Your travel4seniors.com editor first visited Asia during Navy service in World War II and Korea, and many times since, on business and pleasure trips. Each journey offers new experiences and more understanding for that exotic part of the world. These three cities are particular favorites:

Shanghai: As World War II was ending, our Navy troopship sailed from the Philippines to pick up just-released Allied POWs. The city had bomb damage, but still echoed its colonial past with beautiful buildings and scenery.

Since then, Shanghai has enjoyed enormous growth to make it one of the most exotic destinations in the world. Today, Shanghai’s hotels, historic sites, restaurants, fashionable shops and sightseeing lure business and tourist travelers. (meet-in-shanghai.net) An excellent hotel is the Pudong Shangri-La, 33 Fu Cheng Rd., Shanghai 200120. The Yi Cafe there offers a fantastic buffet, featuring made-to-order Chinese, Japanese and Continental foods. (shangri-la.com/en/shanghai/pudongshangrila)

Major airlines serving Shanghai include Lufthansa, American, Air France, Air China, Virgin and Qantas.

Singapore: Then a British colony, it was also occupied by Japan during WWII. As with Shanghai, the city recovered to become one of today’s most modern industrial and commercial centers.

Visitors are impressed by the cleanliness and efficiency in the city. The friendliness of its people always makes any  Singapore experience a pleasant one. (yoursingapore.com)

The most picturesque Singapore hotel is the 130-year-old Raffles, 1 Beach Rd., Singapore 189673. In and nearby, the former British colonial hotel features many upscale shops, restaurants and other facilities. (raffles.com/singapore)

My favorite Raffles restaurant is Royal China, where both Cantonese and Continental dishes are featured. It’s best enjoyed with friends gathered around a steaming basket of dim sum and seafood dumplings. (is.asia-city.com/.../singapore.../royal-china-raffles)

Singapore is served by many airlines, including Aeroflot, SAS, Air China, Air France Lufthansa, Singapore Air and United.

Seoul, South Korea: A first visit to the nation’s capital was during the Korean War. It suffered from the North Korean attack and occupation in 1950 and 1951, before being liberated by American forces. Seoul has become a thriving, modern city of 10 million residents, with skyscrapers, worldwide commerce, upscale shopping, restaurants and lively nightlife. (visitseoul.net)

The five-star InterContinental Grand Seoul Parnas, Teheran-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Korea. (seoul.intercontinental.com) is conveniently located next to the city’s World Trade Center.

Among the major airlines serving Seoul are United, Air France, Air China, KLM, Qantas and Lufthansa.