited to scientific expeditions, but an exploding number of tourists now flock to what is arguably the world’s last great wilderness. The tourism boom, scientists argue, poses a major environmental threat. Indeed, several passenger ships have run aground in recent years.
Countries that manage Antarctica are calling for limits on the number of tourist ships, for fortified hulls that can withstand sea ice and for a ban on the use of so-called heavy oils. A ban on heavy oil, which is expected to be adopted by the International Maritime Organization later this year, would effectively block big cruise ships.
With the new rules taking effect within two years, tour operators are promoting 2010 as the last year to visit Antarctica, while, at the same time, procuring lighter vessels that would be permitted. Abercrombie & Kent, for example, is introducing a new ship, Le Boreal (www.abercrombiekent.com), which its public relations firm argues “meets all the environmental regulations, so access to Antarctica via A&K will not be affected.”
Launching this year, the compact luxury ship holds 199 passengers and features an outdoor heated pool, steam rooms and private balconies that offer intimate views of some of the world’s remaining glaciers. — Denny Lee
10. Leipzig
In 2010, Leipzig, a small industrial city in the former East Germany with an illustrious past, will be marking the 325th anniversary of the birth of its former resident Johann Sebastian Bach and the 200th birthday of Robert Schumann with concerts, festivals and a reopened Bach Museum (www.bach-leipzig.de).
But the city’s cultural high note is likely to be the Neo Rauch retrospective opening in April at the Leipzig Museum of Fine Arts (www.mdbk.de), a show devoted to the father of the New Leipzig School of artists, a scene that for the past decade has been the toast of the contemporary art world. The art cognoscenti will also make their way to the Spinnerei (www.spinnerei.de), a former cotton mill that is home to 11 galleries, a cafe and a quirky new pension called the Meisterzimmer (www.meisterzimmer.de), with rooms starting at 50 euros, or $70 at $1.40 to the euro.
The city is also making a splash on the musical front. Moon Harbour Recordings and Kann Records, two indie labels producing innovative electronica from D.J.’s, are based here. Sevensol and Matthias Tanzmann will undoubtedly be lugging their laptops to Leipzig Pop Up (www.leipzig-popup.de), a trade fair and music festival taking place in May. Otherwise, gigs can be heard year-round in the city’s underbelly of abandoned factories and squats that look a lot like Berlin — maybe 10 years ago. — Gisela Williams
11. Los Angeles
Visitors love to bemoan the lack of an old-fashioned cultural neighborhood in Los Angeles. In truth, the city has as many thriving art spots as it does ZIP codes. Last October, the pioneering Culver City gallery Blum & Poe (2727 South La Cienega Boulevard; 310-836-2062; www.blumandpoe.com) inaugurated an airy 21,000-square-foot space; in July, the veteran local dealer Thomas Solomon (427 Bernard Street; 323-427-1687; www.thomassolomongallery.com) opened a space in Chinatown. And the powerhouse New York galleries L&M Arts and Matthew Marks are scheduled to open prominent spaces in 2010.
Local museums, many of which struggled financially in recent years, are back afloat. The Museum of Contemporary Art (www.moca.org) is celebrating its 30th birthday with a huge exhibition of 500 highlights from its outstanding collection of postwar art. In October, the vast Los Angeles County Museum of Art (www.lacma.org) will get even bigger when it unveils a Renzo Piano-designed addition to its multiacre mid-Wilshire campus. And the billionaire collector Eli Broad, who has been both savior and villain to just about every major museum in town, is now looking to plant his own museum in Beverly Hills, Santa Monica or a third unnamed location. — Andrew Ferren
12. Shanghai
To many, the idea of a World Expo might seem like a dated, superfluous throwback from some preglobalized age. (Remember the one in Aichi, Japan? Enough said.) But tell that to the 70 million who are expected to attend Expo 2010 in Shanghai.
This is China, after all. And following up on Beijing’s spectacular Olympics, Shanghai is pulling out all the stops. From May 1 to Oct. 31, more than 200 national and other pavilions will straddle the city’s Huangpu River, turning a two-square-mile site into an architectural playground: Switzerland will be represented by a building shaped like a map of that country, complete with a rooftop chairlift, while England is in the celebrated hands of the designer Thomas Heatherwick, who is fashioning what looks like a big, hairy marshmallow. Other attention grabbers include Macao, taking the form of a walk-through bunny, and the United Arab Emirates, which hired Foster + Partners to build a “sand dune.” (By contrast, the United States pavilion might be mistaken for a suburban office park.)
In the run-up to the Expo, Shanghai seems to have taken this year’s theme, “Better City, Better Life,” to heart, spending tens of billions of dollars to upgrade the city. The riverfront Bund promenade is getting a makeover with parks and pedestrian-friendly sidewalks, while the subway is being dramatically expanded — including several new stations serving the World Expo site. — Aric Chen
13. Mumbai
On the one-year anniversary of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, citizens painted a one-kilometer stretch of wall in South Mumbai with murals to show their love and hope for the city. The initiative, by a group of organizations that included the Mumbai Arts Project (MAP), which is dedicated to creating public art projects, is just one sign that Mumbai’s art scene is on the rebound.
A walk through the newly dubbed Colaba Art District yields no fewer than five contemporary art galleries. In the second half of 2009, two contemporary galleries opened: Gallery BMB (www.gallerybmb.com), which brought in big-name artists from around the globe for its first show (look for an exhibition focusing on new Indian women artists, starting on Feb. 8), and Volte (www.volte.in), a gallery, cafe and bookstore. Just down the street is Project 88 (www.project88.in), an outpost of Gallery 88 in Calcutta, focused on up-and-coming Indian and South Asian artists. The large, simple one-room space will show the artist Hemali Bhuta with an installation on the ceiling and archival prints on the walls, starting Jan. 18. Also nearby is Gallery Maskara (www.gallerymaskara.com), in a converted cotton storehouse; starting March 15, the space will host paintings, sculpture and watercolors by T. Venkanna, a popular artist based in nearby Vadodara. — Lindsay Clinton
14. Minorca
While the beat of disco pounds in Ibiza and Majorca, their quiet sister Minorca offers a tranquil contrast to the glitz next door. The entire island is a Unesco Biosphere Reserve, so the Spanish megahotel development frenzy of the last decade has largely skipped over this patch of the Mediterranean. That means miles of beaches —some 120 of them, in fact, like the northern sweep of crystal-clear swimming waters in the coves called Cala d’Algaiarens, with fine sand and rolling dunes. And Minorca’s eco-diversity extends well beyond the coasts: forests, deep gorges, wetlands, salt marshes and hillsides covered in lush greenery that sometimes look more New England than Mediterranean. Even the island’s sun-bleached towns — Mahón and Ciutadella, each combining elements of their British colonial heritage, Moorish roots and modern Spanish identity — are more peaceful than their Majorcan equivalents.
The ideal visit to Minorca celebrates islanders’ emphasis on agritourism — sleeping in rural establishments like Ca Na Xini (www.canaxini.com), a dairy farm that offers an eight-room temple to modernism inside the shell of a century-old manor home. It’s like spring break for eco-conscious adults. — Sarah Wildman
15. Costa Rica
Costa Rica has been on any eco-minded traveler’s radar for years, but with a new birding route in the northeast region of the country, there’s a new reason to pay the country a visit. Opened in early 2009, the Costa Rican Bird Route (www.costaricanbirdroute.com) encompasses 13 far-flung nature reserves with phenomenal avian diversity — the sites are home to more than 500 bird species. Travelers can explore the route on their own with a map ($12.95 when ordered online) or hire a local guide to lead the way. The most popular leg of the route centers on the Sarapiquí-San Carlos region, one of the last remaining habitats of the endangered and prized great green macaw. The landscape along the route runs from wetlands and river explorations to high rain forest canopies and waterfalls; birders can visit renowned tropical biological research stations, stay in newly built eco-lodges and hike or canoe through local family-run reserves in search of rare raptors, herons and kingfishers. — Bonnie Tsui
16. Marrakesh
The ancient walls of Marrakesh must have protected the city from the global recession. Luxury boutique hotels, which began opening a few years ago, are now popping like Champagne corks over this historic and atmospheric North African city.
La Mamounia, a famed playground for celebrities like Mick Jagger and Charlie Chaplin, reopened in November after a $176 million face-lift by the Parisian designer Jacques Garcia (www.mamounia.com). At its dazzling launch party, Jennifer Aniston, Orlando Bloom and Gwyneth Paltrow walked the red carpet, José Carreras sang, and Cirque du Soleil acrobats wrapped in Christmas lights scaled the hotel walls.
“There was caviar galore,” said Sandra Zwollo, a Dutch expatriate who lived in La Mamounia for three years. “And not only does the new La Mamounia reflect what is happening in Marrakesh at the moment, it is greatly contributing to it.”
Ms. Zwollo herself is adding to the glamour of the city. Later this month, she plans to open Harem (www.harem-escape.com), a wellness retreat just for women, set on a stunning 12-acre estate in the city’s outskirts surrounded by olive and palm groves.
But it all pales in comparison to the palatial Royal Mansour, scheduled to open in 2010. Owned by King Mohammed VI of Morocco, who is largely responsible for the country’s newfound glamour, the jaw-dropping resort is built along the city’s ancient walls and has been designed almost like a mini-medina with Andalusian-style courtyards. The 20,000-square-foot royal suite will have a private swimming pool, home theater, gym and private hammam. The resort will also feature three restaurants overseen by the three-star Michelin chef Yannick Alléno.
There’s more. By the end of 2010, the Mandarin Oriental Jnan Rahma, which looks like something out of a Merchant-Ivory movie, and a 140-room Four Seasons are both expected to open, while a Rocco Forte resort and W Hotel are in the works for 2011. — Gisela Williams
17. Las Vegas
Despite a 4 percent drop in visitors in 2009, and the fact that several Las Vegas hotels have drastically slashed their rates to attract bargain-seeking travelers, a number of ambitious developers seem to think there is still money to be made in Sin City.
CityCenter, MGM’s $8.5 billion, 67-acre resort complex, is the Strip’s biggest headliner in 2010. Four of the six planned properties opened in December, including three hotels and a 500,000-square-foot luxury shopping mall (www.citycenter.com). The residential Veer Towers and the Harmon, a 400-room boutique hotel, are scheduled to open this year. The complex also houses Haze, a 25,000-square-foot nightclub, and Cirque du Soleil’s seventh show, “Viva Elvis,” a tribute to the king of rock ’n’ roll.
This summer, the Encore, a Steve Wynn property, is unveiling an entertainment complex and “beach club” (complete with three pools and V.I.P. cabanas)., and a new nightclub, Surrender. A five-pool addition to Garden of the Gods Pool Oasis at Caesars Palace, set to open in March, will feature swim-up gaming and an 18-foot waterfall. The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, which unveiled its Paradise Tower in July, added the all-suite HRH Tower in late December, as well as Vanity, a 14,000-square-foot nightclub. — Allison Busacca
18. Bahia
All eyes will turn to sultry Rio de Janeiro when it hosts the 2016 Olympic Games, but right now Brazil’s white-hot destination may be the northeastern state of Bahia. With its distinctive African-influenced flavors, cultural diversity, palm-fringed beaches and a new crop of chic hotels, the region is fast emerging as a jet-set playground.
In the village of Trancoso, a hideaway that gets more fashionable by the minute, the Dutch designer Wilbert Das (longtime creative director of the Diesel label) opened Uxua Casa Hotel (www.uxua.com) using recycled materials including old roof tiles and abandoned fishing boats. The hotel’s colorful casas and lush gardens were a canvas for the 2010 Pirelli calendar, shot by the bad-boy photographer Terry Richardson. Speaking of the town’s rising cachet, a luxury Fasano resort — with 30 beachfront villas, a restaurant and a spa — is in the works.
In Salvador, known for its pulsing street carnival and the historic Pelourinho district, head to one of the city’s boutique lodgings. Zank (www.zankhotel.com.br) recently opened in the residential Rio Vermelho section and seamlessly blends modern and classic styles, with exceptional views of the Atlantic Ocean just steps away. Nearby is the Pestana Bahia Lodge (www.pestana.com), with a hilltop infinity pool and sunny sea-view rooms. While there, don’t miss “The Kiss” and “The Thinker” by Auguste Rodin, on temporary view at the Palacete das Artes (palacetedasartesrodinbahia.blogspot.com), which opened a gallery devoted to the French sculptor. — Paolo Singer
19. Istanbul
The reputation of Istanbul’s contemporary art scene has been steadily growing in recent years, with the Web site ArtKnowledgeNews.com recently calling it “one of the most innovative in the world.” That reputation is bound to be burnished even more this year, now that Istanbul has been named the 2010 European Capital of Culture (a designation it shares with Essen, Germany, and Pecs, Hungary).
There will be a series of events, gallery shows and stage performances throughout the city to mark the occasion. (A complete list of events can be found at en.istanbul2010.org/index.htm.)
But one of the best ways to get a crash course in what Istanbul’s leading artists are up to right now is to spend some time wandering around the Misir Apartments (311/4 Istiklal Cadessi), right on the busy pedestrian thoroughfare that cuts through the trendy Beygolu neighborhood. Inside this elegant, early-20th-century building are some of the city’s most cutting-edge art venues, like Galerist (www.galerist.com.tr) and Gallerie Nev (www.galerinevistanbul.com)
Afterward, head to the rooftop terrace and have a drink at 360 Istanbul, a stylish bar and restaurant that offers stunning views of the city’s skyline (360istanbul.com). — Stuart Emmrich
20. Shenzhen
Chances are, the iPod in your pocket was made in Shenzhen, China. But this industrial powerhouse of a city on the Pearl River Delta in the southern region of the country, is more than just a factory town of sweatshops and bad smog — and it has the high-class hotels and high rollers to prove it.
Shenzhen is one of China’s wealthiest cities, right up there with Shanghai and Beijing. Situated just a one-hour bullet train ride north of Hong Kong, the thriving city exemplifies China’s breakneck transformation from peasant economy to capitalist giant. Its rapid rise can be traced back to 1979, when Deng Xiaoping selected the sleepy fishing port as a special economic zone. Money, bulldozers and cheap labor poured in. Dim sum joints and illicit massage parlors gave way to gleaming shopping malls and faceless skyscrapers. A city of 14 million sprang up seemingly overnight.
