Your passport to the latest destinations and airline promotions

Hogwarts in New York

Tourists to New York can admire the craftsmanship of more than 200 costumes and props used in the Harry Potter films, including the Great Hall at Hogwarts, in an exhibition at the Discovery Times Square museum.

The exhibition runs until Sept 5. New York is the final stop for the exhibition before it leaves the United States for other locations around the world. (www.discoverytsx.com/exhibitions/harry-potter)

800 years of Reims glory

Reims Cathedral, where the kings of France were once crowned, celebrates its 800th anniversary this year with the French city marking the event with numerous events.

The celebrations run from May 6 until Oct 23 with exhibits, readings, special tours and the lighting up of the cathedral's Gothic facade.

Construction began on the church in 1211 and continued until 1516. (www.reims-kathedrale.culture.fr)

Scarlett O'Hara revisited

Georgia's Antebellum Trail allows visitors the opportunity to visit a place where time appears to have stood still, around the American Civil War (1861-1865).

Once a year, numerous historical buildings and villas along the 160-kilometer route open their doors to visitors. This year's Antebellum Trail Pilgrimage is April 27 through May 1. In towns such as Athens and Madison, visitors can view life as depicted in the film Gone with the Wind. Tickets are 25 dollars. (www.atpilgrimage.com)

Explore Europe in a Porsche

For those who prefer a self-drive or fly-drive experience in Europe, Avis, the exclusive car rental partner of Porsche, offers a wide range of models in Germany, Switzerland and France.

To rent a Porsche, you need to have an international driver's license for at least three years and be older than 25 years. You also need two different credit cards of which one has to be at least a gold card. Moreover, Porsche rental contracts do not allow drivers into territories beyond the country in which Porsche cars are hired. Visit www.avischina.com or call Avis at 400-882-1119 for more details and prices.

Bangkok's record water fight

Last week, people all over Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar brought out buckets, hoses and water guns to participate in Songkran, the region's traditional new year. But few cities got as wet as Bangkok, which broke the Guinness World Record for the largest water fight, with almost 3,500 participants, the UK's Telegraph newspaper reports. The new year is officially April 13 to 15, but festivities last about a week.

Unfortunately, the new year hasn't been all fun and games - at least 116 people were killed and 1,760 injured in road accidents across Thailand. Many accidents were due to drunken driving.

Airline news and deals

Lost luggage around the world: According to a report from SITA, a communications company, 29.44m airline-passenger bags were mishandled around the globe last year: that's 12.07 for every 1,000 passengers, a 6 percent rise on 2009. The figures for unrecovered bags also worsened: 0.43 bags per 1,000 passengers were lost forever in 2010, up from 0.40 in 2009.

These increases are blamed on flight-related chaos caused by the ash cloud that settled over Europe in April and the severe weather that closed airports in the eastern US and north Europe at the start and end of the year.

Charter flight service: China Eastern Airlines will offer a charter service on the Jinan-Bangkok route beginning April 17. It will also add flights on the Jinan-Chongqing route. The Airbus A320 will be used on both routes.

Discounted tickets: China Southern Airlines website www.csair.com is offering a wide variety of reduced price tickets, with the cheapest at 170 yuan. The discount is available before the end of the month and tickets are valid between May 1 and June 30. There are also discounted tickets to Europe from 2,950 yuan.

China Daily - Associated Press -Deutsche Presse Agentur