Travel
Fleeing Beijing Smog to Hike Great Wall, Sample Mongolian Beef Escape from Beijing: That's the plan.
All week the capital has been beset by a thick scrim of
pollution, followed by rain, then more thick haze. I'm shocked
that I never see the sun for five straight days. So I hire a
driver and flee north.
Hate Flying? Take Scenic Boston Train, Roll Past Swans: Review Just minutes from New York, my Boston-
bound train climbs gently onto the majestic Hell Gate Bridge,
with the towers of Manhattan emerging between the cables of the
parallel Triborough Bridge. This vista alone could make you a
rail convert.
Breillat's `Mistress,' Dance Marathon, Lang Lang: S.F. Picks Catherine Breillat's ``The Last
Mistress,'' with a ferocious performance by wild woman Asia
Argento, opened the San Francisco International Film Festival on
Thursday night with that staple of the arthouse, a sexy French
romance.
Wedding Bed, Garments Adorn Refitted Singapore Peranakan Museum Their weddings lasted 12 days; they
mixed Chinese, Malay and Western culture; they loved ornate
clothes and furniture; and they had an inordinate weakness for
beads.
Boulud's Cool Kitchen, Tin Can Chic Featured in Kips Bay Show Perhaps you would like to enliven
your white-box apartment. Have you considered tin can lids for
wall texture?
High With Koons, Free Richard Goode, PEN's Voices: N.Y. Picks Nobody looks at a Jeff Koons puppy
and thinks, ``That would look great in the living room.'' For one
thing, the living room would have to be at Hearst Castle to
accommodate Koons's metastasized sculptures. For another, even
fans would probably think twice about having the work of such a
polarizing artist in their conversation pit. Koons tends to bring
out the fisticuffs in art lovers.
South Africa Lifts Ban on Killing Elephants to Control Growth South Africa has done such a good
job of protecting its elephants that it's now facing a population
explosion. On May 1, the government is lifting a 13-year ban on
killing them.
Savoring Van Gogh While Waiting at St. Pancras Train Station Alize Le Maoult is eyeballing Van
Gogh's ``A Wheatfield, With Cypresses'' while she waits to board
the Eurostar train from London to Paris.
Elephant Polo Pits Bankers Against Ballerinas at Luxury Resort On the Thai-Burmese border, an
elephant paints a picture, wielding the brush with his trunk; a
ballerina enjoys a leg massage; vacationers scrub elephants in a
muddy river; and waiters serve drinks to bankers and oil tycoons
in a bamboo bar.
New Orleans Restaurants, Still Limping, Lead City's Revival Ask three New Orleanians about the
state of their city and you'll get three answers: It's going
great; it's coming along; it's still struggling. Somewhere
between the last two answers lies the condition of the Big Easy's
restaurant business.