What is it? A brand new 266-room hotel on its own island (below) within the Venice lagoon. Isola delle Rose is an artificial island, built in the 19th century, and JW Marriott spent several years transforming what had been a sanatorium before the hotel opened in March.
Malaysian author Tan Tweng Eng has won this year’s Man Asian Literary Prize for “The Garden of Evening Mists,” set in the aftermath of the Japanese occupation of Malaysia.
Ever more Spanish people are being drawn to the city as interest in the country’s food, culture and language blossoms. But can Hongkongers ever really learn to relax and have fun like the Spanish can?
Chinese novelist Chan Koonchung says he writes for “his Beijing friends” though they can’t buy his books. Here, he discusses censorship, Tibet and his new work.