ByPassport by ForbesLife,
Forbes Staff.
Shanghai famously balances old and new, tradition and innovation. Puxi, on the west side of the Huangpu River, offers a glimpse of the past with colonial-era buildings, traditional shikumen residences and historic neighborhoods such as the Bund. While Pudong, on the east side, provides a glimpse of the future with a skyline of modern marvels. Forbes Travel Guide recently named Shanghai’s 20 best luxury hotels, including the Five-Star Bulgari Hotel Shanghai, Mandarin Oriental Pudong and the Peninsula Shanghai.
After falling steeply in the Henley Passport Index since 2014—when it was tied for No. 1 with the United Kingdom—the United States rejoined the top 10 in this year’s ranking. The annual index ranks passports based on the number of countries holders can access without a visa. Once again, Singapore ranked highest with visa-free access to 192 countries, while Japan and South Korea are tied for second with 188 countries. (Americans can enter 179 countries without a visa.) See the world’s most powerful passports for 2026.
Set-jetters who want to say they stayed at the hotel from The White Lotus Season 4 before it even started filming should start booking now. Lotus-ologists and Polymarket pros had long predicted that Mike White’s Emmy Award-winning HBO series would next be set along the French Riviera—and they were right. Last week, Variety revealed that the fourth season would be filmed at the famed Château de La Messardière in Saint-Tropez. The 19th-century palace, a Forbes Four-Star hotel, has 82 rooms overlooking the iconic Pampelonne Beach and is part of the Airelles Collection, a group of six ultra-luxurious French properties owned by billionaire Stéphane Courbit. If Château de La Messardière is in fact the show’s main property, the upcoming season would mark the first time The White Lotus isn’t set at a Four Seasons. Either way, a future guest is about to be killed—or get away with murder.
