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Win tickets to see George Benson live
George Benson brings Grammy-winning jazz to Macau
Gallery: Thailand's wildest event, the Bun Bangfai rocket festival
Facebook deal unleashes 'customer' fury on Aussie resort
Leave the hordes behind: 5 China trips off the beaten track
World’s 12 best airline magazines

Posted: 09 May 2012 02:41 AM PDT

CNNGo is teaming up with The Venetian Macao to provide four worthy readers with a chance to see George Benson live.

Complete the form below by May 16 and stand a chance to win two tickets to see the Grammy Award-winning artist live in Macau on May 25. Vouchers redeemable for a round-trip from Hong Kong to Macau and back are included.

For more information about the concert, click here.

George Benson brings Grammy-winning jazz to Macau

Posted: 08 May 2012 08:27 PM PDT

George Benson has plenty to smile about.Multiple Grammy Award-winner George Benson will be playing live in Macau for the first time on May 25.

The jazz guitarist and vocalist first proved himself when he won a singing contest at the age of four. Benson is now pushing 70 and more intense than ever on stage.

Of a recent performance at the Chicago Theatre, critic Howard Reich said Benson "found new insights in very old songs, delivering them with a freshness one doesn't often encounter from major performers who have been revisiting their classics incessantly through the decades."

Dubbed the "Guitar Man," Benson was a hard-core jazz guitarist before crossing over with R&B, pop, funk and other genres to showcase those velvet vocal chords that did him so well when he was just a kid.

Check out George Benson's version of the challenging modern jazz classic Moody's Mood at this YouTube video.

Gallery: Thailand's wildest event, the Bun Bangfai rocket festival

Posted: 08 May 2012 07:15 PM PDT

by Maher Sattar

Pickup trucks? Check. Cowboy hats? Check. Questionable music? Every Thailand veteran already knows the answer to that one.

Every May, rocket festivals are held across Northeast Thailand (Isaan) and Laos at the start of the rainy season as a fertility ritual. But Bun Bangfai, held in the town of Yasothon, is by far the largest and craziest, with visitors and returning Isaan migrants streaming in from Bangkok and the rest of Thailand to check out the action.

This year's event takes place from May 11-15. If it's anything like last year's, expect an endlessly entertaining cast of characters, gathered together in Yasothon to drink, dance, leer and cheer at the explosive capacity of over 120 kilos of gunpowder used to fire each homemade rocket.

Here are seven essential albeit strange rocket festival components that help cement Bun Bangfai's explosive status as one of Thailand's wildest events.

1. The party animals 2. The performers 3. The Toad King, aka The Buddha 4. Mum 5. A very un-Disney princess 6. Insects

Facebook deal unleashes 'customer' fury on Aussie resort

Posted: 08 May 2012 02:55 PM PDT

Be careful what you wish for.

That's a timeworn motto one Australian eco resort will be keeping in mind after a Facebook viral marketing campaign blew up in its face, leading to online outrage and damaging accusations of spamming.

Huon Bush Retreats, near Hobart, Tasmania, used the new Facebook Offers service with the aim of attracting a few first-time customers to its seven-room property.

Huon's management had lined up 50 vouchers offering a lower-than-usual rate of $99 a night for three nights anytime before September. That was the theory, at least.

Instead of the handful of expected punters, the deal's details ended up cross-posted to the Facebook walls of more than 3 million people.

Leave the hordes behind: 5 China trips off the beaten track

Posted: 08 May 2012 09:06 AM PDT

by Adam Williams

Travel in China can feel like being shoved onto the world's longest assembly line, with huge tour groups, monster hotels, and prefab fun.

But cast your glance farther afield; the nation reveals a wealth of exotic and beautiful destinations where it's easy to leave the hordes behind and blaze your own trail.

1. Zhejiang to Anhui over Hui Hang Trail

China off the beaten path -- huihang The trail for the intrepid hikers.

Crossing the 1500-meter peak of Qingliangshan (清凉山) between Zhejiang and Anhui, Hui Hang Trail (徽杭古道) wends through wild forests and along the sparkling Xiaoyao River (逍遥河) which feeds the crops of tiny local villages.

Most sections of the trail are still paved with stones, affording welcome stability in the vertigo-inducing valley.