So did a new travel destination. A 491-room Grand Hyatt (1881 Baoan Nan Road; www.shenzhen.grand.hyatt.com), with bay views, recently opened, joining the ranks of the Kempinski Hotel Shenzhen (Hai De San Dao, Hou Hai Bin Road; www.kempinski.com/shenzhen) and a Shangri-La (1002 Jianshe Road; www.shangri-la.com/shenzhen). Even late-night massage parlors have gone upscale and legit. The Queen Spa (Chunfeng Road; www.queenspa.cn) has sleeping pods, a theater and a juice bar — all for under $15 a night — plus massages that start at about $25.
Affordable luxuries extend to shopping and eating. The jumble of stalls at Dongmen are clogged with pirated DVDs and knock-off handbags, while there are new fashionable restaurants in Shekou, a leafy district with an expatriate flavor. Shenzhen is getting greener, too. The city recently welcomed the first LEED-certified building in southern China: the aptly named Horizontal Skyscraper, billed to be as long as the Empire State Building is tall. — Lionel Beehner
21. Macedonia
One of the deepest lakes on the planet, with a dazzling Unesco World Heritage site of ancient dwellings rising high above its shores, Lake Ohrid in Macedonia is a local vacation star poised for greater international acclaim.
In the tiered, terra-cotta-roofed city of Ohrid, 18 miles from the Albanian border, a lakefront settlement dating back to Neolithic times, Macedonians boast that on their side of the lake is a church, monastery or mosque for every day of the year, each full of resplendent frescoes, mosaics and icons. Notable attractions include the recently renovated church of St. Clement and St. Panteleimon at Plaosnik, an epic Byzantine masterpiece, and the 13th-century St. John of Kaneo, a limestone and brick monastery that juts out over transparent blue waters.
An estimated $50 million renovation of the Ohrid Airport is planned for 2010, with more international flights expected by summer, and up to six new luxury hotels are in the works, including a $33 million property with construction scheduled to begin in March. Tourist attractions on Ohrid’s beaches were upgraded last year with swank bars and dining spots complimented by bamboo and leather couchettes, with the hot spot Cuba Libre (www.cubalibreohrid.com) leading the way.
Meanwhile, new government-financed archaeological digs around the lake regularly unearth treasures, like the 17 fifth-century tombs discovered last July. The find follows the 2008 opening of the Museum on Water, a re-created Bronze Age village built on stilts incorporating Ohrid artifacts. — Dinah Spritzer
22. South Africa
As host of the 2010 World Cup this summer, South Africa has gotten its game on with a flurry of new stadiums, new hotels and safari lodges.
While soccer is being played across nine cities, much of the action off the field is taking place in Cape Town. Already known for its stunning beaches, mouthwatering cuisine and sophisticated night life, the city is welcoming high-end hotels, including the recently opened One & Only Cape Town and the forthcoming Taj Cape Town (www.tajhotels.com/capetown). Set to open this month, the Taj will have 166 rooms, many with views of Table Mountain. Also scheduled to open in Cape Town this year — but not in time for the World Cup — is the second branch of the nascent Missoni Hotels group (the first property opened in Edinburgh last year, with future outposts planned for Kuwait, Brazil and Oman).
Between matches, there’s plenty of time to go on a safari. If money is no object, check out the Ulusaba (www.ulusaba.virgin.com), a private game reserve that’s part of Richard Branson’s collection of luxury vacation properties. It has opened the new Cliff Lodge, with private swimming pools and spectacular views of the bush. Prices start at 13,800 South African rand (around $1,878 at 7.35 rand to the dollar) a night for two. — Denny Lee
23. Breckenridge
The ski resort of Breckenridge is not content to be merely the party capital of the Colorado Rockies — now it wants to be the Amsterdam, too. For its 150th birthday, the former mining town — known for its anything-goes reputation among ski fanatics — recently passed an ordinance to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana.
But even without the law, Breckenridge has plenty going for it, and not just the town’s main strip, which is already an après-ski bonanza of Irish joints, upscale restaurants and boutique shops. The BreckConnect Gondola now whisks skiers from town to the slopes in a matter of minutes. And the bases at Peak 7 and Peak 8 are barely recognizable from a few years back. A case in point is the recently opened Grand Lodge on Peak 7 (866-664-9782; www.grandlodgeonpeak7.com), which just rolled out a full-service spa and fitness center called Soothe.
Don’t expect any Amsterdam-style “coffee shops” near the slopes anytime soon: the new ordinance applies only to the town of Breckenridge, not the mountain. — Lionel Beehner
24. Montenegro
On the southern edges of Montenegro, almost at the border of Albania, is an unusual land formation: a powdery, eight-mile-long beach called Velika Plaza (Long Beach) and a triangular island where the Bojana River meets the sea. The island is called Ada Bojana, and the area is quickly becoming a party destination for the young surfer set.
While the fantastic weather and soft gray beaches have drawn Eastern Europeans for decades, breezy thermal winds are bringing kitesurfers from Germany, England and France, who are turning Velika Plaza into a wave-riding capital on the Adriatic.
The cheap beer doesn’t hurt, either. The area is so undeveloped that the only resort is a faded nudist camp popular with Germans. In the meantime, travelers who want to keep their clothes on can book a 26-euro room (about $37, at $1.40 to the euro) at the Hotel Mediteran (hotel-mediteran.com) in the small city of Ulcinj, a 15-minute water taxi ride north. —Gisela Williams
25. Vancouver Island
Vancouver will have the sporting world’s attention when it hosts the Winter Olympics this year, but the most rewarding outdoor exploration is found outside the city, away from the crowds and off the beaten path. Hop the BC Ferry (www.bcferries.com) from Vancouver to Nanaimo, on Vancouver Island’s east coast, and drive three hours through mountain passes to the wild, dramatic west coast. The new Wild Pacific Trail (www.wildpacifictrail.com) skirts the rocky, rugged shoreline, overlooking sandy coves lined with driftwood and tidepools and the Pacific beyond them.
The hiking trail is being built in sections (there are three of seven set up so far), hand-cut through dense old-growth forests of cedar and spruce, with viewing platforms that let hikers see turn-of-the-20th-century lighthouses, kayakers heading to nearby islands, and the annual gray whale migration (about 20,000 pass by the island from February to late May). The base for the Wild Pacific Trail is a folksy fishing village called Ucluelet, a former First Nations settlement dotted with seaside inns, bed-and-breakfasts and beach cabins like the Terrace Beach Resort (www.terracebeachresort.ca), which has direct access to the trail. BONNIE TSUI
26. Colombia
Unfairly or not, Colombia is still known for its cocaine cartels and street violence, but cool-hunting travelers are calling it Latin America’s next affordable hot spot.
Bogotá, its capital, has emerged as a role model of urban reinvention. Starting in the late 1990s, the city underwent a breathtaking transformation. Sidewalks, once used mainly for parking, are now lined with bicycle paths and tree-shaded cafes. An innovative bus system zips residents across the traffic-congested city. And museums and restaurants have opened in its historic center, including the refurbished Museo del Oro, which houses pre-Columbian treasures.
Getting there is affordable, too. JetBlue recently began nonstop daily service to Bogotá from Orlando, Fla., joining other carriers including Delta.
Meanwhile, the picturesque coastal city of Cartagena, a Unesco World Heritage site, which has been experiencing a tourism surge in recent years, gets even more stylish. The latest addition is the Tcherassi Hotel + Spa (www.tcherassihotels.com), a seven-room boutique hotel designed by Silvia Tcherassi, a Colombian fashion designer. It has even prompted some travel bloggers to call Cartagena the next Buenos Aires. — Denny Lee
27. Kitzbühel
Most Austrians know the Austrian town of Kitzbühel as nothing less than a ski paradise, with 53 lifts and 104 miles of powdery slopes. But in the past few years, Kitzbühel has started to earn a reputation for its high-end dining — three restaurants with Michelin stars, with two more Michelin-starred joints outside town — making this small Alpine village of just 8,439 inhabitants an up-and-coming attraction for food lovers as well.
Many of the most celebrated kitchens are in hotels, like the five-star Hotel Tennerhof (www.tennerhof.com), with one Michelin star and three Gault-Millau toques, and the Hotel Schwarzer Adler, which houses the Neuwirt restaurant (www.restaurant-neuwirt.at), serving updated Central European fare like goose liver with baked almond milk and plums. The A-Rosa resort and spa (www.resort.a-rosa.de), is host to no fewer than three restaurants, including KAPS, which was awarded its Michelin star in November 2008 and is known for its “Poor Man’s Menu,” a set dinner of traditional recipes from the region.
The highest fliers, however, seem to hide outside the village: Rosengarten, the only restaurant in the area to earn two Michelin stars (it was upgraded to two in 2009), is less than four miles away in Kirchberg. From there, it is about a 30-minute drive to Restaurant Schindlhaus (www.schindlhaus.com) in Söll, where the Winkler brothers, Christian and Markus, run a kitchen known for its dedication to local ingredients.
Naturally, you can’t expect meals at a top ski destination to go cheap. If the high-end prices are beyond your means, try something a little more bucolic: the barn at the 400-year-old Stanglwirt hotel (www.stanglwirt.com), where a lovely stube, or pub, serves schnitzel and goulash next to grazing cows. — Evan Rail
28. Norway
With an acclaimed new opera house and plenty of high-end dining options, Oslo is already a must-visit urban destination. But this year the focus should be on the wilds of the Norwegian countryside. With its dazzling Nordic light and dramatic landscape, Norway is perhaps the most unexplored and exotic corner of Europe. Having convinced the world that its fjords and southern coastline make the country a great summer getaway, Norwegians have begun showcasing its charms as a winter destination.
Specialized trekking and ski tours like those offered by the Lyngen Lodge (www.lyngenlodge.com) can open up pristine areas of the north like the stunning Lyngen Alps, with high-speed boats to shuttle across the fjord to ski trails that would otherwise be inaccessible.
And the country’s indifference to trendy boutique hotels and splashy resorts — long the lament of global tourism professionals — is just what appeals to a more discerning clientele. Bespoke travel specialists like Ziniry (www.ziniry.com) excel at getting visitors deep into the scenery. Who needs a penthouse suite when you can book a lighthouse on a private island? — Andrew Ferren
29. Gargano
Far from the madding crowds of Amalfi and Cinque Terre, the Italian peninsula of Gargano sits on the Adriatic and boasts a checklist of summer-perfect Italian holiday options. The offerings are largely a part of the protected Gargano National Park, a swath of terrain encompassing everything from the oak and beech Foresta Umbra to the sheer chalk-colored cliffs and grottoes of the coast’s Caribbean-clear waters to the postcard-worthy whitewashed villages that hug the sea. Twelve nautical miles offshore, accessible by boat and hydrofoil, are the Tremiti Islands, specks of land surrounded by a wealth of sea life and a marine reserve of their own.
Looking for Romanesque churches and seaside fisherman’s restaurants? Try Peschici and Vieste, larger than fishing villages but cozier than cities, with white walls and medieval centers. How about mountain hiking? Check. Gargano also offers the rarest of luxuries: fabulous food and lodging on the cheap — campsites offer space for mere pocket change, while hotel rooms can be had for 30 to 60 euros a night ($42 to $84 at $1.40 to the euro) in Peschici. If saving on food is wallet-friendly enough, pay a bit more than 100 euros and stay at the Chiusa delle More (www.lachiusadellemore.it), a 16th-century farmhouse in the national park but still only yards from the sea. Meals are locavore, Gargano style, incorporating the farm’s own vegetables and eggs. — Sarah Wildman
30. Kuala Lumpur
While Phuket and Angkor Wat are tourism anchors in Southeast Asia, jetsetters in the region are heading these days to Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital that’s quietly evolved into one of the area’s coolest and friendliest cities.
Not only are K.L.-ites diehard foodies, fiercely proud of a robust street food scene that straddles Chinese, Indian and Malay flavors — check out the food blog EatingAsia (www.eatingasia.typepad.com) — they’re also shopaholics, spending weekends trawling boutiques for the latest looks emerging from the sophisticated local fashion scene.
The country’s media-appointed King of Fashion is Bernard Chandran, who recently stole the spotlight when Lady Gaga wore one of his candy-pink minidresses to an awards show in London. His concept store is at the KL Plaza on Jalan Bukit Bintang. Another designer to look out for is Khoon Hooi, known for streamlined yet feminine dresses in muted tones, sold at his flagship store in the ritzy Starhill Gallery; and Melinda Looi, who makes vintage-inspired cocktail dresses from chiffon.
Bloggers at Tongue in Chic keep vigilant watch over the city’s fashion temples, which are clustered along the streets of Jalan Telawi 2 and 3 in the suburb of Bangsar, a 15-minute cab ride from the city center. To showcase the young designers, the blog recently started Chic POP, a flea market held every three months at one of K.L.’s most prestigious dance clubs, Zouk (www.zoukclub.com.my). — Naomi Lindt
31. Nepal
San Francisco, Amsterdam and Provincetown? Been there. Mykonos and Ibiza? Done that. Looking for the next gay destination? How about the Himalayan country of Nepal? Yes, Nepal.
In the roughly two years since the nation’s supreme court ordered that gay, lesbians and transgendered people be afforded equal rights, this conservative, mostly-Hindu country appears to be moving ahead full throttle.
Gay friendly clubs now dot its capital. (Go to www.utopia-asia.com for listings.) A “third gender” category is an option on national I.D. cards. Recently, a transgender beauty queen even got a photo op with the prime minister. And now there’s a tourist agency in Katmandu that is promoting gay tourism to Nepal.
Started by Sunil Babu Pant, an openly-gay legislator, Pink Mountain Travels and Tours (www.pinkyatra.com) promises to marry adventure travel with gay weddings. With talk that Nepal may legalize same-sex marriage this year as the country hammers out a new constitution (and, perhaps more importantly, deals with recent bouts of civil unrest), Mr. Pant is offering to hold nuptials at the Mount Everest base camp, jungle safari honeymoons and bridal processions on elephant back. — Aric Chen
Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company
-HHC
January 10, 2010
1. Sri Lanka
For a quarter century, Sri Lanka seems to have been plagued by misfortune, including a brutal civil war between the Sinhalese majority and Tamil minority. But the conflict finally ended last May, ushering in a more peaceful era for this teardrop-shaped island off India’s coast, rich in natural beauty and cultural splendors.
