WAITING AT Bangkok’s Suvaranabhumi Airport as typhoon Mangkhut ravages the Philippines before heading Hong Kong in less than three days, I can’t help wondering whether this trip to the SAR might not be better postponed.

Landing at Chek Lap Kok three hours later after a smooth flight, we are greeted by local guide Zelo Dai, who reassures us that the airport weather advisory board is still showing level 3.

“The typhoon is coming but it’s still far from Hong Kong’s coastline. We have time to get around town. Don’t you guys worry,” Zelo says with a bright smile.

“For us, this is normal because Hong Kong always encounters typhoons during summer (June to September). When the typhoons intensify to level 10, everyone stays home and all shopping malls and restaurants are closed,” he adds, as he leads us to Tai Kwun, in the heart of Old Town Central.

After 10 years of renovation works, the Central Police Station has become the Tai Kwun contemporary art centre.

Opened in May, Hong Kong’s new iconic landmark is home to the new incarnation of the 170-year-old Central Police Station, which thanks to an investment of HK$48 million (Bt1.98 billion) by the Hong Kong Jockey Club, has been turned into a creative contemporary art centre.

It took full 10 years to transform the Central Police Station, Central Magistracy and Victoria Prison into this new centre for heritage and the arts and the results are impressive.

“Constructed in 1845 under British colonial rule, this was only compound in Central district that had a police station, prison and court in the same area. Initially, it served as a prison before the police station and court were built. The facility was closed because it was too small and some prisoners tried to escape,” Esther Lui, marketing officer of Tai Kwun, tells us.

“Now the compound features 16 buildings which house exhibition galleries, auditoriums and stages for performing arts as well as several outdoor spaces. The original colonial structures have been retained. We tried to find the materials similar to the original, even importing the roofing from Scotland. We also have several restaurants and teahouses that are popular hangouts for artists and art lovers.”

One of the oldest properties is the four-storey Barrack Block built between 1862 and 1864. Inside are the Tai Kwun Store, the visitor centre and two exhibition galleries, where guests can come and learn about the history of the Central Police Station compound.

Block 12, B Hall was built during the expansion of Victoria Gaol to house prisoners convicted of the most serious crimes including murder and armed robbery. The ground floor serves as an interactive exhibition gallery, with the walls of 16 old cells used as a big screen to project the daily life of prisoners. Visitors can travel back to 1910 to its days as a high-security cellblock, witness a jailbreak and sample life behind bars.

Completed in 1919, the neo-classical, red brick Police Headquarters presents the inaugural “100 Faces of Tai Kwun” exhibition, in which some 100 local residents share their childhood memories of the complex and the Central neighbourhood though such mixed media as illustrations and voice stories.

Tai Kwun also offers a programme of indie musical performances by local and international artists every first Saturday afternoon of the month while every Sunday the semi-out-door Laundry Steps has free screenings of movies in collaboration with the Hong Kong International Film Festival.

The next morning we skip the hotel’s breakfast buffet and head out to find something more interesting at Kung Wo Dou Bun Chong in Sham Shui Po district. Famous for its delectable tofu pudding and snacks, this 100-year-old shop relocated from Tsim Sha Tsui to its new home on Pei Ho Street in the 1960s and is now operated by Renee So, the fourth generation of the family.

So uses high-quality imported soybeans from Canada to create her tofu pudding and fresh soy milk, which are not too “beany” in terms of flavour and have super smooth texture.

She puts this down to the continued use of traditional techniques. “A decade ago, we had only tofu pudding and soy bean milk. The whole process takes 18 hours. Soybeans are soaked in water for seven to ten hours before being ground, boiled and mixed with gypsum powder for a tender texture. We try to keep the original taste but we allow customers to add some sugar cane for sweetness,” she says.

Renee So, owner of the 100yearold Kung Wo Dou Bun Chong shop, specialises in tender tofu puddings and deep-fried tofu snacks.

“There are around 10 tofu shops in Hong Kong but the new generation is not interested in this industry because the process takes too long. Every day, we make between 400 and 1,000 cups of tofu pudding. It’s a healthy dish, ideal for people of all ages and particularly for vegetarians.”

