Travellers' Checks | Lap up Langkawi's natural wonders, and sup a house beer at Hangzhou Shangri-La

Recalling a time before tourism fell victim to the banality of modern marketing, Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is encouraging Earthlings to ponder the prospect of commercial space travel with a series of retro-style posters. Five of these appeared online last year, but they, along with nine new designs, are now available for high-definition, poster-sized download at www.jpl.nasa.gov/
visions -of-the-future. Three of the posters (below) are the work of Don and Ryan Clark, of design studio Invisible Creature. The Clarks' grandfather, Al Paulsen, worked as a graphic designer and illustrator for Nasa in the 1960s, and their contributions are among the more authentic-looking. All 14 posters can be downloaded free of charge, ready to be printed and framed. If you're interested in collecting genuine posters from the golden age of travel, posterclassics. com has a good selection of original items categorised under aviation, boats, international travel, Italian travel and French travel. More affordable alternatives can be found at vintagevenus.com.au, where high-quality travel-poster prints are for sale on fine art paper or canvas.

Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts opened its first hotel in China in Hangzhou, in late 1984. This month, more than 30 years and almost 50 Chinese hotels later, the company returned to its roots with the Midtown Shangri-La, Hangzhou. The 417-room hotel, a five-minute walk from West Lake, offers all the expected comforts and amenities, but is perhaps most notable for its Midtown Brewery, a gastropub manned by a resident brew master and offering a selection of ales, porters, lagers and stouts. To mark its opening, the hotel is offering launch rates starting from 1,100 yuan (HK$1,300) per night, with daily breakfast. For further details, visit www.shangri-la.com/midtown.