The island, with a population of just 20 million, feels like one big tropical zoo: elephants roam freely, water buffaloes idle in paddy fields and monkeys swing from trees. And then there’s the pristine coastline. The miles of sugary white sand flanked by bamboo groves that were off-limits to most visitors until recently are a happy, if unintended byproduct of the war.
Among the most scenic, if difficult stretches to reach, is Nilaveli Beach in the Tamil north. While a few military checkpoints remain, vacationers can lounge on poolside hammocks under palm trees or snorkel in its crystal-clear waters. Or they can order cocktails at the Nilaveli Beach Hotel (www.tangerinehotels.com/nilavelibeach), a collection of recently renovated bungalows with private terraces.
An international airport in Matara, on the island’s southern shore, is under construction, which will make the gorgeous beaches near the seaside village of Galle easier to get to. Decimated by the tsunami in 2004, the surrounding coastline is now teeming with stylish guesthouses and boutique hotels.
Unawatuna, a crescent-shaped beach a few miles south of Galle, may be furthest along. Higher-end hotels there include Thambapanni Retreat (www.thambapanni.biz), which features four-poster beds, yoga and an ayurvedic spa. The Sun House (www.thesunhouse.com), in Galle, looks like a place where the Queen of England might stay, with its mango courtyard and colonial décor. One stylish place tucked within Galle’s city walls is the Galle Fort Hotel (www.galleforthotel.com), a refurbished gem merchant’s house run by a couple of Aussies. — Lionel Beehner
2. Patagonia Wine Country
Ten years ago, a group of adventurous winemakers set their sights on an Argentine valley called San Patricio del Chañar, an unusually fertile and eerily beautiful corner of Patagonia. They plowed, planted and waited. The outcome? A blossoming wine country with delicious pinot noirs and malbecs and smartly designed wineries.
One of the area’s pioneers, the 2,000-acre Bodega del Fin del Mundo (www.bodegadelfindelmundo.com), which works with the influential wine consultant Michel Rolland, is racking up international medals for its complex merlot, cabernet and malbec blends. And NQN (bodeganqn.com.ar), which is associated with the Argentine oenologist Roberto de la Mota, has seen its 2006 Colección NQN Malbec get 92 points from Wine Enthusiast. Nearby is the new Valle Perdido winery (www.valleperdido.com.ar), which includes an 18-room resort surrounded by vineyards. At the spa, ask for antioxidant wine-infused treatments. — Paola Singer
3. Seoul
Forget Tokyo. Design aficionados are now heading to Seoul.
They have been drawn by the Korean capital’s glammed-up cafes and restaurants, immaculate art galleries and monumental fashion palaces like the sprawling outpost of Milan’s 10 Corso Como and the widely noted Ann Demeulemeester store — an avant-garde Chia Pet covered in vegetation.
And now Seoul, under its design-obsessed mayor, Oh Se-hoon, is the 2010 World Design Capital. The title, bestowed by a prominent council of industrial designers, means a year’s worth of design parties, exhibitions, conferences and other revelries. Most are still being planned (go to wdc2010.seoul.go.kr for updates). A highlight will no doubt be the third annual Seoul Design Fair (Sept. 17 to Oct. 7), the city’s answer to the design weeks in Milan and New York, which last year drew 2.5 million people and featured a cavalcade of events under two enormous inflatable structures set up at the city’s Olympic stadium. — Aric Chen
4. Mysore
You’ve completed 200 hours of teacher training, mastered flying crow pose and even spent a week at yoga surf camp. What’s next? Yogis seeking transcontinental bliss head these days to Mysore, the City of Palaces, in southern India.
The yogi pilgrimage was sparked by Ashtanga yoga, a rigorous sweat-producing, breath-synchronized regimen of poses popularized by the beloved Krishna Pattabhi Jois, who died at 94 in 2009. Mr. Jois’s grandson is now director of the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute (www.kpjayi.org). First month’s tuition is 27,530 rupees, or $600 at 46 rupees to the dollar. Classes generally require a one-month commitment.
Too much time or money? Mysore’s yoga boom now has shalas catering to every need. Off the mat, the yoga tribe hobnobs at Anu’s Bamboo Hut or the Regaalis Hotel pool, studies Sanskrit, gets an ayurveda treatment or tours the maharaja’s palace. — Mary Billard
5. Copenhagen
As thousands of environmentalists heckled world leaders in Copenhagen last month for the climate summit, a solitary unifying note could be heard amid the cacophony of discord: the Danish capital has already emerged as one of the world’s greenest — and maybe coolest — cities.
Copenhageners don’t simply preach the “progressive city” ethos, they live it. Long, flat urban thoroughfares are hemmed with bicycle paths where locals glide around the city, tourists saddle up on the free bikes that dot the city center, and fashion bloggers take notes on the latest cycle chic (see copenhagencyclechic.com). Over in the harbor district, a public bath at Osterbro, due to open in 2010, will complement the two swimming areas set off on Copenhagen’s inner harbor, a formerly polluted waterway recently transformed into the city’s summertime hub.
Away from all the modernism and the happy cyclists, cultural thrill-seekers are being coaxed to the once dangerous district of Norrebro, which has arguably become Copenhagen’s edgiest hub. A heady mix of hipsters, students and immigrants mingle in the cafes and galleries around the district’s focal square, Sankt Hans Torv, and the city’s young and excitable night owls can be found dancing in local clubs until the early hours. — Benji Lanyado
WAITING IN THE WINGS
6. Koh Kood
Is this the next Koh Samui? The Trat islands are emerging as Thailand’s new luxury outpost. Inaccessible for many years because of tensions with neighboring Cambodia and a poor transportation infrastructure, islands like Koh Kood are starting to draw venturesome paradise seekers, thanks in part to new direct flights to the port city of Trat. The recent opening of Soneva Kiri, a 42-villa suite retreat by the Six Senses brand (www.sixsenses.com/Soneva-Kiri), definitely ratchets up the high-end quotient on this Robinson Crusoe-like island. Coming soon: X2 Koh Kood (www.x2resorts.com), a designer eco-resort with 14 pool villas. — Gisela Williams
7. Damascus
The next Marrakesh? Perhaps mindful of the way that renovations of historic riads have drawn upscale travelers to Marrakesh, Damascus hoteliers are trying to mine tourism gold in the rundown buildings of the Syrian capital’s Old City. These 18th-century homes — many with inviting courtyards and rooftop terraces — are now boutique hotels, like the nine-room Old Vine (www.oldvinehotel.com) and the Hanania (www.hananiahotel.com), which doubles as a hotel and a small museum. — Don Duncan
8. Cesme
The next Bodrum? While revelers continue to descend upon that seaside retreat, another corner of Turkey’s Aegean coastline has begun to emerge as a stylish alternative: the once-sleepy villages of the Cesme Peninsula. The main draw is Alacati, a sheltered beach town that last summer was the site of the Professional Windsurfers Association Slalom World Cup. Scheduled to open in the spring, the seven-room Hotel Nars Alacati (www.nars.com.tr), set in a converted 19th-century mansion, promises to become the popular weekend gathering spot for Istanbul’s smart set, along with the adjoining garden restaurant, Mesa Luna. — Andrew Ferren
9. Antarctica
This may be the last year that Antarctica is open to mass tourism — not because the ice is melting too fast (though it is), but because of restrictions that would severely curtail travel around the fragile continent.
Until recently, most vessels passing through Antarctica were limited to scientific expeditions, but an exploding number of tourists now flock to what is arguably the world’s last great wilderness. The tourism boom, scientists argue, poses a major environmental threat. Indeed, several passenger ships have run aground in recent years.
Countries that manage Antarctica are calling for limits on the number of tourist ships, for fortified hulls that can withstand sea ice and for a ban on the use of so-called heavy oils. A ban on heavy oil, which is expected to be adopted by the International Maritime Organization later this year, would effectively block big cruise ships.
With the new rules taking effect within two years, tour operators are promoting 2010 as the last year to visit Antarctica, while, at the same time, procuring lighter vessels that would be permitted. Abercrombie & Kent, for example, is introducing a new ship, Le Boreal (www.abercrombiekent.com), which its public relations firm argues “meets all the environmental regulations, so access to Antarctica via A&K will not be affected.”
Launching this year, the compact luxury ship holds 199 passengers and features an outdoor heated pool, steam rooms and private balconies that offer intimate views of some of the world’s remaining glaciers. — Denny Lee
10. Leipzig
In 2010, Leipzig, a small industrial city in the former East Germany with an illustrious past, will be marking the 325th anniversary of the birth of its former resident Johann Sebastian Bach and the 200th birthday of Robert Schumann with concerts, festivals and a reopened Bach Museum (www.bach-leipzig.de).
But the city’s cultural high note is likely to be the Neo Rauch retrospective opening in April at the Leipzig Museum of Fine Arts (www.mdbk.de), a show devoted to the father of the New Leipzig School of artists, a scene that for the past decade has been the toast of the contemporary art world. The art cognoscenti will also make their way to the Spinnerei (www.spinnerei.de), a former cotton mill that is home to 11 galleries, a cafe and a quirky new pension called the Meisterzimmer (www.meisterzimmer.de), with rooms starting at 50 euros, or $70 at $1.40 to the euro.
The city is also making a splash on the musical front. Moon Harbour Recordings and Kann Records, two indie labels producing innovative electronica from D.J.’s, are based here. Sevensol and Matthias Tanzmann will undoubtedly be lugging their laptops to Leipzig Pop Up (www.leipzig-popup.de), a trade fair and music festival taking place in May. Otherwise, gigs can be heard year-round in the city’s underbelly of abandoned factories and squats that look a lot like Berlin — maybe 10 years ago. — Gisela Williams
11. Los Angeles
Visitors love to bemoan the lack of an old-fashioned cultural neighborhood in Los Angeles. In truth, the city has as many thriving art spots as it does ZIP codes. Last October, the pioneering Culver City gallery Blum & Poe (2727 South La Cienega Boulevard; 310-836-2062; www.blumandpoe.com) inaugurated an airy 21,000-square-foot space; in July, the veteran local dealer Thomas Solomon (427 Bernard Street; 323-427-1687; www.thomassolomongallery.com) opened a space in Chinatown. And the powerhouse New York galleries L&M Arts and Matthew Marks are scheduled to open prominent spaces in 2010.
Local museums, many of which struggled financially in recent years, are back afloat. The Museum of Contemporary Art (www.moca.org) is celebrating its 30th birthday with a huge exhibition of 500 highlights from its outstanding collection of postwar art. In October, the vast Los Angeles County Museum of Art (www.lacma.org) will get even bigger when it unveils a Renzo Piano-designed addition to its multiacre mid-Wilshire campus. And the billionaire collector Eli Broad, who has been both savior and villain to just about every major museum in town, is now looking to plant his own museum in Beverly Hills, Santa Monica or a third unnamed location. — Andrew Ferren
12. Shanghai
To many, the idea of a World Expo might seem like a dated, superfluous throwback from some preglobalized age. (Remember the one in Aichi, Japan? Enough said.) But tell that to the 70 million who are expected to attend Expo 2010 in Shanghai.
This is China, after all. And following up on Beijing’s spectacular Olympics, Shanghai is pulling out all the stops. From May 1 to Oct. 31, more than 200 national and other pavilions will straddle the city’s Huangpu River, turning a two-square-mile site into an architectural playground: Switzerland will be represented by a building shaped like a map of that country, complete with a rooftop chairlift, while England is in the celebrated hands of the designer Thomas Heatherwick, who is fashioning what looks like a big, hairy marshmallow. Other attention grabbers include Macao, taking the form of a walk-through bunny, and the United Arab Emirates, which hired Foster + Partners to build a “sand dune.” (By contrast, the United States pavilion might be mistaken for a suburban office park.)
In the run-up to the Expo, Shanghai seems to have taken this year’s theme, “Better City, Better Life,” to heart, spending tens of billions of dollars to upgrade the city. The riverfront Bund promenade is getting a makeover with parks and pedestrian-friendly sidewalks, while the subway is being dramatically expanded — including several new stations serving the World Expo site. — Aric Chen
13. Mumbai
On the one-year anniversary of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, citizens painted a one-kilometer stretch of wall in South Mumbai with murals to show their love and hope for the city. The initiative, by a group of organizations that included the Mumbai Arts Project (MAP), which is dedicated to creating public art projects, is just one sign that Mumbai’s art scene is on the rebound.
A walk through the newly dubbed Colaba Art District yields no fewer than five contemporary art galleries. In the second half of 2009, two contemporary galleries opened: Gallery BMB (www.gallerybmb.com), which brought in big-name artists from around the globe for its first show (look for an exhibition focusing on new Indian women artists, starting on Feb. 8), and Volte (www.volte.in), a gallery, cafe and bookstore. Just down the street is Project 88 (www.project88.in), an outpost of Gallery 88 in Calcutta, focused on up-and-coming Indian and South Asian artists. The large, simple one-room space will show the artist Hemali Bhuta with an installation on the ceiling and archival prints on the walls, starting Jan. 18. Also nearby is Gallery Maskara (www.gallerymaskara.com), in a converted cotton storehouse; starting March 15, the space will host paintings, sculpture and watercolors by T. Venkanna, a popular artist based in nearby Vadodara. — Lindsay Clinton
14. Minorca
While the beat of disco pounds in Ibiza and Majorca, their quiet sister Minorca offers a tranquil contrast to the glitz next door. The entire island is a Unesco Biosphere Reserve, so the Spanish megahotel development frenzy of the last decade has largely skipped over this patch of the Mediterranean. That means miles of beaches —some 120 of them, in fact, like the northern sweep of crystal-clear swimming waters in the coves called Cala d’Algaiarens, with fine sand and rolling dunes. And Minorca’s eco-diversity extends well beyond the coasts: forests, deep gorges, wetlands, salt marshes and hillsides covered in lush greenery that sometimes look more New England than Mediterranean. Even the island’s sun-bleached towns — Mahón and Ciutadella, each combining elements of their British colonial heritage, Moorish roots and modern Spanish identity — are more peaceful than their Majorcan equivalents.
