Exclusivity and privacy is still available for a family holiday in the sun, even at bustling Phuket, finds Leanne Chamberlin.

Finance centre Hong Kong is revealing a greener side, hidden in her outlying islands and among the densely packed streets. Sophie Barclay investigates.

In just four years, Xiaomi has evolved from startup to outselling Apple in China by offering inexpensive devices packed with high-end features.

Yvonne van Dongen gets a telling off about her improper tea drinking habits from her Basil Fawlty-esque guide in the Cameron Highlands.

Sumo wrestlers come in all sizes, finds Brett Atkinson, but the man mountains are the most fascinating.

A modern-day Chinese emigration wave is already underway, and the US is their preferred destination, with buyers snapping up $11b worth of US properties last year.

Bich Ngoc, who earns less than $60 a week, cobbled together four months of savings to buy the latest iPhone so she could impress her colleagues.

For years, wealthy Chinese have been transferring billions overseas to buy pricey real estate, despite their country's currency restrictions. How are they doing it?

The pachinko industry in Japan wants casinos, driven by attendance that has sunk more than 60 per cent since the mid-90s and an uncertain legal status.

Buyers from Greater China spent $22 billion on US homes in the past year, up 72 per cent from the same period in 2013.

Boeing predicts demand in Asia will push commercial aircraft sales to $5.2 trillion over the next 20 years.

Travelling from Chau Doc to Ho Chi Minh City, Nick Redmayne encounters an optimistic country.

So busy is Audrey Young reflecting on the meaning of life at the Haeinsa Temple, that she doesn't even get around to breaking open her emergency rations.

Not all beer drinkers want to grab a cold one. Molson Coors Brewing discovered this in China where drinking cold liquids is widely seen as undesirable.

Japan's cultural barriers may seem immense but Sarah MacDonald finds getting to know the locals in the busy city can be easy.

Graham Reid considers the lifelines of India.

Taiwanese festivals are a dazzling frenzy of colour and noise, finds Justine Tyerman.

Graham Reid visits a photogenic spot that isn't quite as famous as it looks.

Hayden Donnell discovers the dangers - and exhilaration - of Sapporo Beer Garden.

Countries searching for the missing Malaysian plane have yet to agree on how to share costs, an Australian search leader said.

Two teenage cousins found hanging from a mango tree may in fact have been murdered in an honour killing by members of their own family.

After a fruitless three-month hunt for flight MH370, Australian authorities have taken the first step towards handing over search operations to a private contractor.

A travel insurer has warned tourists about the risk of drinking arak, a locally made alcohol in Bali.

A British woman sailing near Indonesia at the time MH370 vanished says she saw a plane 'burning' and billowing smoke before it crashed.

Vietnam's Phu Quoc is what Phuket was 40 years ago. But it won't last, says Jacqueline Le.

Len Brown is taking his first overseas trip since the furore of his affair, which raised questions about a trip he made to Hong Kong.

Can a Kiwi cyclist out-sprint a hungry brown bear? In Japan Victoria Clark fixates on this point while pedalling through Hokkaido's forests. She need not have worried.

Pam Neville finds an unexpected joie de vivre among Beijing's bustling population.