Things to Do in Asia

Bustling Petaling Street is the main thoroughfare of Kuala Lumpur’s Chinatown. The street is effectively one long market which specialises in counterfeit clothes, watches and shoes. It sets up mid-morning and is busy until almost dawn with locals and tourists haggling for cheap wares.

The neighborhood known as Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) is quite literally the heart of the Malaysian capital and home to some of the country’s most recognizable landmarks, including the Petronas Twin Towers. A commercial development project that began in 1993 envisioned KLCC as “a city within a city,” one that would leave visitors to Kuala Lumpur feeling like they could quite comfortably never leave the area.

When Chinese soldiers of the Qing Dynasty returned from war with Tibet in 1718, many of the soldiers and their families based themselves around Kuan-Zhai Lane in the Sichuan city of Chengdu. Though only 3 of the original 42 lanes remain from the period of military housing - Kuan, Zhai, and Jing - these three lanes collectively comprise an area of Chengdu now known to travelers as China’s Lane.

Although the name literally translates to “Wide-Narrow” Lane, both Kuan and Zhai lanes exist as narrow alleyways, with one being imperceptibly wider than the other. Along with the third lane, Jing, these three parallel alleyways are recognized as one of Chengdu’s three historic conservation districts.

Ranking as one of the finest pedestrian thoroughfares in downtown Chengdu, Kuan-Zhai Lane offers a visually pleasing blend of traditional Sichuan architecture fused with modern Chengdu commerce. Dozens of quadrangle homes built in the Qing style stand nestled between fashionable cafés, nightclubs and clothing boutiques; and visitors can sip tea in a traditional tea house on Kuan before grabbing a beer at a trendy bar just one street away over on Zhai. Next door on Jing Lane is a 1,300 foot (3,962.4 meter) long wall that depicts a thousand years of Chengdu history and is an informative complement to the old style architecture and various antiques being sold throughout Kuan-Zhai.

With many modern hotels opening in and around the Kuan-Zhai Lane area there rarely is a shortage of activity in what is arguably one of Chengdu’s most cosmopolitan yet traditional districts.

The Kranji War Memorial, located in northern Singapore, is an impressive structure built in 1946 immediately following the Second World War to commemorate the soldiers from the allied and regional countries who fought and died protecting Malaysia and Singapore from the invading Japanese forces.

Made up of a cemetery of nearly 5,000 servicemen and a separate memorial bearing the names of more than 24,000 others, the war memorial is divided in three segments to represent the different branches of the military, the Air Force, Army and Navy. Of the tombstones, about 850 remain without names.

Upon entering the memorial, there is a large bronze door nearby a reference book for each of the names within. On Remembrance Day, which is typically held in November, there is a rather large service at the memorial to pay tribute to those who lost their lives.

The 47-foot (14-meter) tall bronze Buddha statue of Kotokuin (Great Buddha of Kamakura) is only the second tallest statue of Buddha in Japan though likely the most recognizable.

The seated figure is that of Amitabha Buddha, worshipped by Japanese Buddhists as a deity of salvation. The statue was completed in 1252 after the site’s previous wooden Buddha and its hall were damaged in a tsunami in 1248. Hundreds of years later, you can still see traces of the original gold leafing. The identity of the artist who cast the statue remains a mystery.

The temple of Kotokuin where the Buddha statue resides falls under the Jodo Sect of Buddhism, the most widely practiced branch of the religion in Japan. While the Great Buddha is the real draw, visitors can tour the temple grounds to see the four bronze lotus petals originally cast as part of a pedestal for the Buddha, as well as the cornerstones of the hall that originally sheltered the statue.