The ideal visit to Minorca celebrates islanders’ emphasis on agritourism — sleeping in rural establishments like Ca Na Xini (www.canaxini.com), a dairy farm that offers an eight-room temple to modernism inside the shell of a century-old manor home. It’s like spring break for eco-conscious adults. — Sarah Wildman
15. Costa Rica
Costa Rica has been on any eco-minded traveler’s radar for years, but with a new birding route in the northeast region of the country, there’s a new reason to pay the country a visit. Opened in early 2009, the Costa Rican Bird Route (www.costaricanbirdroute.com) encompasses 13 far-flung nature reserves with phenomenal avian diversity — the sites are home to more than 500 bird species. Travelers can explore the route on their own with a map ($12.95 when ordered online) or hire a local guide to lead the way. The most popular leg of the route centers on the Sarapiquí-San Carlos region, one of the last remaining habitats of the endangered and prized great green macaw. The landscape along the route runs from wetlands and river explorations to high rain forest canopies and waterfalls; birders can visit renowned tropical biological research stations, stay in newly built eco-lodges and hike or canoe through local family-run reserves in search of rare raptors, herons and kingfishers. — Bonnie Tsui
16. Marrakesh
The ancient walls of Marrakesh must have protected the city from the global recession. Luxury boutique hotels, which began opening a few years ago, are now popping like Champagne corks over this historic and atmospheric North African city.
La Mamounia, a famed playground for celebrities like Mick Jagger and Charlie Chaplin, reopened in November after a $176 million face-lift by the Parisian designer Jacques Garcia (www.mamounia.com). At its dazzling launch party, Jennifer Aniston, Orlando Bloom and Gwyneth Paltrow walked the red carpet, José Carreras sang, and Cirque du Soleil acrobats wrapped in Christmas lights scaled the hotel walls.
“There was caviar galore,” said Sandra Zwollo, a Dutch expatriate who lived in La Mamounia for three years. “And not only does the new La Mamounia reflect what is happening in Marrakesh at the moment, it is greatly contributing to it.”
Ms. Zwollo herself is adding to the glamour of the city. Later this month, she plans to open Harem (www.harem-escape.com), a wellness retreat just for women, set on a stunning 12-acre estate in the city’s outskirts surrounded by olive and palm groves.
But it all pales in comparison to the palatial Royal Mansour, scheduled to open in 2010. Owned by King Mohammed VI of Morocco, who is largely responsible for the country’s newfound glamour, the jaw-dropping resort is built along the city’s ancient walls and has been designed almost like a mini-medina with Andalusian-style courtyards. The 20,000-square-foot royal suite will have a private swimming pool, home theater, gym and private hammam. The resort will also feature three restaurants overseen by the three-star Michelin chef Yannick Alléno.
There’s more. By the end of 2010, the Mandarin Oriental Jnan Rahma, which looks like something out of a Merchant-Ivory movie, and a 140-room Four Seasons are both expected to open, while a Rocco Forte resort and W Hotel are in the works for 2011. — Gisela Williams
17. Las Vegas
Despite a 4 percent drop in visitors in 2009, and the fact that several Las Vegas hotels have drastically slashed their rates to attract bargain-seeking travelers, a number of ambitious developers seem to think there is still money to be made in Sin City.
CityCenter, MGM’s $8.5 billion, 67-acre resort complex, is the Strip’s biggest headliner in 2010. Four of the six planned properties opened in December, including three hotels and a 500,000-square-foot luxury shopping mall (www.citycenter.com). The residential Veer Towers and the Harmon, a 400-room boutique hotel, are scheduled to open this year. The complex also houses Haze, a 25,000-square-foot nightclub, and Cirque du Soleil’s seventh show, “Viva Elvis,” a tribute to the king of rock ’n’ roll.
This summer, the Encore, a Steve Wynn property, is unveiling an entertainment complex and “beach club” (complete with three pools and V.I.P. cabanas)., and a new nightclub, Surrender. A five-pool addition to Garden of the Gods Pool Oasis at Caesars Palace, set to open in March, will feature swim-up gaming and an 18-foot waterfall. The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, which unveiled its Paradise Tower in July, added the all-suite HRH Tower in late December, as well as Vanity, a 14,000-square-foot nightclub. — Allison Busacca
18. Bahia
All eyes will turn to sultry Rio de Janeiro when it hosts the 2016 Olympic Games, but right now Brazil’s white-hot destination may be the northeastern state of Bahia. With its distinctive African-influenced flavors, cultural diversity, palm-fringed beaches and a new crop of chic hotels, the region is fast emerging as a jet-set playground.
In the village of Trancoso, a hideaway that gets more fashionable by the minute, the Dutch designer Wilbert Das (longtime creative director of the Diesel label) opened Uxua Casa Hotel (www.uxua.com) using recycled materials including old roof tiles and abandoned fishing boats. The hotel’s colorful casas and lush gardens were a canvas for the 2010 Pirelli calendar, shot by the bad-boy photographer Terry Richardson. Speaking of the town’s rising cachet, a luxury Fasano resort — with 30 beachfront villas, a restaurant and a spa — is in the works.
In Salvador, known for its pulsing street carnival and the historic Pelourinho district, head to one of the city’s boutique lodgings. Zank (www.zankhotel.com.br) recently opened in the residential Rio Vermelho section and seamlessly blends modern and classic styles, with exceptional views of the Atlantic Ocean just steps away. Nearby is the Pestana Bahia Lodge (www.pestana.com), with a hilltop infinity pool and sunny sea-view rooms. While there, don’t miss “The Kiss” and “The Thinker” by Auguste Rodin, on temporary view at the Palacete das Artes (palacetedasartesrodinbahia.blogspot.com), which opened a gallery devoted to the French sculptor. — Paolo Singer
19. Istanbul
The reputation of Istanbul’s contemporary art scene has been steadily growing in recent years, with the Web site ArtKnowledgeNews.com recently calling it “one of the most innovative in the world.” That reputation is bound to be burnished even more this year, now that Istanbul has been named the 2010 European Capital of Culture (a designation it shares with Essen, Germany, and Pecs, Hungary).
There will be a series of events, gallery shows and stage performances throughout the city to mark the occasion. (A complete list of events can be found at en.istanbul2010.org/index.htm.)
But one of the best ways to get a crash course in what Istanbul’s leading artists are up to right now is to spend some time wandering around the Misir Apartments (311/4 Istiklal Cadessi), right on the busy pedestrian thoroughfare that cuts through the trendy Beygolu neighborhood. Inside this elegant, early-20th-century building are some of the city’s most cutting-edge art venues, like Galerist (www.galerist.com.tr) and Gallerie Nev (www.galerinevistanbul.com)
Afterward, head to the rooftop terrace and have a drink at 360 Istanbul, a stylish bar and restaurant that offers stunning views of the city’s skyline (360istanbul.com). — Stuart Emmrich
20. Shenzhen
Chances are, the iPod in your pocket was made in Shenzhen, China. But this industrial powerhouse of a city on the Pearl River Delta in the southern region of the country, is more than just a factory town of sweatshops and bad smog — and it has the high-class hotels and high rollers to prove it.
Shenzhen is one of China’s wealthiest cities, right up there with Shanghai and Beijing. Situated just a one-hour bullet train ride north of Hong Kong, the thriving city exemplifies China’s breakneck transformation from peasant economy to capitalist giant. Its rapid rise can be traced back to 1979, when Deng Xiaoping selected the sleepy fishing port as a special economic zone. Money, bulldozers and cheap labor poured in. Dim sum joints and illicit massage parlors gave way to gleaming shopping malls and faceless skyscrapers. A city of 14 million sprang up seemingly overnight.
So did a new travel destination. A 491-room Grand Hyatt (1881 Baoan Nan Road; www.shenzhen.grand.hyatt.com), with bay views, recently opened, joining the ranks of the Kempinski Hotel Shenzhen (Hai De San Dao, Hou Hai Bin Road; www.kempinski.com/shenzhen) and a Shangri-La (1002 Jianshe Road; www.shangri-la.com/shenzhen). Even late-night massage parlors have gone upscale and legit. The Queen Spa (Chunfeng Road; www.queenspa.cn) has sleeping pods, a theater and a juice bar — all for under $15 a night — plus massages that start at about $25.
Affordable luxuries extend to shopping and eating. The jumble of stalls at Dongmen are clogged with pirated DVDs and knock-off handbags, while there are new fashionable restaurants in Shekou, a leafy district with an expatriate flavor. Shenzhen is getting greener, too. The city recently welcomed the first LEED-certified building in southern China: the aptly named Horizontal Skyscraper, billed to be as long as the Empire State Building is tall. — Lionel Beehner
21. Macedonia
One of the deepest lakes on the planet, with a dazzling Unesco World Heritage site of ancient dwellings rising high above its shores, Lake Ohrid in Macedonia is a local vacation star poised for greater international acclaim.
In the tiered, terra-cotta-roofed city of Ohrid, 18 miles from the Albanian border, a lakefront settlement dating back to Neolithic times, Macedonians boast that on their side of the lake is a church, monastery or mosque for every day of the year, each full of resplendent frescoes, mosaics and icons. Notable attractions include the recently renovated church of St. Clement and St. Panteleimon at Plaosnik, an epic Byzantine masterpiece, and the 13th-century St. John of Kaneo, a limestone and brick monastery that juts out over transparent blue waters.
An estimated $50 million renovation of the Ohrid Airport is planned for 2010, with more international flights expected by summer, and up to six new luxury hotels are in the works, including a $33 million property with construction scheduled to begin in March. Tourist attractions on Ohrid’s beaches were upgraded last year with swank bars and dining spots complimented by bamboo and leather couchettes, with the hot spot Cuba Libre (www.cubalibreohrid.com) leading the way.
Meanwhile, new government-financed archaeological digs around the lake regularly unearth treasures, like the 17 fifth-century tombs discovered last July. The find follows the 2008 opening of the Museum on Water, a re-created Bronze Age village built on stilts incorporating Ohrid artifacts. — Dinah Spritzer
22. South Africa
As host of the 2010 World Cup this summer, South Africa has gotten its game on with a flurry of new stadiums, new hotels and safari lodges.
While soccer is being played across nine cities, much of the action off the field is taking place in Cape Town. Already known for its stunning beaches, mouthwatering cuisine and sophisticated night life, the city is welcoming high-end hotels, including the recently opened One & Only Cape Town and the forthcoming Taj Cape Town (www.tajhotels.com/capetown). Set to open this month, the Taj will have 166 rooms, many with views of Table Mountain. Also scheduled to open in Cape Town this year — but not in time for the World Cup — is the second branch of the nascent Missoni Hotels group (the first property opened in Edinburgh last year, with future outposts planned for Kuwait, Brazil and Oman).
Between matches, there’s plenty of time to go on a safari. If money is no object, check out the Ulusaba (www.ulusaba.virgin.com), a private game reserve that’s part of Richard Branson’s collection of luxury vacation properties. It has opened the new Cliff Lodge, with private swimming pools and spectacular views of the bush. Prices start at 13,800 South African rand (around $1,878 at 7.35 rand to the dollar) a night for two. — Denny Lee
23. Breckenridge
The ski resort of Breckenridge is not content to be merely the party capital of the Colorado Rockies — now it wants to be the Amsterdam, too. For its 150th birthday, the former mining town — known for its anything-goes reputation among ski fanatics — recently passed an ordinance to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana.
But even without the law, Breckenridge has plenty going for it, and not just the town’s main strip, which is already an après-ski bonanza of Irish joints, upscale restaurants and boutique shops. The BreckConnect Gondola now whisks skiers from town to the slopes in a matter of minutes. And the bases at Peak 7 and Peak 8 are barely recognizable from a few years back. A case in point is the recently opened Grand Lodge on Peak 7 (866-664-9782; www.grandlodgeonpeak7.com), which just rolled out a full-service spa and fitness center called Soothe.
Don’t expect any Amsterdam-style “coffee shops” near the slopes anytime soon: the new ordinance applies only to the town of Breckenridge, not the mountain. — Lionel Beehner
24. Montenegro
On the southern edges of Montenegro, almost at the border of Albania, is an unusual land formation: a powdery, eight-mile-long beach called Velika Plaza (Long Beach) and a triangular island where the Bojana River meets the sea. The island is called Ada Bojana, and the area is quickly becoming a party destination for the young surfer set.
While the fantastic weather and soft gray beaches have drawn Eastern Europeans for decades, breezy thermal winds are bringing kitesurfers from Germany, England and France, who are turning Velika Plaza into a wave-riding capital on the Adriatic.
The cheap beer doesn’t hurt, either. The area is so undeveloped that the only resort is a faded nudist camp popular with Germans. In the meantime, travelers who want to keep their clothes on can book a 26-euro room (about $37, at $1.40 to the euro) at the Hotel Mediteran (hotel-mediteran.com) in the small city of Ulcinj, a 15-minute water taxi ride north. —Gisela Williams
25. Vancouver Island
Vancouver will have the sporting world’s attention when it hosts the Winter Olympics this year, but the most rewarding outdoor exploration is found outside the city, away from the crowds and off the beaten path. Hop the BC Ferry (www.bcferries.com) from Vancouver to Nanaimo, on Vancouver Island’s east coast, and drive three hours through mountain passes to the wild, dramatic west coast. The new Wild Pacific Trail (www.wildpacifictrail.com) skirts the rocky, rugged shoreline, overlooking sandy coves lined with driftwood and tidepools and the Pacific beyond them.
The hiking trail is being built in sections (there are three of seven set up so far), hand-cut through dense old-growth forests of cedar and spruce, with viewing platforms that let hikers see turn-of-the-20th-century lighthouses, kayakers heading to nearby islands, and the annual gray whale migration (about 20,000 pass by the island from February to late May). The base for the Wild Pacific Trail is a folksy fishing village called Ucluelet, a former First Nations settlement dotted with seaside inns, bed-and-breakfasts and beach cabins like the Terrace Beach Resort (www.terracebeachresort.ca), which has direct access to the trail. BONNIE TSUI
26. Colombia
Unfairly or not, Colombia is still known for its cocaine cartels and street violence, but cool-hunting travelers are calling it Latin America’s next affordable hot spot.
