The Best of Asia

In TIME's annual look at the region's most remarkable places and experiences, we try to avoid equating the best with the most luxurious, the most popular and the trendiest. Instead, we seek out surprising stories that illuminate Asia's spectacular diversity of cultures and environments, told by correspondents who know the terrain. We hope you'll enjoy these slices of color from the Asian Mind, Body and Soul.

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Personal Best

Chef Nobu Matsuhisa

COURTESY NOBU INTERCONTINENTAL HONG KONG BY EDMUND HO
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NOBU MATSUHISA, CHEF
Best Thing About Coming Back to Japan
'Enjoying a leisurely time at an onsen (hot springs). I used to go to the Gorakadan (onsen hotel in Gora) and fell in love with it. So I decided to build my own onsen in Gora.'

YUNDI LI, PIANIST
Best Place to Unwind After a Concert
'In Shanghai there's a very popular place called Xintiandi where there are a lot of bars. Sometimes there are DJs, and it's quite noisy. Sometimes you get quiet places that are very relaxed. I go there after concerts to listen to jazz and have a drink with my friends. Talk things over. Very simple.'

MAHENDRA DHONI, INDIAN CRICKETER AND MOTORCYCLE ENTHUSIAST
Best Place to Go Biking in India
'In Ranchi [capital of the state of Jharkhand]. I drive my fast bikes on the Ranchi bypass, which is quite an empty stretch of land.'

AMY TAN, AUTHOR
Best Thing to Do in Shanghai
'I love to go to the tailor. I make drawings of what I want and they execute them beautifully—it's a wonderful creative outlet for me. If you ask anybody where the tailor is in Shanghai, they can tell you. I go whenever I visit.'

Kiran Desai, author
Best Place to Think Up a Novel
'Kalimpong [India]. Those gorgeous mountains are the backdrop to a place shaped by shifting borders, a mixed ethnic population and political troubles. It offered me the first realization of novelistic moments and overlapping stories, of moral ambiguity ... of issues that pull you apart and scenery that brings it all back together.'

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