Today, the menu also boasts deep-fried tofu, deep-fried tofu puffs and deep-fried golden fish and soya cake, plus a selection of dumplings, congee and steamed noodle rolls. Prices range from HK$6 to $27.

After a truly delicious breakfast, we delve into the history of Sham Shui Po and discover the original model of Hong Kong’s public housing project at Mei Ho House. Built in the mid-1950s, it is only remaining six-storey Mark I H-shaped resettlement block and today serves as a museum and Youth Hostel.

“During the British-China War in 1930, plenty of people emigrated from China to Hong Kong and settled in this neighbourhood. This is a place where the Hong Kong character was developed,” says illustrator Eric Wan, who serves a special guide for Walk in Hong Kong.

“Initially, thousands of refugees built their huts on the sides of the mountain because this land was close to the water. The government under British colonial rule didn’t care about their lives.”

Mei Ho House has been turned into a live museum to document the development of Hong Kong’s public housing projects.

The first exhibition zone depicts how people lived on the hillside and transports visitors back to Christmas Eve in 1953 where a fire at a shoe shop spread quickly, resulting in the houses of most of the residents being destroyed.

“Some 50,000 people lost their home overnight. The fire forced the British government to build the structures. They spent just one year building eight housing states that borrowed from the prison model,” he says.

The second zone is designed as a mock-up of public housing estates in different designs that show how Hong Kong residents lived – and continue to live – in compact but functional apartments.

“The first design allowed people to live, work, cook and more in the housing state. There was even a school on the roof and some people lived in the hallways, so the building was very crowded,” he adds.

Renowned Chinese director John Woo also lived here and has drawn on his experiences in the less than salubrious conditions – the shared cooking spaces, public bathrooms and occasional gangster attacks – for his films.

Wan also takes us to Apliu Street Flea Market, which reminds me of Bangkok’s Khlong Thom market with its second-hand electronic appliances, audio equipment, hardware, clothes and TV remotes.

Apliu Street Flea Market has a wide range of secondhand electric appliances, clothes and home furnishings. 

Nearby is the popular Shia Wong Hip restaurant, which specialises in herbal snake soup. It belongs to Miss Chow, dubbed Hong Kong’s queen of snake, and offers a choice of snake and turtle soup, snake wine and snake skin products.

“My husband is a snake trader, travelling around Southeast Asia to find snakes. We use both water and land snakes for our soup. The Chinese consider the snake as a very hot element, so it’s a popular dish in the winter to warm the blood. During winter, I cook more than 2,000 snakes a day,” she says.

Shia Wong Hip shop is much loved for its snake soup and wine. 

Popular with young travellers around Asia, the Hong Kong-based Doughnut backpack brand also set up its first shop in Sham Shui Po. It’s the brainchild of new-wave entrepreneurs Rex Yam and Steven Cheng, who started their business while at university.

“We want to offer a collection of functional and durable backpacks that everyone can afford. All bags are made with quality rain-resistant nylon imported from Korea. Our designs focus on the lifestyle of young travellers, so our bags have a lot of compartments for the laptop, camera, passport and other accessories,” Rex says.

Designer Rex Yam offers a collection of functional backpacks under the brandname Doughnut. 

“These days our products are available in Bangkok, Taiwan, the Philippines and Europe. Over the years, Sham Shui Po has become a hub for start-ups, creative artists and designers. Walking around here, visitors can really experience a way of local life and culture.”

That evening, with the sky still clear, we climb up to the summit of the Garden Hill. It takes us 15 minutes to get to the top from where we admire Sham Shui Po spread out below.

As the sun begins to fall and the typhoon continues its approach, I realise that this literally is the calm before the storm.

The writer travelled to Hong Kong as a guest of Hong Kong Tourism Board.

IF YOU GO

>> Tai Kwun is on Hollywood Road, Central and is open daily from 11am to 11pm. Find more details at http://www.Taikwun.hk.

>. Kung Wo Dou Bun Chong tofu shop is at 118 on Pei Ho Street, Sham Shui Po district. It’s open from 6am for breakfast and again at 2pm for afternoon tea.

>> Mei Ho House is at 70 Berwick Street, Shek Kip Mei. Find out more at http://www.Yha.org.hk.