Bogotá, its capital, has emerged as a role model of urban reinvention. Starting in the late 1990s, the city underwent a breathtaking transformation. Sidewalks, once used mainly for parking, are now lined with bicycle paths and tree-shaded cafes. An innovative bus system zips residents across the traffic-congested city. And museums and restaurants have opened in its historic center, including the refurbished Museo del Oro, which houses pre-Columbian treasures.
Getting there is affordable, too. JetBlue recently began nonstop daily service to Bogotá from Orlando, Fla., joining other carriers including Delta.
Meanwhile, the picturesque coastal city of Cartagena, a Unesco World Heritage site, which has been experiencing a tourism surge in recent years, gets even more stylish. The latest addition is the Tcherassi Hotel + Spa (www.tcherassihotels.com), a seven-room boutique hotel designed by Silvia Tcherassi, a Colombian fashion designer. It has even prompted some travel bloggers to call Cartagena the next Buenos Aires. — Denny Lee
27. Kitzbühel
Most Austrians know the Austrian town of Kitzbühel as nothing less than a ski paradise, with 53 lifts and 104 miles of powdery slopes. But in the past few years, Kitzbühel has started to earn a reputation for its high-end dining — three restaurants with Michelin stars, with two more Michelin-starred joints outside town — making this small Alpine village of just 8,439 inhabitants an up-and-coming attraction for food lovers as well.
Many of the most celebrated kitchens are in hotels, like the five-star Hotel Tennerhof (www.tennerhof.com), with one Michelin star and three Gault-Millau toques, and the Hotel Schwarzer Adler, which houses the Neuwirt restaurant (www.restaurant-neuwirt.at), serving updated Central European fare like goose liver with baked almond milk and plums. The A-Rosa resort and spa (www.resort.a-rosa.de), is host to no fewer than three restaurants, including KAPS, which was awarded its Michelin star in November 2008 and is known for its “Poor Man’s Menu,” a set dinner of traditional recipes from the region.
The highest fliers, however, seem to hide outside the village: Rosengarten, the only restaurant in the area to earn two Michelin stars (it was upgraded to two in 2009), is less than four miles away in Kirchberg. From there, it is about a 30-minute drive to Restaurant Schindlhaus (www.schindlhaus.com) in Söll, where the Winkler brothers, Christian and Markus, run a kitchen known for its dedication to local ingredients.
Naturally, you can’t expect meals at a top ski destination to go cheap. If the high-end prices are beyond your means, try something a little more bucolic: the barn at the 400-year-old Stanglwirt hotel (www.stanglwirt.com), where a lovely stube, or pub, serves schnitzel and goulash next to grazing cows. — Evan Rail
28. Norway
With an acclaimed new opera house and plenty of high-end dining options, Oslo is already a must-visit urban destination. But this year the focus should be on the wilds of the Norwegian countryside. With its dazzling Nordic light and dramatic landscape, Norway is perhaps the most unexplored and exotic corner of Europe. Having convinced the world that its fjords and southern coastline make the country a great summer getaway, Norwegians have begun showcasing its charms as a winter destination.
Specialized trekking and ski tours like those offered by the Lyngen Lodge (www.lyngenlodge.com) can open up pristine areas of the north like the stunning Lyngen Alps, with high-speed boats to shuttle across the fjord to ski trails that would otherwise be inaccessible.
And the country’s indifference to trendy boutique hotels and splashy resorts — long the lament of global tourism professionals — is just what appeals to a more discerning clientele. Bespoke travel specialists like Ziniry (www.ziniry.com) excel at getting visitors deep into the scenery. Who needs a penthouse suite when you can book a lighthouse on a private island? — Andrew Ferren
29. Gargano
Far from the madding crowds of Amalfi and Cinque Terre, the Italian peninsula of Gargano sits on the Adriatic and boasts a checklist of summer-perfect Italian holiday options. The offerings are largely a part of the protected Gargano National Park, a swath of terrain encompassing everything from the oak and beech Foresta Umbra to the sheer chalk-colored cliffs and grottoes of the coast’s Caribbean-clear waters to the postcard-worthy whitewashed villages that hug the sea. Twelve nautical miles offshore, accessible by boat and hydrofoil, are the Tremiti Islands, specks of land surrounded by a wealth of sea life and a marine reserve of their own.
Looking for Romanesque churches and seaside fisherman’s restaurants? Try Peschici and Vieste, larger than fishing villages but cozier than cities, with white walls and medieval centers. How about mountain hiking? Check. Gargano also offers the rarest of luxuries: fabulous food and lodging on the cheap — campsites offer space for mere pocket change, while hotel rooms can be had for 30 to 60 euros a night ($42 to $84 at $1.40 to the euro) in Peschici. If saving on food is wallet-friendly enough, pay a bit more than 100 euros and stay at the Chiusa delle More (www.lachiusadellemore.it), a 16th-century farmhouse in the national park but still only yards from the sea. Meals are locavore, Gargano style, incorporating the farm’s own vegetables and eggs. — Sarah Wildman
30. Kuala Lumpur
While Phuket and Angkor Wat are tourism anchors in Southeast Asia, jetsetters in the region are heading these days to Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital that’s quietly evolved into one of the area’s coolest and friendliest cities.
Not only are K.L.-ites diehard foodies, fiercely proud of a robust street food scene that straddles Chinese, Indian and Malay flavors — check out the food blog EatingAsia (www.eatingasia.typepad.com) — they’re also shopaholics, spending weekends trawling boutiques for the latest looks emerging from the sophisticated local fashion scene.
The country’s media-appointed King of Fashion is Bernard Chandran, who recently stole the spotlight when Lady Gaga wore one of his candy-pink minidresses to an awards show in London. His concept store is at the KL Plaza on Jalan Bukit Bintang. Another designer to look out for is Khoon Hooi, known for streamlined yet feminine dresses in muted tones, sold at his flagship store in the ritzy Starhill Gallery; and Melinda Looi, who makes vintage-inspired cocktail dresses from chiffon.
Bloggers at Tongue in Chic keep vigilant watch over the city’s fashion temples, which are clustered along the streets of Jalan Telawi 2 and 3 in the suburb of Bangsar, a 15-minute cab ride from the city center. To showcase the young designers, the blog recently started Chic POP, a flea market held every three months at one of K.L.’s most prestigious dance clubs, Zouk (www.zoukclub.com.my). — Naomi Lindt
31. Nepal
San Francisco, Amsterdam and Provincetown? Been there. Mykonos and Ibiza? Done that. Looking for the next gay destination? How about the Himalayan country of Nepal? Yes, Nepal.
In the roughly two years since the nation’s supreme court ordered that gay, lesbians and transgendered people be afforded equal rights, this conservative, mostly-Hindu country appears to be moving ahead full throttle.
Gay friendly clubs now dot its capital. (Go to www.utopia-asia.com for listings.) A “third gender” category is an option on national I.D. cards. Recently, a transgender beauty queen even got a photo op with the prime minister. And now there’s a tourist agency in Katmandu that is promoting gay tourism to Nepal.
Started by Sunil Babu Pant, an openly-gay legislator, Pink Mountain Travels and Tours (www.pinkyatra.com) promises to marry adventure travel with gay weddings. With talk that Nepal may legalize same-sex marriage this year as the country hammers out a new constitution (and, perhaps more importantly, deals with recent bouts of civil unrest), Mr. Pant is offering to hold nuptials at the Mount Everest base camp, jungle safari honeymoons and bridal processions on elephant back. — Aric Chen
Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company
Friday, January 8, 2010
RUSSIA: Vlad the magnificent
Saturday January 2, 2010
By GRAHAM SIMMONS
Vladivostok, Russia’s charming city by the bay, is said to resemble San Francisco by those who have never visited San Francisco, and Sydney by those who have never been to Sydney.
The harbour city of Vladivostok, in the Russian Far East, occupies a superbly scenic position on the hills around Golden Horn Bay. Those who have never visited San Francisco says it’s like San Francisco. Those who’ve never been to Sydney say it is like Sydney.
In fact, Vladivostok is unique.
On the outskirts of Vladivostok, new bistros, advertising hoardings and “fast food” stalls dot the sublime birch forests that make up Russia’s heart and lungs. Orthodox churches, long fallen into neglect, are now being re-built. The roads are chock-a-block with new Japanese and Korean cars — even more so on weekends, when it seems that the entire population of the city is escaping to their country dacha.
Everything seems so normal . . . so utterly un-totalitarian, that any fears of landing in a re-emergent, quasi-Communist state are soon allayed. People here, it seems, want to enjoy the good life.
Vladivostok borders on the surreal. In Market Square, down by the harbour, a giant TV screen features Madonna and jazz artists, against a backdrop of a tall stark retro-Communist building, its hammer-and-sickle logo surely the last such emblem in the whole of Russia.
In the fast-changing streets, fashionable boutiques and cafés line the main shopping street, Svetlanskaya.
Start with the panoramic view over Golden Horn (or Peter the Great Bay), from the hill known as Eagle’s Nest. Originally, the plan was to build a Lenin statue here but, fortunately, perestroika intervened, and the mooted statue was replaced with the current Soul and Earth Park. As a result, a real, non-political view of this spectacular harbour can easily be had.
A brand-new monument is soon to rise in nearby Petrovskiiy Park, dedicated to the Russian Orthodox saints Pyotr and Fevroniya Muromskiye, who married each other after Fevroniya cured Pyotr of leprosy. Late in life, they retired to separate monasteries. They are said to have died within an hour of one another, and although buried in separate graves, they were later found together in the same grave.
On Naberezhnaya Street down by the harbour, a World War II submarine is the centrepoint of a waterfront park. Visitors can enter the sub and experience first-hand the cramped living space of the crew. The submarine and an adjacent memorial commemorate Vladivostok’s loss of 30,000 of her citizens in the war — a tiny fraction of the national total of around 20 million.
Nearby is a statue of the city’s founder, KM Arsenyev, whose name graces one of the city’s top museums, (the Arsenyev Regional Museum). Some fascinating cultural tours are offered by the Arsenyev Museum Centre (6, Petra Velikogo Street, tel +7 4232) 22 50 77).
These include Monuments of Religious Architecture, visiting a synagogue, Japanese Buddhist temple and other places of worship; Chekhov in Vladivostok, following the footsteps of the famous writer; and The Theatres of Vladivostok, visiting the Korean and Chinese theatres, the Pushkin Playhouse and other theatres of pre-revolutionary Vladivostok.
Food & drink
For the time being, forget the vodka. Beer is the new pre-occupation of most Russians.
At one of the numerous beer shops outside the Vladivostok rail station (check out the colourful ceiling frescoes), just off the tree-lined main street, a half-litre can costs 20-30 roubles (RM2.30-RM3.40) for a brew with as much as 11% alcohol, as strong as table wine.
For top Russian cuisine, try the Nostalgiya Restaurant (6/25, Pervaya Morskaya Street, tel 41 05 13), where the plush satin-lined dining room features statuettes and busts of the late Tsar Nicholas II and his family, and a triptych of dolls belonging to the Tsarina. Just 20 years ago, the mere existence of such a restaurant would have been enough to have its owners whisked off to a forced labour camp.
Another good choice if you don’t like Subway (the first Subway store opened in Vladivostok in June 2009) is Bar-Club La Trattoria (52, Svetlanskaya Street, tel 20 53 07), located in the house of the former governor-general of the Russian Far East, and featuring traditional Italian and old Russian cuisine.
From Saturnaya rail station in suburban Vladivostok, a short walk leads to the Captain Cook Restaurant, attached to the Vlad Motor Inn.
“Sorry, kangaroo is off the menu,” says Irina, one of the gracious young attendants at the restaurant. “But you can have crocodile, if you like, and all of our wines are from Australia, too”!
It seems a little bizarre to find an Aussie restaurant in Vladivostok, but in this frontier city, the unexpected soon becomes the norm.
Shopping
There is a good, albeit expensive, gift shop next to the Nostalgiya Restaurant, but for bargains, by far the best bet is the market stalls in Market Square, by the railway station. For clothing, one of the chic-est boutiques in town is La Dolce Vita (29, Semenovskaya, open 10am-6pm daily)
Music-wise, for everything from heavy metal to heavier metal, check out Design-studio “Dela” (Aleutsakaya Street, next to Hotel Zolotoy Rog, tel +7 4232 30 03 77). The range, from home-grown to the latest US CD and DVD releases, is astonishing.
One of the newest and maybe the weirdest shop in town is Stalin, selling vodka and chocolates bearing portraits of the late dictator.
Nightlife
Later at night, the Ellada Karaoke Bar (38, Verhneportovaya Street, tel 51 78 50) beckons — or if you’re well-heeled or thin-souled, try the Eldorado Casino (29/31, Okeansky Prospekt, open 24 hours) or Casino Versailles (10, Svetlanskaya Street, tel: 26 96 96, open 6pm-5am).
Vladivostok also has a good nightclub scene. The long-running “Crazy” Nightclub (1, Okeansky Prospekt, in the Marine Passenger Terminal, open 9pm-6:30pm) has room for over 1,000 guests. Another popular hangout is the Zeleny Krokodil (“Green Crocodile”) Club at 12 Svetlanskaya Street.
If you don’t want to spend too much money, just grab a bottle of cheap Moldavian red wine and walk up the hill near Hotel Vladivostok. The views at night are spectacular.
And now the good news . . .
As of July 2009, the passenger ferry Eastern Dream, equipped with cabins, bars, restaurants and even a nightclub, sails weekly from Donghee (South Korea) to Sakaminoto in Japan and thence on to Vladivostok. In a first for Russia, ferry passengers disembarking in Vladivostok may stay for up to 72 hours in the country without a visa.
Ferry fares are significantly lower than airfare.
Getting there
If you don’t want to take the new ferry, Korean Airlines flies regularly from Kuala Lumpur to Vladivostok via Seoul. Vladivostok Airport is a long way (50km) from the city centre, and a taxi will cost RM60-RM70 or more. Alternatively, a bus runs between the central bus station and the airport every hour.
