Catching up on the best travel deals and destinations around Asia.

Over the Great Wall?
Plan your next trip to the “tulou” villages in Fujian province instead. The latest sites in China to be given UNESCO world heritage status, tulou (“earthen buildings”) are cylinder-shaped village houses on the slopes of Fujian, some of which date back to the 12th century. 20,000 now exist in the southern part of the province alone, and they’ve been adopted as a symbol of social harmony and unity. Tulou were defensive structures built to house families as well, three to five storeys high and made of hardened earth. Their unique shape and surroundings make them well worth the visit: to get there, your best bet is to travel to Yongding county by bus from Xiamen. Cathay Pacific Holidays has a package to Xiamen with direct flights and two nights’ accommodation from $2,530. Visit www.cxholidays.com for more details.

Pull a Tony Leung
Superstar couple Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Carina Lau Kar-ling tied the knot last month in Bhutan. More concerned with preserving its pristine tranquility and environment than developing tourism, this Himalayan kingdom has only three luxurious hotels. Mr. and Mrs. Leung picked the Uma Paro resort for the wedding. 2,000 meters above sea level, it’s as secluded and luxurious as it gets, and with limited space: there are only 20 rooms and nine villas (rates start at $1,950, www.uma.como.bz/paro). A trip to Bhutan will give you a completely different view of Central Asia.

But make sure you bring enough dough—there’s a minimum spending requirement of $1,600 a day in Bhutan. The country limits its annual number of visitors to just 10,000, all of whom need visas and have to be accompanied by guides at all time. The secretive Buddhist kingdom is apparently home to the happiest people in the world: you can see why they wouldn’t want foreigners trampling over it.

Earn more Asia Miles
Frequent flyer miles—a good idea on paper, but it takes far longer than you imagined to build them up. Well, there’s now a new way to get your round-the-world trip off the ground: Cathay Pacific and American Express have launched two new credit cards (normal and elite) so you can earn miles while you spend. It’s a pretty sweet deal­—you get 4,600 free miles for your first purchase, then one mile for every $8 spent in Hong Kong and 1.5 miles when you spend it overseas. You actually get double that for the first four months, and also when you book tickets on Cathay’s website. Tempted? Apply at www.flyfaster.com.hk.

Cheap tickets Down Under
Qantas Airways has launched a new promotion for tickets to Oz. Returns start at $4,860, and for $450 more, you can make another stop in the country. The promotion runs through Dec 10. Go to www.qantas.com for details.

Openings in Beijing
Some lucky hotels have opened their doors just in time for the Olympics. The Hilton, in the shopping district of Wangfujing, has opened this month. The second Hilton in Beijing, this 225 room luxury hotel has adopted a low-key modern décor. Its two signature restaurants are bringing new dining trends to the capital: Vasco’s is one of the few Macanese eateries in the city, while Chinese restaurant Chynna has a tea master and a nutritionist (you read that right) to help you pick your dishes. This new Hilton should top anyone’s list for a stay in Beijing. Rates start at 1,500RMB. 8 Wangfujing East St, Dongcheng District, 86-10-5812-8888, www.wangfujing.hilton.com.

If you’re into 1960s retro style, book yourself into Hotel G, a boutique hotel that has just opened on popular nightlife street Gongti Xilu. Hotel G is run by Gateway Capital, the company behind the recent renovation of the iconic Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in LA. Restaurant-wise, it’s pretty interesting as well: 25 Degrees, the gourmet Hollywood burger and wine bar, has just opened in Hotel G; Tibetan-themed Gilt is an alfresco restaurant with a Tibetan tent and open fireplace serving Mediterranean and Tibetan dishes; and Morio is a modern Japanese eatery. Rates start at 1,388RMB. 7 Gongti Xilu, Chaoyang District, 86-10-6552-3600, www.hotel-g.com.