culture (6)

Business cards can be critical - particularly in cultures such as Japan and the rest of Asia. Always keep some business cards aside away from your main store, just in case (like me) you forget it one day. At least you've got some spare.

Watch a sumo tournament if you are visiting Tokyo in January, May or September. These are held at the impressive Kokugikan stadium, which seats over 13,000 spectators. Obtaining tickets is much more straightforward now thanks to the Internet - booking ahead is advisable, although sometimes there are a few tickets available on the day. A really impressive option is to book a Masu-seki, which is a boxed area for four people close to the ring itself. These cost ten times the amount charged for ordinary seats, but you are - quite literally - in the centre of the action. Take a train or taxi to Kokugikan (nearest underground is Kuramae). Stop en route and buy a bento box to eat whilst you’re there - much better than the food sold on site. Although the wrestling starts at 10am, aim to arrive in the early afternoon. The most important bouts take place between 4pm and 6pm, and there is a special closing ritual to cleanse the ring after these matches have finished, which is worth seeing.

Forget the big stuffy international hotels and book yourself into the Christian Lacroix designed Petit Moulin in the Mariais. It is a charming little hotel in a 17th century building that used to be a boulangerie and still has the old signage. There is wireless internet in all the rooms, and you are right in the heart of a very trendy district full of design shops and art galleries – getting into town isn’t difficult and the extra minutes spent traveling are well worth it for staying in such an original place, with none of the hollow impersonality of larger hotels.

If you want to up your understanding of the history and culture, then a short trip round the Dubai Museum at the Al Fahidi Fort will really put everything into context for you – you can then impress your hosts with your knowledge.

If you get some down-time, go to the Huxington Tea House in the Yu Yuan Garden. This is apparently Shanghai’s oldest tea house and they perform a traditional tea ceremony every evening from 8.30pm to 10pm. Be sure to get a table on the top floor looking out over the lake. And for something livelier to do in the evening, The House of Blues and Jazz gets a good range of international acts and is an intimate venue with a music-loving crowd.

For a quality lunch, pay a visit to the Museum Brasserie, which is in the Museum of Fine Arts overlooking the Palace Royale. It has a menu terroir of Belgian cuisine cooked by the Michelin-starred chef Peter Goossens.