Chinese food varies much more than what you find in North America. So it really depends on what you like. Northern Chinese cuisine tends to be more spicy, while Shanghainese food is emphasizes seafood. In my view, Hong Kong has the most developed restaurant scene in Asia, with everything from street food stalls (licensed and kept hygienic by the government), to five-star restaurants mainly found in the city's awesome hotels. It also has the most Western types of food for the unadventurous!

When traveling in China, especially in rural areas, be careful of anything fried, since a lot of cooking oil in China is rancid and foreigners often get very sick.

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Fort Bragg, NC: I was recently in Thailand and had a domestic beer, but I can't remember the name of it. I think it means "elephant" in Thai. Can you refresh my memory?

Matthew Link: Now here's a questions right up my alley! I think the brew you mean is Beer Chang, which is brewed in Thailand under license from Carlsberg, and is their equivalent of the European Elephant Beer. It's probably the cheapest and most potent beer in Thailand -- some bars won't even serve it! There's also Super Lion (also called Leo Beer or Super Leo). It's another rather strong local brew that takes people by surprise. Super Lion was recently rebranded "Beer Thai," but it's essentially the same stuff. According to Bangkok Bob (bangkokbob.net), Super Lion is "good for cleaning paintbrushes, so don't spill it on varnished wood though, but if you can't get to sleep try a bottle of either Chang or Leo, it should put you out!"

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San Francisco, CA: I am planning a visit to the Philippines with my girlfriend in January. She's of Filipino heritage but every bit as American as I am. In other words, we'll both be real tourists. I'm Caucasian and I was told that there's been a security advisory from the US State Department regarding travel to the Philippines because of the Muslim rebels in the southern part of the island. Is this advisory true? How safe or unsafe is it to visit the country? Other than Manila, we would like to spend a few days in the island of Boracay, which we have heard great things about.

Matthew Link: The "Filipino Diaspora" has created whole populations of "Pinoy" who have never seen their native homeland. But when your girlfriend shows up, she will be treated like family, since the Filipinos have a very strong sense a national identity even outside of their country. Filipinos are some of the friendliest people in the world, and will give you the shirt off their backs even when living in poverty. My father has lived there for years, and my stepmother and sister-in-law are both Filipina, so don't take my biased word for it -- go to the Philippines to experience it for yourself.

The Philippines is one of the cheapest countries in the world to visit. The Asian economic miracle has not floated all boats -- and the Philippines is far behind its neighbors in terms of prosperity. As for safety, yes, it is an issue in the south of the country on the island of Mindanao. To put it in context -- this region has been a hotbed of the Muslim separatist movement for a couple decades now, way before anyone heard of Al Queda. If you stay in the northern regions of the Philippines on the island of Luzon -- hundreds of miles from Mindanao -- you won't be affected at all. And to back up my point of view, according to the U.S. Department of Tourism Research: "The United States, which continues to issue adverse travel advisories to its nationals leaving for the Philippines, remains the country's number one market, with 252,612 American travelers coming in during the first semester, a 35.5 percent growth rate year on year."

Manila is thriving but also hectic and dirty; best to head out of Manila to the more mellow region of Baguio in the north of Luzon, where you'll also find wonderful beaches as well. Boracay is south of Luzon in the Visaya Islands, and is truly the most scenic part of the Philippines that I've seen, full of cheap (under $50 a night) guesthouses popular with Europeans. The Philippines, a Catholic and Latin-influenced nation in the middle of Asia, on the whole is very pro-American and most everyone speaks English, which may account for the consistent popularity with American tourists.

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Boston, MA: Hi Matthew, What type of clothing should I pack for a trip to Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand in December? Thanks.