Asia’s festivals can really be summed up in one word: diverse. From east to west, the region boasts a smorgasbord of the weird, the wonderful, and the downright bizarre. But whatever their flavour, festivals offer a fantastic means of immersing oneself in a foreign community’s culture. In keeping with Passport’s mission to equip the modern traveller with a comprehensive guide to Asia, we’ve covered as many bases as possible, with a calendar and listings of some of the festival highlights in the region – and you’re invited. Journey to Mongolia for the riotous Naadam festival, which gives the Olympics a run for its money in terms of its fierce competitive edge, with three Genghis Khan-approved traditional sports. Visit the Surin Elephant Roundup, which has its origins in Thailand’s royal hunts in the Ayutthaya period. In the Philippines, Easter takes a turn for the queasy as Catholic devotees re-enact the crucifixion in all its gory glory. Take a turn to India for the Pushkar Camel Fair, the largest of its kind in the world, and in Central Asia, get into the spirit of the widespread Nowruz celebrations.

From the awe-inspiring great white to the adorable dogfish sharks, Scuba Diver Ocean Planet presents a collection of images from some of the most talented underwater photographers across the globe. These individuals have united with the same vision – to see our sharks saved. Featuring the smallest, fiercest, friendliest, and rarest sharks, let these images attest to the true nature of sharks in this Collector's Edition.

In this issue, we unpack several health controversies and crises, from MSG to processed foods to the insect food revolution and diabetes. But it’s not all doom and gloom: The region’s varied cuisine is an intangible part of its heritage. We pay homage to the enduring art of the longevity noodle – handmade and visually evocative. Asia’s food culture is perhaps best summed up through the humble hawker, peddling the sheer diversity of this region’s culinary innovation through their roadside food carts. But even the ubiquitous street food vendor faces an uncertain future, as regulators of hygiene standards and urban planning brandish eviction – or “relocation” – notices. It’s time to eat smarter: to be more conscious of what we buy, how we waste, and what we ignore on that little label on the side of a can. Perhaps never before has this phrase been more weighty: "You are what you eat". Bon appétit!

In order to witness the beauty of Nature’s tiniest marine creatures in their hidden habitats, we’ve combed through the different layers that are found in the muck in this issue of Asian Diver. Whether it’s the plastic trash that has made its way into the oceans from polluted rivers that now provides shelter for critters like octopuses, the artificial tyre reefs humans have created to attract marine wildlife that may be doing more harm than good, or the diminutive marine organisms like the algae shrimp and the “Shaun the Sheep” nudibranch that live on the algae found on the seabed – we’ve pored over the minutiae of the muck and its inhabitants to understand what makes this type of diving so thrilling.