OUT OF TOWN At Vladivostok rail station, take the comfortable Okean train for the overnight trip north to Khabarovsk. The train follows the picturesque shoreline of Amursky Bay. The city of Khabarovsk, on the junction of the giant Ussuri and Amur Rivers, seems like an elegant transplant from Western Europe, its art nouveau architecture being unique in Russia.
ACCOMMODATION
Budget: Amursky Zaliv Hotel (9, Naberezhnaya Street, tel +7 4232 22 55 20, 22 5528).
Mid-range: Hotel Vladivostok (10, Naberezhnaya Street, tel +7 4232 412 808) is centrally located with great views over Amursky Bay. However, at weekends, it seems that the whole population of China and Korea has arrived for a quick break.
Upmarket: Best Eastern Versailles Hotel: (10, Svetlanskaya, tel +7 4232 26 42 01) is centrally located and near the railway station. Or, the four-star Vlad Motor Inn (11, Vosmaya, tel +7 4232 3 13 51), Canadian-owned, some distance from town, near Saturnaya rail station.
Luxury: Hotel Hyundai: (29, Semenovskaya Street, tel +7 4232 40 22 33, e-mail: marketing.vbc@gin.ru)
By GRAHAM SIMMONS
Vladivostok, Russia’s charming city by the bay, is said to resemble San Francisco by those who have never visited San Francisco, and Sydney by those who have never been to Sydney.
The harbour city of Vladivostok, in the Russian Far East, occupies a superbly scenic position on the hills around Golden Horn Bay. Those who have never visited San Francisco says it’s like San Francisco. Those who’ve never been to Sydney say it is like Sydney.
In fact, Vladivostok is unique.
On the outskirts of Vladivostok, new bistros, advertising hoardings and “fast food” stalls dot the sublime birch forests that make up Russia’s heart and lungs. Orthodox churches, long fallen into neglect, are now being re-built. The roads are chock-a-block with new Japanese and Korean cars — even more so on weekends, when it seems that the entire population of the city is escaping to their country dacha.
Everything seems so normal . . . so utterly un-totalitarian, that any fears of landing in a re-emergent, quasi-Communist state are soon allayed. People here, it seems, want to enjoy the good life.
Vladivostok borders on the surreal. In Market Square, down by the harbour, a giant TV screen features Madonna and jazz artists, against a backdrop of a tall stark retro-Communist building, its hammer-and-sickle logo surely the last such emblem in the whole of Russia.
In the fast-changing streets, fashionable boutiques and cafés line the main shopping street, Svetlanskaya.
Start with the panoramic view over Golden Horn (or Peter the Great Bay), from the hill known as Eagle’s Nest. Originally, the plan was to build a Lenin statue here but, fortunately, perestroika intervened, and the mooted statue was replaced with the current Soul and Earth Park. As a result, a real, non-political view of this spectacular harbour can easily be had.
A brand-new monument is soon to rise in nearby Petrovskiiy Park, dedicated to the Russian Orthodox saints Pyotr and Fevroniya Muromskiye, who married each other after Fevroniya cured Pyotr of leprosy. Late in life, they retired to separate monasteries. They are said to have died within an hour of one another, and although buried in separate graves, they were later found together in the same grave.
On Naberezhnaya Street down by the harbour, a World War II submarine is the centrepoint of a waterfront park. Visitors can enter the sub and experience first-hand the cramped living space of the crew. The submarine and an adjacent memorial commemorate Vladivostok’s loss of 30,000 of her citizens in the war — a tiny fraction of the national total of around 20 million.
Nearby is a statue of the city’s founder, KM Arsenyev, whose name graces one of the city’s top museums, (the Arsenyev Regional Museum). Some fascinating cultural tours are offered by the Arsenyev Museum Centre (6, Petra Velikogo Street, tel +7 4232) 22 50 77).
These include Monuments of Religious Architecture, visiting a synagogue, Japanese Buddhist temple and other places of worship; Chekhov in Vladivostok, following the footsteps of the famous writer; and The Theatres of Vladivostok, visiting the Korean and Chinese theatres, the Pushkin Playhouse and other theatres of pre-revolutionary Vladivostok.
Food & drink
For the time being, forget the vodka. Beer is the new pre-occupation of most Russians.
At one of the numerous beer shops outside the Vladivostok rail station (check out the colourful ceiling frescoes), just off the tree-lined main street, a half-litre can costs 20-30 roubles (RM2.30-RM3.40) for a brew with as much as 11% alcohol, as strong as table wine.
For top Russian cuisine, try the Nostalgiya Restaurant (6/25, Pervaya Morskaya Street, tel 41 05 13), where the plush satin-lined dining room features statuettes and busts of the late Tsar Nicholas II and his family, and a triptych of dolls belonging to the Tsarina. Just 20 years ago, the mere existence of such a restaurant would have been enough to have its owners whisked off to a forced labour camp.
Another good choice if you don’t like Subway (the first Subway store opened in Vladivostok in June 2009) is Bar-Club La Trattoria (52, Svetlanskaya Street, tel 20 53 07), located in the house of the former governor-general of the Russian Far East, and featuring traditional Italian and old Russian cuisine.
From Saturnaya rail station in suburban Vladivostok, a short walk leads to the Captain Cook Restaurant, attached to the Vlad Motor Inn.
“Sorry, kangaroo is off the menu,” says Irina, one of the gracious young attendants at the restaurant. “But you can have crocodile, if you like, and all of our wines are from Australia, too”!
It seems a little bizarre to find an Aussie restaurant in Vladivostok, but in this frontier city, the unexpected soon becomes the norm.
Shopping
There is a good, albeit expensive, gift shop next to the Nostalgiya Restaurant, but for bargains, by far the best bet is the market stalls in Market Square, by the railway station. For clothing, one of the chic-est boutiques in town is La Dolce Vita (29, Semenovskaya, open 10am-6pm daily)
Music-wise, for everything from heavy metal to heavier metal, check out Design-studio “Dela” (Aleutsakaya Street, next to Hotel Zolotoy Rog, tel +7 4232 30 03 77). The range, from home-grown to the latest US CD and DVD releases, is astonishing.
One of the newest and maybe the weirdest shop in town is Stalin, selling vodka and chocolates bearing portraits of the late dictator.
Nightlife
Later at night, the Ellada Karaoke Bar (38, Verhneportovaya Street, tel 51 78 50) beckons — or if you’re well-heeled or thin-souled, try the Eldorado Casino (29/31, Okeansky Prospekt, open 24 hours) or Casino Versailles (10, Svetlanskaya Street, tel: 26 96 96, open 6pm-5am).
Vladivostok also has a good nightclub scene. The long-running “Crazy” Nightclub (1, Okeansky Prospekt, in the Marine Passenger Terminal, open 9pm-6:30pm) has room for over 1,000 guests. Another popular hangout is the Zeleny Krokodil (“Green Crocodile”) Club at 12 Svetlanskaya Street.
If you don’t want to spend too much money, just grab a bottle of cheap Moldavian red wine and walk up the hill near Hotel Vladivostok. The views at night are spectacular.
And now the good news . . .
As of July 2009, the passenger ferry Eastern Dream, equipped with cabins, bars, restaurants and even a nightclub, sails weekly from Donghee (South Korea) to Sakaminoto in Japan and thence on to Vladivostok. In a first for Russia, ferry passengers disembarking in Vladivostok may stay for up to 72 hours in the country without a visa.
Ferry fares are significantly lower than airfare.
Getting there
If you don’t want to take the new ferry, Korean Airlines flies regularly from Kuala Lumpur to Vladivostok via Seoul. Vladivostok Airport is a long way (50km) from the city centre, and a taxi will cost RM60-RM70 or more. Alternatively, a bus runs between the central bus station and the airport every hour.
OUT OF TOWN At Vladivostok rail station, take the comfortable Okean train for the overnight trip north to Khabarovsk. The train follows the picturesque shoreline of Amursky Bay. The city of Khabarovsk, on the junction of the giant Ussuri and Amur Rivers, seems like an elegant transplant from Western Europe, its art nouveau architecture being unique in Russia.
ACCOMMODATION
Budget: Amursky Zaliv Hotel (9, Naberezhnaya Street, tel +7 4232 22 55 20, 22 5528).
Mid-range: Hotel Vladivostok (10, Naberezhnaya Street, tel +7 4232 412 808) is centrally located with great views over Amursky Bay. However, at weekends, it seems that the whole population of China and Korea has arrived for a quick break.
Upmarket: Best Eastern Versailles Hotel: (10, Svetlanskaya, tel +7 4232 26 42 01) is centrally located and near the railway station. Or, the four-star Vlad Motor Inn (11, Vosmaya, tel +7 4232 3 13 51), Canadian-owned, some distance from town, near Saturnaya rail station.
Luxury: Hotel Hyundai: (29, Semenovskaya Street, tel +7 4232 40 22 33, e-mail: marketing.vbc@gin.ru)
CHINA: China Tries a New Tack to Go Solar
January 9, 2010
HONG KONG — As it moves rapidly to become the world’s leader in nuclear power, wind energy and photovoltaic solar panels, China is taking tentative steps to master another alternative energy industry: using mirrors to capture sunlight, produce steam and generate electricity.
So-called concentrating solar power uses hundreds of thousands of mirrors to turn water into steam. The steam turns a conventional turbine similar to those in coal-fired power plants. The technology, which is potentially cheaper than most types of renewable power, has captivated many engineers and financiers in the last two years, with an abrupt surge in new patents and plans for large power operations in Europe and the United States.
This year may be China’s turn. China is starting to build its own concentrating solar power plants, a technology more associated with California deserts than China’s countryside. And Chinese manufacturers are starting to think about exports, part of China’s effort to become the world’s main provider of alternative energy power equipment.
Yet concentrating solar power still faces formidable obstacles here, including government officials who are skeptical that the technology will be useful on a large scale in China.
Much of the country is cloudy or smoggy. Water is scarce. The sunniest places left for solar power are deserts deep in the interior, far from the energy-hungry coastal provinces that consume most of China’s electricity. Provinces deep in the interior have few skilled workers or engineers to maintain the automated gear that keeps mirrors focused on towers that transfer the heat from sunbeams into fluids.
Concentrating solar power “is not very suitable for China,” wrote Li Junfeng, a senior government energy policy maker, in a detailed e-mail reply to questions this week.
Yet the private sector in China is racing to embrace the technology anyway.
A California solar technology company and a Chinese power equipment manufacturer plan to sign a deal on Saturday for the construction of up to 2,000 megawatts of power plants using concentrating solar power over the next decade, executives from both companies said this week. That is equivalent to the output of a couple of nuclear power plants. They will start with a 92-megawatt plant in Yulin, a town in a semi-desert area of Shaanxi Province in central China.
The Chinese equipment manufacturer, Penglai Electric, hopes to work with other Chinese manufacturers to drive production costs down precipitously, clearing the way for exports, although these would require further approval from the California licensor of the technology, eSolar.
Eric Wang, the senior vice president for international business development at Penglai Electric, said that manufacturing mirrors, turbines, towers and other equipment in China instead of the United States could cut costs by at least half. That could make concentrating solar power more competitive with other forms of power generation around the world.
China’s Ministry of Science, the Beijing municipal government and the Chinese Academy of Sciences are already building Asia’s first concentrating solar power plant on the outskirts of Beijing, although it is only a pilot operation to generate 1.5 megawatts.
Preparations are also under way for the construction of a 50-megawatt concentrating solar power plant in Gansu Province in northwestern China, said Min Deqing, a renewable energy consultant in Lanzhou, the provincial capital of Gansu.
But while nuclear power, wind energy and photovoltaic solar panels have strong backing from China’s political leaders and enormous financing by government-owned banks, concentrating solar power still faces deep-rooted skepticism in senior ranks of the government.
Unlike in the United States, the roots of that skepticism do not lie in concerns about disrupting the habitat of rare species in sunny, desert areas — a worry that may block some attempts to build concentrating solar power plants in the Mojave Desert.
Mr. Li wrote that concentrating solar power works best when cheap water, cheap land and lots of sun are available in the same place — a rare combination in China. Mr. Li also expressed concern that concentrating solar power would prove more expensive per kilowatt-hour generated than photovoltaic solar power, a technology in which China is already the world’s low-cost supplier.
Mr. Li has a lot of influence on these issues. He is a deputy director general for energy research at the National Development and Reform Commission, the top economic planning agency in China. And he is the secretary general of the government-backed Chinese Renewable Energy Industries Association, which helps oversee these industries’ operations in China.
But Mr. Li did say that he saw a limited role for concentrating solar power, particularly in places where it could be combined with other power plants, or where it could be combined with a way to store power overnight. Penglai and eSolar hope to do both.
Water consumption, mainly to condense the steam after it has been used to generate electricity, is another potential weakness of the technology. Water tends to be scarce in deserts, of course. Penglai and eSolar are leaning toward air cooling instead of water cooling, at the price of cutting the efficiency of their plant.
Mr. Gross said the eSolar technology could also be used to create extra heat during the day, with the heat being stored and used to generate power at night — a form of the electricity storage sought by Mr. Li.
Despite the government’s skepticism, renewable energy investors remain enthusiastic about the potential for concentrating solar power projects in China. K. K. Chan, the chief executive of Nature Elements Capital, a renewable energy investment fund in Beijing, said that he had been looking at such deals in recent months after concluding that the valuations for photovoltaic solar projects were unreasonably high, possibly because that technology had such strong government backing.
Mr. Min in Lanzhou said that while there was little data yet on the cost of concentrating solar power, the price tag was likely to fall in China. “Eventually, when 100 percent domestically produced mirrors are used,” he said, “the cost will be lower than solar panel power plants.”
SOUTH KOREA: 10 stories that rocked Korea
December 31, 2009
Suicide of former President Roh Moo-hyun
Korea’s 16th president, Roh Moo-hyun, jumped off a cliff in his hometown on May 23 amid a prosecution investigation into a bribery scandal, becoming the first Korean president to commit suicide. The predecessor of incumbent President Lee Myung-bak was accused of receiving at least $6 million from Park Yeon-cha, a Busan-based businessman and longtime patron. Roh left a note saying, “Don’t feel sorry. Don’t blame. It’s destiny.” Hours later, prosecutors wrapped up their probe.
