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World’s happiest countries: 1 to 187
Why we love Kowloon City
九龍的9個最佳體驗
15 ways to see the world on water
The odd reality behind Shanghai's Pyongyang restaurants
Kanto with kids: The Tokyo area's best family outdoor adventures
ソウルの紅葉狩り80景

Posted: 03 Nov 2011 09:14 PM PDT

To the surprise of absolutely no one, Norway has been declared the world's happiest country. Just as unsurprising, DR Congo came last.

The UN Human Development Index 2011 measures happiness in different countries based on factors such as income, education, health, life expectancy, economy, gender equality and sustainability.

"To be more accurate, one would say this measures the quality of life. It goes beyond income to include basic measures like education and health," says Surekha Subarwal, UN communications rep from New Delhi.

Why we love Kowloon City

Posted: 03 Nov 2011 07:00 PM PDT

Kowloon City -- it's the historical neighborhood that never gets old. Here are our favorite things to do in the district.

Also on CNNGo: 9 best things to do in Kowloon

Market mornings

Begin the day with a brunch, Hong Kong-style, in the Kowloon City wet market.

The market is housed in the Kowloon City Municipal Services Building and has several popular cooked food stalls.

But unlike other more famous cooked food stalls found in North Point, Kowloon City's stays largely untouristy. They are even slightly tidier.

九龍的9個最佳體驗

Posted: 03 Nov 2011 03:00 PM PDT

對比起港島區這「文質彬彬」的白天鵝，粗野、混雜、調皮的九龍便是黑天鵝。可是不像黑天鵝，九龍不邪惡陰險，你花多點時間認識它，九龍其實很友善可愛。

九龍於1860年割讓給英國，數百年來本是漁農民聚居之地。相傳「九龍」這地名是宋帝昺取自九龍北部的八條山脈。

那第九條龍，當然是皇帝自己。

昔日天之驕子為這裡取下如此堂皇的名字，我們就推薦九個體驗九龍的方法。

CNNGo 帶您看更多： 45個香港獨家景點攻略

1. 舉杯賞景

雖然香港大部份具標誌性的摩天大廈均位於港島，但九龍才是飽覽其景的最佳地點。在尖沙咀那些新一代的天際酒吧賞景更是一絕。

18樓的囂吧和30樓的 Eyebar 以寬敞的露天座和開闊的海港景色伴你手中那杯雞尾酒。預先訂座為佳。

可是，想感受真正居高臨下的飄飄然，未有地方比得上在 ICC 118樓的 Ozone Sky Bar，只要天朗氣清便能俯瞰整個港島。

有畏高的朋友或許會更欣賞腳踏實地的 Deck 'n' Beer，坐到近星光大道的海旁雅座，以水平角度欣賞維港景色。

15 ways to see the world on water

Posted: 03 Nov 2011 03:00 PM PDT

Three quarters of the world's surface is water, but nearly all our vacations are based on land. It stands to reason that we must be missing out.

Luckily there are some fantastic ways to see the wet face of the planet.

1. Explore the pristine coves of Tierra del Fuego

This journey around the foot of Patagonia is one of the most unusual experiences on earth. The expedition ships of Cruceros Australis bring passengers close to soaring condors, penguin colonies and glaciers.

Expert on-board briefings segue into party nights around the free bar -- that includes the whisky waiting to welcome expeditioners back to their dinghy after their icy trek.

The odd reality behind Shanghai's Pyongyang restaurants

Posted: 03 Nov 2011 02:57 PM PDT

For most North Koreans, foreign travel isn't just avoided, it is prohibited -- mainly out of the fear that any contact with the outside world would provide the possibility of unraveling a lifetime of systematic inculcation.

But how are the staff at Shanghai's Pyongyang restaurants -- a chain of restaurants found across Asia that employs North Koreans abroad -- kept in check?

The odd experience served up to Chinese and foreign customers may give some clues.

Quick facts

Pyongyang restaurants are part of a chain run by the North Korean government. They serve mostly familiar Korean dishes (excluding North Korean cold noodles, or naengmyeon) accompanied by warbling songs and dance performances.

Kanto with kids: The Tokyo area's best family outdoor adventures

Posted: 03 Nov 2011 02:55 PM PDT

Many equate the Kanto area with Tokyo's vast concrete sprawl. But the seven-prefecture region -- home to 42 million people -- extends from vertiginous, pine-clad mountains in Gunma in the north to the semitropical Ogasawara Islands in the south.

This means plenty of adventures await within its 32,000 square kilometers. Here are five of the best, road-tested by our resident parents.