Pure water, bears and elephants make the waterfalls of Laos well worth the trek, writes Yvonne van Dongen.

The prime reason to visit Shenzhen is to shop, writes Sharon Stephenson, who maximised every moment of commerce.

Greg Rules uses his seven-day rail pass to travel from Tokyo to Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima and to the Hakone mountains and lakes district before returning to Tokyo.

A support organisation for migrant parents in Auckland is experiencing a baby boom because of a surge in the number of dragon babies born to Chinese parents.

Jane Phare tours the markets and malls of Kuala Lumpur to snap up bargains, drool over designer labels and hunt for a scooter.

Shanghai proves mind-blowing for first-time visitors, writes Shandelle Battersby.

Walking through the historic centre of Macau, a world heritage site, it's easy to forget you're in Asia. As a former Portuguese colony, remnants such as St Augustine's church could serve as a backdrop for a movie set in Lisbon if you didn't know better.

Shandelle Battersby romps in an underground mud pool in China's south.

Kara Hurring - ex-partner of the 'Runaway millionaire' - says home detention is no "walk in the park'' and she is counting down the days until the sentence ends.

Stress minimisation is the order of the day – for snakes as well as travellers, as Rachel Ashton finds.

Michelle Lv of the Ritz-Carlton in Guangzhou, the main city in southern China, showing off the hotel's presidential suite. The 420sq m room costs $10,000 a night.

Justice has caught up with all of the Bali bombers, a significant comfort for those still grieving for their victims 10 years later.

Club Med's huge Asian eco-resort is expanding as the French business turns towards the east, writes Anne Gibson.

Former NZ diplomat Warren Searell called Damascus home until the Arab spring made life far too dangerous. This is his story.

Getting lost is part of discovering an unfamiliar city. And, as Chris Pritchard discovers, negotiating the streets of Kyoto throws up some unique challenges.

Bollard bids farewell to his 'cool job.'

Bernd Kubisch visits Cox's Bazar, a long, sandy beach in the south-east corner of Bangladesh that has been a prime surfing destination for keen surfers for two decades.

The idiosyncrasies of India's market vendors keep Catherine Masters on her toes.

It's not hard to see why Rudyard Kipling felt moved to employ a little license in his famous poem, writes Rosemary Cooper.

Nothing goes to waste at a Hong Kong market stall, finds Peter Calder.

Asia's first Legoland theme park opened to packed crowds in southern Malaysia on yesterday.