>> Shia Wong Hip snake eatery is on the ground floor of Pei Ho Building, Sham Shui Po.

>> Doughnut is at 68 Fuk Wa Street, Sham Shui Po. Visit DoughnutOfficial.com.

 The baby, the smallest of all giant panda cubs born at Adventure World, was not able to drink from her mother’s teat when she was born so the staff fed the baby in an incubator with breast milk pumped from her mother Rauhin while controlling the temperature and humidity to prevent the baby’s body temperature from falling. The baby was returned to her Rauhin regularly from the incubator as part of efforts to encourage the baby to drink from her mother’s teat on her own. Two days after her birth, the baby finally started to feed under her own power. However, because her body temperature would drop during the nursing time, the baby panda had to be put back in the temperature-controlled incubator immediately after breast-feeding. As the baby panda’s weight and body heat increased in tandem with her growth, her body temperature began to stablise. Now her black-and-white body pattern is appearing clearly, and her eyes are expected to open soon.

Here are some key points to help you come up with a name.

1. The baby panda is the 16th giant panda born at the theme park.

2. The baby (75 grams at birth) is the smallest of all giant pandas born at the park in the past, but she is growing steadily.

3. Her father (Eimei: 26 years old) broke his own world record for being the oldest male panda to have succeeded in natural mating and breeding in captivity.

Suggestions for the baby’s name can be uploaded in both English and Chinese at https://contact-aws.com/en/ and

Pic panda

What shall we call this little cutie?

A baby girl giant panda, born on August 14, is delighting spectators at Adventure World in Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, since September 13 and now the theme park is publicly seeking suggestions for her name.

The baby, the smallest of all giant panda cubs born at Adventure World, was not able to drink from her mother’s teat when she was born so the staff fed the baby in an incubator with breast milk pumped from her mother Rauhin while controlling the temperature and humidity to prevent the baby’s body temperature from falling. The baby was returned to her Rauhin regularly from the incubator as part of efforts to encourage the baby to drink from her mother’s teat on her own. Two days after her birth, the baby finally started to feed under her own power. However, because her body temperature would drop during the nursing time, the baby panda had to be put back in the temperature-controlled incubator immediately after breast-feeding. As the baby panda’s weight and body heat increased in tandem with her growth, her body temperature began to stablise. Now her black-and-white body pattern is appearing clearly, and her eyes are expected to open soon.

Here are some key points to help you come up with a name.

1. The baby panda is the 16th giant panda born at the theme park.

2. The baby (75 grams at birth) is the smallest of all giant pandas born at the park in the past, but she is growing steadily.

3. Her father (Eimei: 26 years old) broke his own world record for being the oldest male panda to have succeeded in natural mating and breeding in captivity.

Suggestions for the baby’s name can be uploaded in both English and Chinese at https://contact-aws.com/en/ and  Chinese website at https://contact-aws.com/ch/

The deadline is November 16.

With more than a third of global travellers booking a vacation for rejuvenation, break out of your comfort zone and ditch the membership fees for these unconventional fitness and wellness methods.

Mermaid Fitness – Lake Michigan, USA

Swap your feet for fins and dive in to this alternative workout in the Mermaid Fitness swimming pool located in Lake Michigan. Embrace your inner mermaid and work on your power, strength, beauty and grace. Mermaid Fitness fuses fairy-tale fun with Yoga and Pilates to give its participants the workout of their dreams.

Where to Stay: Dry off in one of Cedar Ridge Cabins, located near some of the most popular sites in the area such as the stunning Crystal Lake. These cosy cabins offer a home away from home, comfy beds along with tea and coffee making facilities, there is also a patio and fire pit to warm up by after your mermaid adventure.

Laughter Therapy – Mumbai, India

Invented by Doctor Madan Kataria back in the mid-nineties, this unconventional wellness workout, which was once laughed at, has now amassed thousands of devotees, including in Europe and the US. Take a dawn laughter yoga session in Mumbai and laugh your worries away. This unusual method is based on the theory that laughter unlocks both spiritual and medical benefits. One of the many laughter yoga clubs in Mumbai is the Chowpatty Beach Laughter Club, which meets every morning at 7am at the eastern end of Chowpatty Beach in South Mumbai.

