Julie Fay’s most recent trip to Thailand, Laos and Vietnam inspired her to return to school to study photography. Before pursuing this newfound passion, she majored in drama at university, worked for the Four Seasons Newport Beach and spent the last six years establishing a career in the film industry. She now resides in Los Angeles.

Reid credits Asia's success to the ethical values of Chinese philosopher Confucius, born in 551 B.C., who taught the value of harmony and the importance of treating others decently. This is not a new perception--Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore and others have rather heavy-handedly invoked it to claim moral superiority over the West--but the author's vivid anecdotes strengthen its relevance. Public messages constantly remind Asian citizens of their responsibilities to society. To enhance a sense of belonging, civic ceremonies encourage individuals' allegiance to a greater good; across Japan, for example, April 1 is Nyu-Sha-Shiki day, when corporations officially welcome new employees, most of whom remain loyal to their company for life. Citing Malaysia's ideas of a "reverse Peace Corps," Reid sees a case for Asians coming to teach the West in the same way that Westerners have evangelized in Asia for over four centuries. --John Stevenson --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly
In this breezy homily, Reid, an NPR commentator who was the Washington Post's Tokyo bureau chief for five years, offers a look at what he calls Asia's "social miracle" (as opposed to its once vaunted economic growth). The nations of East Asia, he reports, have "the safest streets, the strongest families, and the best schools in the world." Along with their enviably low rates of crime, divorce, unwed motherhood and vandalism, countries like Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand boast a burgeoning middle class, a general aura of civility and a more egalitarian distribution of wealth than the U.S. enjoys. Like many other Asia watchers, Reid attributes this social cohesiveness to a shared set of core values?discipline, loyalty, hard work, a focus on education, group harmony, etc.?that he traces back to the Confucian classics. Yet Reid, now the Post's London bureau chief, readily admits that the East Asian model of Confucian prosperity has glaring flaws: most cities he visited were drab and ugly; Singapore is a "self-righteous and thoroughly intolerant place controlled by a small clique." Reid, who transplanted his family of five from a small Colorado town to Tokyo, serves up amusing anecdotes and cross-cultural observations (his two daughters enrolled in a Japanese public school), but his report reads like one long radio spiel and covers well-trod terrain. After gently berating Westerners for more than 200 pages, he gets to eat his rice cake and have it, too: Confucian values and our own Judeo-Christian morality, he concludes, are basically the same, differing mainly in nuance. Author tour.
Copyright 1999 Reed business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Excerpted from Lonely Planet Panama (Lonely Planet Panama) by Regis St. Louis. Copyright © 2004. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Destination Panama

Along the narrow isthmus bridging the Americas, the wildlife and terrain of two continents meld to form the striking contrasts of Panama. Ocean, forest, mountain and jungle set the stage for countless adventures.

Among Panama's 1500 islands you can go whale watching along the craggy Golfo de Chiriqui, snorkel coral reefs in the Caribbean or surf massive breaks off either coast. Island lovers revel in the white-sand beaches around the Comarca de Kuna Yala, while conservationists delight in the four species of sea turtle nesting on the country's beaches and wetlands.

Coursing along the spine of the isthmus, the mountains hold their own allure. You can kayak class-five rapids, hike through cloud forests and swim in crisp mountain streams. Adventurers trek up Volcan Baru, Panama's highest peak, for the view of both oceans at their feet.

Panama's jungles are some of the world's least explored areas. The villages of seven vibrant indigenous groups lie scattered among the country's 500 rivers and 22,000 sq km of rain forest, along with 940 bird species and 125 animal species found nowhere else in the world.

Panama's diversity doesn't end in the countryside. With immigrants from across the globe, Panama City is a 'melting pot.' You can sample French-Asian cuisine, then dance at clubs infused with salsa, merengue and Arabic-electronica. Charming highland towns, seaside fortresses and old-world festivals all lie within a day's travel. That Panama remains relatively undiscovered is just one of the country's many enticing features, and one that surely won't last forever.

• BE INSPIRED by itineraries through old Taiwan, new Taipei and the East Coast • ESCAPE to idyllic mountains, tropical islands and coastal strips with our excursion ideas • FEAST LIKE AN EMPEROR - our expert-written Food & Drink chapter is at your service • CROSS THE LANGUAGE BARRIER - with our extensive Language chapter and loads of Chinese script • GET AROUND - with the help of 78 detailed maps