The social repercussions were immense. Hundreds of thousands of citizens crowded into makeshift mourning altars across the country over several days of mourning before Roh’s official funeral. Anti-government protests ensued.
Kim Dae-jung, Cardinal Stephen Kim die
Korea lost two other spiritual leaders in religion and politics this year: Cardinal Stephen Kim Sou-hwan in February and the former president Kim Dae-jung in August. After the death of Cardinal Kim, who was widely respected among Catholics and others alike for fighting for minorities and taking a key role in the nation’s democratization, the whole country was gripped with grief. During a three-day mourning period, more than 400,000 people visited Myeongdong Cathedral to pay tribute. The late former president Kim was the country’s first Nobel Piece Prize winner for his lifelong efforts to promote democracy and for seeing through the first inter-Korean summit meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in June 2000. During his six-day state funeral, about 750,000 people visited 184 temporary mourning altars located across the nation.
North tests nuke amid tumultuous year
North Korea conducted a nuclear test in May, further harming an inter-Korean relationship that had already been worsening under the conservative Lee Myung-bak administration in Seoul. South Korea joined the international community in condemning the action and in applying tough sanctions on the North, which responded by declaring the stalled six-party talks “dead.” The prospects for improvements in inter-Korean relations appeared bleak. Then the roller-coaster ride began. In August, North Korea agreed to resume a suspended tourist program at the Mount Kumgang resort and in September the two Koreas staged the first reunion of separate families in two years. But November brought a naval clash on the west coast, the first in seven years, when a North Korean ship crossed the sea border. The North’s ship was badly damaged, but Pyongyang warned in December that the South should stay away from the area near the sea border it had set.
Fear of the new flu grips nation
Just a month after the first death from influenza A(H1N1) was reported in Mexico in April, the first fatality from the illness was reported in Korea in May. The death toll from the pandemic later rose, though not as catastrophically as some had feared. Still, government-designated hospitals for A(H1N1) influenza treatment were packed with patients and visitors with symptoms. Flu fears forced the cancellation of large public events, led to the temporary closure of schools across the country and caused delays at airports as incoming international passengers were made to sign health forms and have their temperatures taken. According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over 2.8 million people had been infected with the virus and 187 had died from it in Korea as of Dec. 28. After raising its alert level to red, the highest, on Nov. 3, the Health Ministry finally lowered it back to orange on Dec. 1. It was the first time Korea had used the red level since it adopted the four-phase alert system in August 2006 to respond to avian influenza.
Political divide on Sejong City project
Controversy over Sejong City, the new administrative hub, reignited this year after the Lee Myung-bak administration made public its decision to overhaul the project.
First proposed by Roh Moo-hyun as a presidential candidate in 2002, the plan has been the center of a political storm ever since. The current administration said the idea of relocating most government ministries to the site in South Chungcheong had to be revised because of its inefficiency, and the new concept focuses on science, education and business, with the aim of creating a city with a population of 500,000 by 2030.
The decision has prompted splits even inside the ruling Grand National Party. In November, President Lee issued a public apology on live TV for having backed the original plan ahead of the election two years ago. Despite persistent opposition from sections of the political community, Prime Minister Chung Un-chan said in December that the revised blueprint will be finalized by the end of January.
Korean sports stars win victories
It was a memorable year for sports fans, but two names stand out: Kim Yu-na and Yang Yong-eun.
Kim, 19, was a perfect five for five in global competition this year. She also set new scoring records, three times in the short program, once in free skating and twice in total points.
Yang, 37, grabbed headlines for his improbable comeback against Tiger Woods at the PGA Championships at the Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota, in August. In becoming the first Asian male golfer to win a PGA major event, Yang handed Woods his first loss at a major event at which he led the pack heading into the final round of play. The win was one of the biggest upsets in golf history, but the former body builder garnered wider attention due to his late start in the sport and humble background.
Brutal child rape leads to stricter penalties
The nation was whipped up into a frenzy after the rape of an 8-year-old child known as Na-young was featured on a current affairs television show on Sept. 22. The public was outraged at the 12-year jail sentence given to the 57-year-old rapist Cho Du-sun, saying the sentence was too light.
Legal measures and public support for victims of sex crimes have been reinforced since. The government introduced a new law extending jail sentences and introducing electronic anklets in October this year. The Supreme Court said on Dec. 21 that it is considering issuing additional penalties to sex criminals who use alcohol in their assaults on children. Public funds for helping child victims were created and medical doctors organized a sex crime task force.
Korea named host of G-20 summit in 2010
Korea was named in September as the host of the Group of 20 summit in November 2010, as the heads of state agreed in Pittsburgh to shift the main body for coordinating economic policy from the G8, the club of developed economies, to the G-20, which also includes major emerging economies.
Korea will be the first non-G8 country to host the G-20 summit, marking a symbolic turning point in global governance. Experts said Korea’s fast recovery from the global financial crisis also helped the country gain that status.
Free trade progress with EU, India
Korea and Europe in October signed a preliminary agreement on free trade, wrapping up negotiations that had lasted for more than two years. The agreement will give Korea access to the 27-nation economic bloc, expected to increase trade by around 40 percent. The biggest beneficiaries of the pact will be exporters, including the automotive and electronics industries. The agreement may also lend momentum to other talks, especially with China and Japan.
The comprehensive economic partnership agreement with India sealed in August was also another major economic achievement. Once enacted next year, Korea will have access to one of the world’s biggest markets, provoking a rise in GDP growth of 0.2 percentage point or roughly $800 million.
Violent reaction to media bills
A slate of media reform bills dominated National Assembly discussions for the better part of the year. The revision would allow a newspaper or business group to invest in a broadcaster starting in 2012, provided that the paper’s readership is below 20 percent of the market and that the conglomerate’s assets are less than 10 trillion won ($8.5 billion).
In July, the ruling Grand National Party managed to pass the bills amid pandemonium in the main chamber. One of the bills passed despite not meeting a quorum for voting. In October, the Constitutional Court ruled that the laws were valid but that the voting process had violated lawmakers’ rights. The media laws took effect Nov. 1.
[estyle@joongang.co.kr]
Copyright by Joins.com, Inc.
Suicide of former President Roh Moo-hyun
Korea’s 16th president, Roh Moo-hyun, jumped off a cliff in his hometown on May 23 amid a prosecution investigation into a bribery scandal, becoming the first Korean president to commit suicide. The predecessor of incumbent President Lee Myung-bak was accused of receiving at least $6 million from Park Yeon-cha, a Busan-based businessman and longtime patron. Roh left a note saying, “Don’t feel sorry. Don’t blame. It’s destiny.” Hours later, prosecutors wrapped up their probe.
The social repercussions were immense. Hundreds of thousands of citizens crowded into makeshift mourning altars across the country over several days of mourning before Roh’s official funeral. Anti-government protests ensued.
Kim Dae-jung, Cardinal Stephen Kim die
Korea lost two other spiritual leaders in religion and politics this year: Cardinal Stephen Kim Sou-hwan in February and the former president Kim Dae-jung in August. After the death of Cardinal Kim, who was widely respected among Catholics and others alike for fighting for minorities and taking a key role in the nation’s democratization, the whole country was gripped with grief. During a three-day mourning period, more than 400,000 people visited Myeongdong Cathedral to pay tribute. The late former president Kim was the country’s first Nobel Piece Prize winner for his lifelong efforts to promote democracy and for seeing through the first inter-Korean summit meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in June 2000. During his six-day state funeral, about 750,000 people visited 184 temporary mourning altars located across the nation.
North tests nuke amid tumultuous year
North Korea conducted a nuclear test in May, further harming an inter-Korean relationship that had already been worsening under the conservative Lee Myung-bak administration in Seoul. South Korea joined the international community in condemning the action and in applying tough sanctions on the North, which responded by declaring the stalled six-party talks “dead.” The prospects for improvements in inter-Korean relations appeared bleak. Then the roller-coaster ride began. In August, North Korea agreed to resume a suspended tourist program at the Mount Kumgang resort and in September the two Koreas staged the first reunion of separate families in two years. But November brought a naval clash on the west coast, the first in seven years, when a North Korean ship crossed the sea border. The North’s ship was badly damaged, but Pyongyang warned in December that the South should stay away from the area near the sea border it had set.
Fear of the new flu grips nation
Just a month after the first death from influenza A(H1N1) was reported in Mexico in April, the first fatality from the illness was reported in Korea in May. The death toll from the pandemic later rose, though not as catastrophically as some had feared. Still, government-designated hospitals for A(H1N1) influenza treatment were packed with patients and visitors with symptoms. Flu fears forced the cancellation of large public events, led to the temporary closure of schools across the country and caused delays at airports as incoming international passengers were made to sign health forms and have their temperatures taken. According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over 2.8 million people had been infected with the virus and 187 had died from it in Korea as of Dec. 28. After raising its alert level to red, the highest, on Nov. 3, the Health Ministry finally lowered it back to orange on Dec. 1. It was the first time Korea had used the red level since it adopted the four-phase alert system in August 2006 to respond to avian influenza.
Political divide on Sejong City project
Controversy over Sejong City, the new administrative hub, reignited this year after the Lee Myung-bak administration made public its decision to overhaul the project.
First proposed by Roh Moo-hyun as a presidential candidate in 2002, the plan has been the center of a political storm ever since. The current administration said the idea of relocating most government ministries to the site in South Chungcheong had to be revised because of its inefficiency, and the new concept focuses on science, education and business, with the aim of creating a city with a population of 500,000 by 2030.
The decision has prompted splits even inside the ruling Grand National Party. In November, President Lee issued a public apology on live TV for having backed the original plan ahead of the election two years ago. Despite persistent opposition from sections of the political community, Prime Minister Chung Un-chan said in December that the revised blueprint will be finalized by the end of January.
Korean sports stars win victories
It was a memorable year for sports fans, but two names stand out: Kim Yu-na and Yang Yong-eun.
Kim, 19, was a perfect five for five in global competition this year. She also set new scoring records, three times in the short program, once in free skating and twice in total points.
Yang, 37, grabbed headlines for his improbable comeback against Tiger Woods at the PGA Championships at the Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota, in August. In becoming the first Asian male golfer to win a PGA major event, Yang handed Woods his first loss at a major event at which he led the pack heading into the final round of play. The win was one of the biggest upsets in golf history, but the former body builder garnered wider attention due to his late start in the sport and humble background.
Brutal child rape leads to stricter penalties
The nation was whipped up into a frenzy after the rape of an 8-year-old child known as Na-young was featured on a current affairs television show on Sept. 22. The public was outraged at the 12-year jail sentence given to the 57-year-old rapist Cho Du-sun, saying the sentence was too light.
Legal measures and public support for victims of sex crimes have been reinforced since. The government introduced a new law extending jail sentences and introducing electronic anklets in October this year. The Supreme Court said on Dec. 21 that it is considering issuing additional penalties to sex criminals who use alcohol in their assaults on children. Public funds for helping child victims were created and medical doctors organized a sex crime task force.
Korea named host of G-20 summit in 2010
Korea was named in September as the host of the Group of 20 summit in November 2010, as the heads of state agreed in Pittsburgh to shift the main body for coordinating economic policy from the G8, the club of developed economies, to the G-20, which also includes major emerging economies.
Korea will be the first non-G8 country to host the G-20 summit, marking a symbolic turning point in global governance. Experts said Korea’s fast recovery from the global financial crisis also helped the country gain that status.
Free trade progress with EU, India
Korea and Europe in October signed a preliminary agreement on free trade, wrapping up negotiations that had lasted for more than two years. The agreement will give Korea access to the 27-nation economic bloc, expected to increase trade by around 40 percent. The biggest beneficiaries of the pact will be exporters, including the automotive and electronics industries. The agreement may also lend momentum to other talks, especially with China and Japan.
The comprehensive economic partnership agreement with India sealed in August was also another major economic achievement. Once enacted next year, Korea will have access to one of the world’s biggest markets, provoking a rise in GDP growth of 0.2 percentage point or roughly $800 million.
Violent reaction to media bills
A slate of media reform bills dominated National Assembly discussions for the better part of the year. The revision would allow a newspaper or business group to invest in a broadcaster starting in 2012, provided that the paper’s readership is below 20 percent of the market and that the conglomerate’s assets are less than 10 trillion won ($8.5 billion).
In July, the ruling Grand National Party managed to pass the bills amid pandemonium in the main chamber. One of the bills passed despite not meeting a quorum for voting. In October, the Constitutional Court ruled that the laws were valid but that the voting process had violated lawmakers’ rights. The media laws took effect Nov. 1.
[estyle@joongang.co.kr]
Copyright by Joins.com, Inc.
CHINA: To Slow Growth, China Raises an Interest Rate
January 8, 2010
By KEITH BRADSHER
HONG KONG — China’s central bank raised a key interest rate slightly Thursday for the first time in nearly five months, in what economists interpreted as the beginning of a broader move to tighten monetary policy and forestall inflation.
After breaking stride a year ago during the global economic slowdown, the Chinese economy resumed galloping growth over the summer. Government investments, real estate construction and consumer spending are all rising briskly, thanks to a surge in lending by government-controlled banks.
Even exports have begun to recover despite continued economic weakness in the European Union and the United States, China’s two biggest overseas markets.
Raising interest rates may help discourage speculative investments by Chinese companies and individuals in real estate projects and other areas of economic activity. China’s dilemma is that higher rates may also prompt overseas investors seeking higher returns to redouble their efforts to push money into China, despite the country’s stringent capital controls.
The People’s Bank of China announced Thursday that the yield from its weekly sale of three-month central bank bills had inched up to 1.3684 percent. The yield had been stuck at 1.328 percent since Aug. 13.
An increase of less than 0.05 of a percentage point might sound small, but economists said it was a harbinger of more interest rate increases to come.
They cited expectations that consumer and producer prices would rise in the months ahead, particularly compared with low price levels a year ago, when demand temporarily slumped in China as well as the rest of the world.
“It is a turning point,” said Ben Simpfendorfer, an economist in the Hong Kong offices of Royal Bank of Scotland. “There is a convergence of events that will lead to higher rates.”
The increase in the interest rate turned mainland China’s stock markets into Asia’s worst performers Thursday. The CSI 300 index of shares on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets slumped 1.98 percent.
