In the run-up to the Expo, Shanghai seems to have taken this year’s theme, “Better City, Better Life,” to heart, spending tens of billions of dollars to upgrade the city. The riverfront Bund promenade is getting a makeover with parks and pedestrian-friendly sidewalks, while the subway is being dramatically expanded  including several new stations serving the World Expo site.  Aric Chen

13. Mumbai

On the one-year anniversary of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, citizens painted a one-kilometer stretch of wall in South Mumbai with murals to show their love and hope for the city. The initiative, by a group of organizations that included the Mumbai Arts Project (MAP), which is dedicated to creating public art projects, is just one sign that Mumbai’s art scene is on the rebound.

A walk through the newly dubbed Colaba Art District yields no fewer than five contemporary art galleries. In the second half of 2009, two contemporary galleries opened: Gallery BMB (www.gallerybmb.com), which brought in big-name artists from around the globe for its first show (look for an exhibition focusing on new Indian women artists, starting on Feb. 8), and Volte (www.volte.in), a gallery, cafe and bookstore. Just down the street is Project 88 (www.project88.in), an outpost of Gallery 88 in Calcutta, focused on up-and-coming Indian and South Asian artists. The large, simple one-room space will show the artist Hemali Bhuta with an installation on the ceiling and archival prints on the walls, starting Jan. 18. Also nearby is Gallery Maskara (www.gallerymaskara.com), in a converted cotton storehouse; starting March 15, the space will host paintings, sculpture and watercolors by T. Venkanna, a popular artist based in nearby Vadodara.  Lindsay Clinton

14. Minorca

While the beat of disco pounds in Ibiza and Majorca, their quiet sister Minorca offers a tranquil contrast to the glitz next door. The entire island is a Unesco Biosphere Reserve, so the Spanish megahotel development frenzy of the last decade has largely skipped over this patch of the Mediterranean. That means miles of beaches some 120 of them, in fact, like the northern sweep of crystal-clear swimming waters in the coves called Cala d’Algaiarens, with fine sand and rolling dunes. And Minorca’s eco-diversity extends well beyond the coasts: forests, deep gorges, wetlands, salt marshes and hillsides covered in lush greenery that sometimes look more New England than Mediterranean. Even the island’s sun-bleached towns  Mahón and Ciutadella, each combining elements of their British colonial heritage, Moorish roots and modern Spanish identity  are more peaceful than their Majorcan equivalents.

The ideal visit to Minorca celebrates islanders’ emphasis on agritourism  sleeping in rural establishments like Ca Na Xini (www.canaxini.com), a dairy farm that offers an eight-room temple to modernism inside the shell of a century-old manor home. It’s like spring break for eco-conscious adults.  Sarah Wildman

15. Costa Rica

Costa Rica has been on any eco-minded traveler’s radar for years, but with a new birding route in the northeast region of the country, there’s a new reason to pay the country a visit. Opened in early 2009, the Costa Rican Bird Route (www.costaricanbirdroute.com) encompasses 13 far-flung nature reserves with phenomenal avian diversity  the sites are home to more than 500 bird species. Travelers can explore the route on their own with a map ($12.95 when ordered online) or hire a local guide to lead the way. The most popular leg of the route centers on the Sarapiquí-San Carlos region, one of the last remaining habitats of the endangered and prized great green macaw. The landscape along the route runs from wetlands and river explorations to high rain forest canopies and waterfalls; birders can visit renowned tropical biological research stations, stay in newly built eco-lodges and hike or canoe through local family-run reserves in search of rare raptors, herons and kingfishers.  Bonnie Tsui

16. Marrakesh

The ancient walls of Marrakesh must have protected the city from the global recession. Luxury boutique hotels, which began opening a few years ago, are now popping like Champagne corks over this historic and atmospheric North African city.