Where to stay: The exquisite Taj Lands End is a short drive from Chowpatty Beach and boasts a fully equipped health club and guests can enjoy massages and Ayurveda treatments at Jiva Spa. Ideal for global travellers who list spa facilities as an important amenity when choosing an accommodation. Take a dip in the pool, relax in the sauna rooms or take part in a yoga session. After rejuvenating your mind and body, treat your appetite to traditional Indian cuisine at Masala Bay or authentic Chinese specialties at Ming Yang.

Dog Yoga – Auckland, New Zealand

Forget yoga, why not embrace doga? Aucklanders have always held a special place in their heart for dogs, from dog markets, dog sushi to dog fashion shows, it’s no surprise that dog yoga originated here. Practising yoga with your beloved pooch will not only soothe your mind, body and soul but your furry friends too. Doga is a wonderful yoga practice in which you and your dog perform traditional Hatha yoga postures. Use your pup for added weight and make the most of this one on one bonding time.

Where to stay: Feel at home in the spacious Princes Wharf apartment, featuring two bedrooms, a fully equipped kitchen, bathroom and balcony. Plus this luxurious home away from home stay is also pet friendly, perfect for you and your pampered pooch.

Morning Raves – Paris, France

Wake up your usual work out with a morning rave in Paris. This movement is designed to capture all the fun of a late-night party but with all the health benefits of a workout, the focus being on creativity and well-being. Sip on coconut water instead of cocktails and dance the way through your morning to all your favourite songs. With a superfood smoothie bar, a wake-up massage station and a motivating dance team this is the most fun you can have before 9am. Make your workout an event worth getting up for and spend the rest of the day full of positive energy before hitting all the sites of Paris.

Where to stay: Le Village Montmartre by Hiphophostels offers travellers spacious accommodation in one of the coolest parts of the city. After your morning workout you can make the most of the perfect location and explore the beautiful Sacre Coeur Basilica and the Montmartre district.

The new rail link puts Hong Kong in easy reach of nine neighbouring cities in Guangdong Province and heralds a major boost to tourism in the Greater Bay Area.

The 26-km rail link connects Hong Kong for the first time to Mainland China’s vast high-speed rail network, the world’s most extensive. Travellers will be able to ride from Hong Kong to 44 destinations in Mainland China destinations without changing trains, making the city an ideal starting point for multi-destination journeys through China. With frequent direct high-speed trains linking Hong Kong to Shenzhen and Guangzhou in as little as 48 minutes, travelling within the Greater Bay Area will be faster and more convenient than ever before.

The Hong Kong section of the network runs from West Kowloon Station, one of the world’s largest underground high-speed railway stations. The station’s design has already garnered a number of international design awards including one at the World Architecture Festival Awards, known as the “Oscars of architecture”. Visitors can enjoy views of iconic Victoria Harbour by walking along the Sky Corridor on the station’s rooftop. A three-hectare green area outside the station, meanwhile, provides a peaceful oasis in the heart of the city for residents and tourists alike.

Outside the station, there is a wealth of entertainment and attractions for visitors who want to enjoy shopping, dining, or a taste of traditional Hong Kong. The tourism hub of Tsim Sha Tsui with its world-renowned restaurants and shopping malls is a short walk away. The station is also connected by public transport to fascinating neighbourhoods including Sham Shui Po in Kowloon where visitors can experience authentic Hong Kong life, or Old Town Central on Hong Kong Island where THEY can enjoy history, arts, food, and culture in one of the city’s oldest and most idiosyncratic districts.

Directly outside the station is Hong Kong’s new arts and cultural hub, the West Kowloon Cultural District. It is directly outside the station, which will soon offer visitors the opportunity to enjoy a sumptuous array of exhibitions, performances, and cultural events as soon as they step off the network.

Tickets are available online, from ticket agents, and through a tele-ticketing hotline. For more information, visit https://www.HighSpeed.mtr.com.hk/en/ticket/cross-purchase-way-hk.html

TOURISM IN NIGERIA is nothing if not earned. It takes eight hours by bus to travel the 250 kilometres from Lagos to Idanre on a road strewn with potholes and other obstacles.

