<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by rjh:
Given the profile you describe, I'd go to BKK, stay in a decent hotel on the river near a river express landing http://www.into-asia.com/bangkok/boats/ , and scout for a longer follow-on trip to Siem Riep for a visit to the Angkor site. Ask around Khao San Road.
Beijing and Shanghai are good destinations, each quite different. Angkor, however, is somewhat "perishable," in that it will be overrun by tourists before too much longer.
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Great advice-- especially since you can choose between the Shangri-la and the Oriental-- two wonderful hotels right on the river. The Oriental is a favorite of mine, especially if you spring for a few extra $$ and get one of the really great rooms. Although BKK is very, very hot this time of year, if you're planning on doing a lot of daytime exploring.
I'm always up for a BKK-run (I have friends there) lemmy know when you go (and if I can talk you into going on CX instead
.)