Air freight capacity out of mainland China and Hong Kong was almost fully booked in December, according to shippers, making it likely that China would post strong exports when it released a flood of monthly and annual economic data next week. But in interviews this week, senior corporate executives voiced a range of opinions about whether this strength would continue into the new year, or whether the surge in December represented a flurry of restocking by retailers who went into the Christmas season with meager inventories.
Victor Fung, the nonexecutive chairman of Li & Fung, a Hong Kong-based trading and supply chain management company that is one of the world’s largest, said that overseas demand had not been strong enough to sustain the strength in China's shipments seen last month. But he added that his own staff was somewhat more optimistic than he is, as are some investment bank economists.
Thursday's slight increase in interest rates could prove even more significant if it marks the start of an effort by Chinese regulators to limit bank lending. Chinese banks have not only lent heavily at home, but stepped up lending in other countries as well, taking market share from Western banks hobbled by the global financial crisis.
Top officials at the People's Bank of China concluded an annual two-day policy review on Wednesday with a lengthy statement that had particularly strong cautions against bank lending to sectors of the economy with overcapacity or excessive energy use. Chinese bank regulators also warned banks in late November to show more caution in lending and raise more capital to underpin the surge in lending they have already done; the publicly traded Bank of China is widely expected to take the lead in raising money this year.
Thursday's interest rate increase is not the first since the bottom of the economic downturn. After cutting interest rates on the same 3-month central bank bills by 2.4 percentage points in the last quarter of 2008 as the world's financial system trembled, the People's Bank nudged up interest rates by 0.363 from late June to early August last year in a series of increasingly large weekly increases.
But the central bank has been on hold ever since, watching for more evidence of the economy's health. Thursday's increase appeared to confirm that the central bank was starting to become concerned again about rising prices, economists said.
Central banks around the world have a history of taking small steps at first when they begin raising interest rates after a long period of keeping them low in response to an economic downturn. Because China does not have a well-developed bond trading market, the yields on the weekly sales of central bank bills are widely watched as a barometer of the central bank’s intentions.
The central bank sells its bills mainly to banks, which pay in renminbi that the central bank then effectively takes out of circulation, slowing growth in the country’s money supply.
Weekly sales of central bank bills are part of a process that economists describe as “sterilization” of China’s extensive intervention in currency markets.
As U.S. dollars and other foreign currencies pour into China from its trade surplus and foreign investment, the central bank prints vast sums of renminbi and issues them to buy those dollars and other currencies.
To prevent all those extra renminbi from feeding inflation, the central bank then claws back the renminbi from the market through a series of measures that include the sale of central bank bills. China also requires commercial banks to keep large reserves on deposit at the central bank, partly to keep the banks from lending too recklessly but also so that the central bank can use that money to finance further purchases of dollars and other foreign exchange.
The goal of sterilization is to keep inflation under control in China while keeping the renminbi weak. That helps make China’s exports competitive overseas and preserves jobs in China, while contributing to unemployment in countries producing rival goods.
The U.S. dollars and other currencies go into China’s foreign exchange reserves, which stood at $2.27 trillion at the end of September; monthly figures through the end of December are due for release next week. China has the biggest foreign exchange reserves of any country, by far.
Because the central bank has essentially borrowed at home to finance that accumulation of reserves, there is considerable worry in China about losses on those reserves if the value of the U.S. dollar weakens further.
Comments on Internet bulletin boards in China about possible currency losses on the foreign exchange reserves are quickly deleted by censors, a sign of officials’ sensitivity.
China’s foreign-exchange regulators have redoubled their efforts in the past two months to prevent inflows of so-called hot money — capital that moves on a short notice to any country providing better returns.
With the exception of investments that bring the transfer of scarce technologies or management expertise, China has a dwindling need for foreign capital. A domestic savings rate of close to 40 percent has made ample money available for new projects.
The central bank is already buying more than $300 billion a year of foreign currencies, mainly dollars, to keep the renminbi weak and preserve the competitiveness of Chinese exports in foreign markets. So the central bank has had little appetite to buy more foreign currencies so as to allow foreigners to invest in China’s growth while preventing the renminbi from appreciating.
JAPAN: Change in Japan a Tough Task for Finance Minister
January 9, 2010
News Analysis
TOKYO — It sounds like a script written for Hollywood: an idealistic reformer put in charge of cleaning up his nation’s most powerful center of entrenched bureaucratic influence.
Political experts say that the appointment Thursday of Naoto Kan, a former civic campaigner against government corruption, to run the Finance Ministry does just that, pitting a veteran bureaucracy fighter against the most formidable of the central ministries that have presided over Japan’s postwar economic rise and subsequent stagnation.
They say that the choice of Mr. Kan, a deputy prime minister with limited experience in running the nation’s economy, shows the desire of the new prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama, to step up efforts to achieve his government’s main goal: changing the way Japan is governed by shifting power to elected politicians, away from career bureaucrats.
“Mr. Kan is the administration’s most recognizable face when it comes to overcoming the bureaucracy,” said Tomoaki Iwai, a politics professor at Nihon University in Tokyo. “This appointment shows Mr. Hatoyama’s desire to show his resolve.”
Mr. Kan will have his work cut out for him, battling a secretive institution that claims historical roots going back 13 centuries and that has long drawn the best and brightest graduates from top universities. The ministry has long wielded enormous influence over Japan, the world’s second largest economy, using its broad budgetary powers to control the nation’s purse strings.
In his first news conference since taking office, Mr. Kan vowed Thursday to impose his will on the ministry.
“In ways both good and bad, the Finance Ministry has been a symbolic presence in Kasumigaseki,” said Mr. Kan, 63, referring to the district in Tokyo where the central ministries’ head offices are located. “It will now become a model of how to change Kasumigaseki.”
In his previous role as deputy prime minister, Mr. Kan was one of two top officials directing the Hatoyama government’s still-early efforts to make the bureaucracy more answerable to elected politicians, and to drag policy making out of smoky back rooms. But Mr. Hatoyama has come under criticism that he has failed to rein in the powerful Finance Ministry, which analysts said still played a leading role in drawing up the new government’s revised budget for 2010.
One of the founding members of Mr. Hatoyama’s Democratic Party, Mr. Kan first gained fame as a battler of bureaucracy during his brief stint as health minister in the mid-1990s, when he exposed the Health Ministry’s failure to prevent the spread of H.I.V.-tainted blood used in transfusions.
In challenging the Finance Ministry, Mr. Kan faces an uphill fight that could determine the success of the fledgling government’s efforts to bring change, said Professor Iwai and other analysts. The ministry has successfully resisted past efforts to curtail its budget-making authority, though in the late 1990s it did lose its powers to regulate the financial industry and its control over the nation’s central bank, the Bank of Japan.
“This won’t be ‘Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,’ ” Mr. Iwai said. “He cannot just demonize the ministry. He has to find a way to win the bureaucrats over to his side and use them effectively.”
The new government’s success in fulfilling its promises to make Japan more democratically accountable could largely rest on Mr. Kan’s ability to control the Finance Ministry, which is widely seen here as one of the last bastions of Japan’s crumbling postwar order. Mr. Hatoyama badly needs a political victory as he faces mounting criticism over political financing scandals and a spat with the United States, Japan’s traditional protector, over an air base on Okinawa.
Mr. Kan replaced Hirohisa Fujii, 77, who stepped down for health reasons. Though respected in the Democratic Party, Mr. Fujii was facing increasing criticism in the Japanese news media for allowing ministry bureaucrats to control the 2010 budget, undermining the new government’s efforts to put politicians in charge.
On Thursday, Mr. Kan vowed to be different from previous finance ministers, who tended to defend the ministry’s interests and to advocate policies fed to them by ministry bureaucrats. During his inaugural news conference, he spent much less time speaking about financial policy than speaking about how he would strengthen Japanese democracy by bringing the ministry to heel.
“The minister is not a representative of the ministry,” Mr. Kan told reporters. “He is a representative of the people.”
As if to underscore his lack of experience in financial policy, he briefly stirred up currency markets on Thursday by saying at the news conference that the yen should be weaker, a comment taken by traders as meaning the government may intervene to drive down the currency’s value. He later said he was misunderstood, and did not mean to imply that the government would weaken the yen.
Mr. Kan left little room for misunderstanding in his criticism of ministry bureaucrats. He threatened to replace uncooperative ministry officials. He also vowed to increase public oversight of so-called special accounts, vast pools of money from pension funds and elsewhere that his and other ministries have controlled with little disclosure.
Lastly, he promised to bring similar public exposure to the thousands of public corporations that are controlled by ministries, and that critics say are used to provide comfortable retirement jobs for former bureaucrats.
Mr. Kan said the ministry’s role as budget compiler gave it a view of the inner workings of other ministries as well. He vowed to make this information public in order to aid the government’s efforts to exert more control over the entire national bureaucracy.
“The Finance Ministry has all sorts of information, and is in a position to see inside of the pocketbooks” of other ministries, he said. “I will make that information public.”
N. KOREA: North Koreans Devastated Over Currency Changes
January 8, 2010
by Louisa Lim
A newly released North Korean bank note features an updated image of the country's founder, Kim Il Sung, portraying him as an elderly man with gray hair. Chosun Shinbo via Yonhap/AP
Imagine waking up and being told you can only keep around $40, and the rest of your money is worthless.
That's exactly what happened to North Koreans at the beginning of December when Pyongyang pushed through currency reforms. Since then, Pyongyang's currency changes have led to public dissatisfaction, a partial government clampdown, inflation and food shortages.
Tens of thousands of North Koreans began the New Year with a massive staged rally in central Pyongyang.
"Let's implement it!" they shouted, referring to government policy, as they pumped their fists into the air. Words aside, many fear what the new year might bring.
A month ago, North Korea announced currency reforms effectively slashing two zeroes off the currency. People were told to exchange their old currency for new at a rate of 100 to one, but they could only change around $40.
Even in this tightly controlled state, that caused widespread dissatisfaction; the depth of feeling was such that there were reports of people burning money or throwing it into the river. Both acts constitute political crimes since the old currency bears pictures of North Korea's founder, Kim Il Sung.
"It appears that the regime didn't anticipate the degree of pushback it would encounter on this," says Marcus Noland, a North Korea expert at the Peterson Institute of International Economics in Washington, D.C. "It was forced to raise limits on conversion in a series of what appear to be ad hoc steps, not only raising overall limits, but providing compensatory pay raises to certain favored groups."
South Korean groups with sources in the North say subsidies of 500 won — about $15 — were given to the whole population. Then at the end of December, salaries were distributed at the same rate as if the two zeroes hadn't been knocked off the currency.
"In effect there's been a hundredfold increase in purchasing power," says Noland, but he warns this generosity could backfire. "If there are no more goods on the market, that will manifest itself in inflation."
And that's already happening. Organizations in Seoul with sources in the North are reporting that many food prices have doubled since the changes, even though the stated aim was to battle inflation.
After salaries were disbursed at the end of December, the price of goods like pork were rising by the hour. Rice prices have quintupled, according to Open Radio for North Korea, which broadcasts from Seoul. Now rice is hard to find; supplies are being stockpiled, since traders believe prices will continue to climb.
Open Radio's President Ha Tae Keung says public opinion swung behind the reforms after the salary hikes, but now worries are returning — especially given the chronic food shortages.
"People again are getting frustrated just after two weeks," Ha adds. "People's emotions and reaction, very fluctuating, changing every week."
At the beginning of January, the use of foreign currency was banned. Analysts have expressed skepticism over whether this ban will be implemented.
"The elite hold the foreign currency," says North Korea expert Noland. "This ban, if it is to be implemented — an absolutely mind-bending degree of repression or the government is going to have to cut deals with certain groups, particularly the military. It is almost inconceivable to me that the government would successfully take foreign currency away from high-ranking members of the military."
Since the currency reform, the price of the new won on the black market has plummeted, with the dollar exchange-rate 10 times higher than usual, according to Open Radio's Ha.
Foreign trade has been affected, especially with China. One Chinese seafood trader, who would only give his name as Mr. Han, says the currency reforms have made importing North Korean goods uneconomical.
"About 20 to 30 percent of Chinese companies have suspended business," Han says. "We stopped last month, so we're doing OK. Those still doing business are losing a lot of money, in the tens of thousands of dollars."
The reforms constitute an attack on North Korea's emerging market economy and those newly minted businessmen who got rich from it. They signal a return to North Korea's form of socialism.
Some scholars believe, in symbol-laden North Korea where iconography is key, the content of the new notes is highly significant. The image of North Korea's founder Kim Il Sung is updated to show him as an elderly man with gray hair, while for the first time there is a coded reference to current leader Kim Jong Il, in a picture of the log cabin where he was born at Mount Paektu, according to official North Korea mythology.
In an article, the University of Vienna's Rudiger Frank spells out the importance of these changes. He writes: "Technically, the new North Korean currency is an attempt to bring the economy back under control. But the picture of the elderly Kim Il Sung, the first-ever appearance of Kim Jong Il, and the reminder that these two leaders form a unity and that the Party is above the military also indicate that a power change in North Korea is drawing closer."
Open Radio's Ha also believes this reform is laying the groundwork for the power succession from Kim Jong Il to his son and presumptive heir Kim Jong Eun.
"The ultimate goal is to attack newly emerging powers who might oppose the Kim Jong Eun group," says Ha, "by confiscating their wealth, controlling their dollars and weakening them."
He points out that what is unprecedented about these reforms is that, for the first time, the North Korean government has shown sensitivity to public opinion.
"This currency reform is the first policy initiative to stabilize Kim Jong Il's power succession," Ha says. "So if public opinion to this policy is going bad, it might jeopardize the power succession plan."
What's not clear, however, is how Pyongyang will continue to disburse such huge salaries and feed its hungry population.
Erica Kang, from the South Korean humanitarian group Good Friends, predicts there could be more unrest and the crime rate could go up, if there are food shortages.
Even South Korea's defense minister has warned his troops that it's difficult to estimate the threats that will arise in the aftermath of the currency reform.
"The collapse scenario is getting more probable after the currency reform," predicts Ha.
Though others caution the North Korean regime has shown extraordinary resilience in the face of adversity.
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