Then there are the negotiations with unscrupulous police officers and a climb of 620 steps in the sticky, tropical heat.

But those who’ve made the trip say it’s worth it just for a selfie in front of the sumptuous Yorubaland hills with Chiamaka Obuekwe, Nigeria’s self-styled “Queen of Tours”.

“I always wanted to have a picture with her! We’ve seen so many on her page,” says one traveller on an organised weekend as Chiamaka poses with the 15-strong group of 20- to 35-year-olds, all of them in bright “Social Prefect Tours” T-shirts.

Behind them, the hills stretch out as far as the eye can see, trees rising upwards from the rocks below through a light mist in a scene worthy of “Jurassic Park”.

Chiamaka, as everyone calls her, never intended to found a travel agency, but the followers of her blog and Instagram account persuaded her to, asking if they could come along.

Since its creation in 2015, Social Prefect Tours has become an institution for well-connected young professionals in Nigeria’s commercial capital, Lagos.

Chiamaka’s Instagram page currently has more than 40,000 followers. They’re shared goal is to post a precious hashtag from across Nigeria in the same way pins were once put on a map.

“If you didn’t take a picture, it’s like it never happened,” she says. “So it’s better you didn’t even go there.”

Beyond collecting “likes” and heart emojis, the Internet has also helped Nigerians discover and better understand their own country.

British colonialists stitched Nigeria together from their poorer, mainly Muslim northern protectorate and richer, largely Christian southern one. Religious tensions occasionally bubble up.

With Nigeria’s economy almost exclusively based on oil and gas, tourism development is lacking, even at the local level.

There are few wild animals left for safaris and a lack of quality hotels, while inadequate roads make many places hard to reach and entire regions have been devastated by conflict.

Few people are going to be enticed by the oil slicks that have polluted beaches in the southern Niger delta region.

Yet Africa’s most populous nation has real hidden treasures.

“Obudu Mountains, at the Cameroonian border, are just breathtaking,” says Lola Daniyan, the 28-year-old head of an online travel agency called Unravelling Nigeria.

Her site, where participants post their photos from trips, is one of those that’s lit up social media, making up for a lack of official tourism promotion in the last 30 years.

Daniyan decided to set up her business while on a family holiday in London, when she saw hundreds of people flocking to Buckingham Palace.

“I thought, ‘Why don’t people come to see our royal palaces? We have so many, but people don’t know about them.’

“Actually, we don’t know each other. If you have been in Lagos all your life and you go to Kano in the north, it’s like, ‘Wow!’ We don’t know about the north, we don’t know how they live.

“Travelling makes you humble and empathetic,” she adds.

Nigeria as a single entity dates back to 1914, when British colonialists brought together their northern and southern protectorates purely for commercial reasons.

The West African nation is home to more than 500 ethnic groups and is almost evenly split between a Muslim-majority north, and a largely Christian, more prosperous south.

Religious tensions are rarely far from the surface and each side regards the other with suspicion or, in the best-case scenario, disdain and indifference.

The misted Idanre hills in Idanre can be quite breathtaking./AFP 

Georgina Duke and Emeka Okocha were neither. They decided to discover their country after spending a large part of their childhood studying abroad.

They took to the road, trusting their own instincts – and dismissing stereotypes and those who said it couldn’t be done – by founding Nothing To Do in Lagos, an Internet platform that lists organised trips and gives tips to solo adventurers.

“We are Nigerians. Nigeria is our country. We can’t live in Nigeria and not see it ourselves,” says Okocha.

“We want to be part of it, owning our space and fighting social restrictions.”

Best friends before becoming business associates, they started from scratch in Lagos in 2014. Duke described it as “a bit like exploring our backyard”.

From 2015, they gradually ventured farther afield – north to Kaduna, west towards Lome in Togo and east to Enugu – driven by curiosity and a “thirst for discovery”. But there were sometimes disappointments.

“Once, we flew to Anambra State for a wedding, and saw that the Ohum Caves were just two hours away by road. It looked great, so we decided to extend our trip,” recalls Okocha.

But, he adds, “When we got there, people in the area said we should have told them 24 hours in advance that we were coming.

