Beijing, China

CREDIT: COURTESY OF MANDARIN ORIENTAL HOTEL GROUP

Last September, the largest airport in the world opened in Beijing. After five years of work and an estimated $25 billion, the 7.5 million-square-foot behemoth, designed by starchitect Zaha Hadid, is predicted to greet some 70 million travelers annually. Though you could visit for the airport alone, Beijing has seen a surge of new developments over the past year. The new Mandarin Oriental Wangfujing, opened last March, has a boutique hotel feel, with 73 capacious rooms, yet offers big-time amenities like a state-of-the-art spa, a sleek fitness center with a lap pool, two on-site restaurants, and a library. A short walk away, the Forbidden City, a palace complex in central Beijing, will open the historic Qianlong Garden for the first time ever in 2020. Its stunning interiors have remained mostly unchanged since they were built in imperial China. —Scott Bay