“On which phone number? Well, I don’t know!”

Unfortunately for them, not everything was on the Internet.

MUSIC THROBS from a bar set up on a patch of scrubland and artists toil in what was once a tyre factory. This is the Paris suburb of Seine-Saint-Denis, but not as the locals know it.

Better known for concrete high-rises home to poor immigrants and France’s highest crime rate, Seine-Saint-Denis is now welcoming flocks of Parisians to hipster oases that are bringing a welcome injection of cash and energy.

When they set up in the northern suburb more than a decade ago, Soukmachines, a collective of young event planners, initially “had to clear what resembled a rubbish dump”, recalls Anne-Sophie Levet.

A mechanic sizes up his next job at a bike repair workshop.

These days she is deputy head of La Halle Papin, a vast pop-up arts space in the solidly working-class neighbourhood of Quatre Chemins.

In 2016, the local town hall had offered Soukmachines a year’s use of the unoccupied tyre and tool factory for a dirt-cheap rent, on condition that they breathed new life into it.

One year was extended to three, and now it is a thriving hub of artists’ studios and shops with a busy programme of concerts and cultural events, a paddling pool and self-service barbecues.

“There are jewellers, fashion designers, welders,” says Franck Cardinal, an artist and architect who works on site.

“It’s a chance to meet other people who do different work, and enrich what we all produce here.”

Some 20,000 people visited last year, many of them Parisians – for whom the ring-road around the capital has traditionally marked a psychological barrier.

“These are now places for strolling and for tourists to visit in greater Paris, for Parisians looking for a bit of space, and places to party,” says the region’s Socialist head Stephane Troussel.

Paris is far from the first city to turn unwanted land into an edgy arts hub: similar projects have found success all over Europe, from the shipyards of Amsterdam’s NDSM to RAW in Berlin, an unused train repair depot.

Around 80 plots of wasteland have been given makeovers in Paris and the surrounding region.

People sit and enjoy the bar of the Halle Papin. 

But local officials are proud that more than a third are in Seine-Saint-Denis – unloved areas turned into cultural spaces, community centres or even urban farms.

The region north of Paris boomed after World War II, drawing thousands of labourers from France’s North African colonies to its chemical factories, metalworks and other industrial sites.

But de-industrialisation hit Seine-Saint-Denis hard from the 1960s onwards, emptying factories as the region’s reputation shifted to one of crime and poverty.

Today, a third of residents live below the poverty line, although authorities hope a massive infrastructure project dubbed “Grand Paris” will aid regeneration by enticing commuters to the suburb by 2025.

In the meantime, while some may complain of a hipster influx, officials see projects like La Halle Papin as a showcase for the potential of “the 93”, as Seine-Saint-Denis is known after its postcode.

Similar projects include the Cite Fertile, a former freight train depot now offering organic food and beach volleyball, as well as Station E, a forthcoming “village” of shipping containers which will be powered by green energy.

“We have an area full of enterprising young people and abandoned spaces,” says Mireille Alphonse, deputy mayor of the Seine-Saint-Denis town of Montreuil.

An architecture studio is filled with light from all windows.

She is also deputy chief of Est Ensemble (“East Together”), a group of gentrifying Seine-Saint-Denis communities which for the past three years has systematically put out tenders for people to run plots of unused land.

“We decided to help them so that our towns don’t just become dormitories for Paris,” she explains, adding that the group was following a model used successfully in Britain and Germany.

Renaud Chateaugiron, operations manager at a new temporary open-air cafe by the canal in Pantin, just north of the Paris border, says the project might struggle to find a new site once its permit runs out in two summers’ time.

“Make no bones about it, before long there won’t be any unoccupied land left in Seine-Saint-Denis,” he predicts.

They should also consider Hainan, a good option for travellers looking for an easily accessible, still off-the-beaten-track vacations that combine culture, cuisine, and relaxation.

Hainan has plenty of beaches to explore sea, sand and sun. Among them are the long, white shore of Sanya Bay; the crescent-shaped Dadonghai Beach, an ideal location for surfing and para-sailing; and the 7-km-long beach of Yalong Bay, home of swimming, diving, resorts, and golf courses.

There are also fishing villages, the hilltop park on Luhuitou Peninsula, and Volcanic Crater Park. Nanwan Monkey Island is the world’s only island simian reserve. Nearby, Sea Turtles 911 has a sea turtle hospital while Haikou has Xinglong Tropical Botanical Gardens, which is home to over 1,200 plant species, including such edible plants as coffee, pepper, cocoa, and durian. In addition, the clean air, scenic landscape, and relatively level terrain make Hainan an excellent location for cycling tours.

For health-conscious travellers, there are traditional Chinese medicine centres and hot springs, some with elegant resorts conveniently built around them.

Religion and culture have left a visible footprint on the island. Perhaps the most famous monument is Nanshan Temple, home to a 108-metre high statue of Guanyin, the Goddess of Mercy, which stands across a causeway in the sea.

Hainan is also a great food destination. Hainanese chicken rice, particularly favoured by Singaporeans, originated from Wenchang chicken, a local speciality, but Hainan may be even more famous for its seafood – especially Hainan lobster. Other specialities include Jiaji duck – sometimes considered Hainan’s national dish – as well as abalone and of course all manner of tropical fruits.

Last year, 1.1 million international visitors (an increase of 50 per cent over the previous year) visited Hainan Island. It caters to all kinds of travellers, from backpackers on up, but in the past few years the island has placed an increasing emphasis on luxury travel. Many of the world’s most famous hoteliers now offer luxury accommodations on the island, including Anantara, Banyan Tree, Conrad, Kempinski, Mandarin Oriental, Park Hyatt, Ritz Carlton, and St Regis. The most recent arrival is also the most spectacular – the Atlantis Sanya, a US$2 billion (Bt64 billion) project that opened this year, owned and managed by the same team that oversees Atlantis the Palm in Dubai.

Hainan is increasingly seeking to appeal to international travelers who have already explored such tropical destinations as Bali, Koh Samui, Jeju Island, Okinawa, and Guam. Newly introduced visa-free travel for citizens of 59 countries including Thailand makes it even more appealing, along with ongoing upgrades to the airport and an increasing number of direct flights from 200-plus destinations over the coming few years. Even better, Hainan has now given foreign visitors access to Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter, in which is regarded as a smart self-promotional move.

This 15-minute online survey is available in 18 languages and is open for anyone to do. The survey measures key indicators, such as satisfaction with life, access to nature and arts, community engagement, standard of living, life-long learning, and health.

“The purpose of tourism in destinations such as Barcelona, Brasilia, Kakadu, Luang Prabang, Kyoto, Yosemite, Mt Everest, Victoria Falls and other renowned places is to strengthen and support the happiness and wellbeing of local people,” says tourism consultant Dr Paul Rogers, co-founder of Planet Happiness.

“If tourism fails to do this, it is neither responsible nor sustainable, and local policies should change accordingly.”

Rogers admits that the survey results may show that people in tourism destinations are happy and that no major changes are needed. Either way, he believes it will be highly useful to compare reactions and responses to tourism and wellbeing in different travel hotspots around the world.

“It’s more about finding where there are deficiencies – such as having meaningful access to community fulfilment and feeling valued. The survey will show people where they are doing well compared to other tourism destinations, and possibly where they should seek to improve their lives,” says Rogers.

The Planet Happiness survey is a response to the fact that travel and tourism is one of the world’s largest and fastest growing industries, with over 1.33 billion visitor movements across borders in 2017. Today more than 1 in 10 people are employed in tourism globally.

“The more people who do the survey, the better,” says US-based Laura Musikanski, a lawyer, sustainability process expert and Executive Director of the Happiness Alliance at happycounts.org.

Musikanski says that aggregated local and global data from the Planet Happiness Survey Index will be open source and accessible to everyone with an interest in sustainable tourism and community wellbeing. The project will never share information that could personally identity any individuals.

The Planet Happiness project encourages all residents and workers in Unesco World Heritage destinations to take the 15-minute online survey. The Planet Happiness website will post and regularly update results and share them with journalists, students, businesses, government officials and interested parties around the world.

Find out more details at http://www.OurHeritageOurHappiness.org.