Cathay Members’ Choice Awards

Cathay Members’ Choice Awards 2026: Asia’s best new attraction

From snow parks to cultural landmarks, Asia’s newest attractions make a powerful first impression
By Cathay
In partnership with
Open courtyard at Dib Bangkok featuring minimalist architecture and a series of large metallic sphere sculptures arranged across a wide paved plaza at dusk.
Credit: Dib Bangkok

Welcome to the Cathay Members’ Choice Awards. Our annual awards celebrate the very best in travel, dining and lifestyle – as voted by you, our global community of tastemakers. 

How do we define Asia’s best new attraction? 

We’re excited to reveal the shortlist for Asia’s best new attraction. Opened over the past few years, these museums, experiences and regional cultural destinations are generating serious buzz and drawing travellers across the region.  

With input from our expert panel, this year’s nominees have officially been shortlisted. Voting is open to Cathay members from 1 to 21 June. In the meantime, learn more about the nominees below. 

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The nominees

Futuristic exterior of Shenzhen Qianhai Huafa Ice and Snow World, a large, illuminated building with flowing, wave-like lines glowing at night above a multi-level complex.

Shenzhen Qianhai Huafa Ice and Snow World

Who needs the Alps when Shenzhen has its own year-round winter wonderland? Set inside the world’s largest indoor ski resort, Qianhai Huafa Ice and Snow World (aka Huafa Snow Bonski) brings sub-zero thrills to the subtropical south of the Chinese Mainland, with five sprawling ski slopes and a massive snow-play zone. Whether you’re getting to grips with powder for the first time or carving down 450-metre runs,  it’s a delightfully over-the-top attraction. 

Spacious multi-level interior of UpperHills Shenzhen, with curved white balconies, glass railings and retail stores arranged around an open atrium.

UpperHills Shenzhen

More like a mini city than a mall, Shenzhen’s design-forward UpperHills lifestyle complex blends shopping, dining, hotels and offices into a sprawling architectural landmark connected to the surrounding parks and hillsides of Futian. Evolving in phases since its debut, this popular lifestyle destination continues to expand with new additions, from the world’s first Muji Hotel in 2018 to the Mandarin Oriental, Shenzhen in 2022, Galeries Lafayette in 2023 and the city’s first downtown duty-free shop in 2025. The standout is its photogenic “Loft Town”, an outdoor shopping district lined with colourful red, orange and yellow buildings that feel like stepping into a Mondrian painting. 

Credit: Hym Chu

Minimalist courtyard at Dib Bangkok with white modern buildings, curved architectural lines and large metallic sphere sculptures spread across a wide paved plaza.

Dib Bangkok

Named after the Thai word for “raw” or “authentic”, Dib Bangkok  embraces originality within a repurposed 1980s steel warehouse, transformed into a contemporary art playground. Thailand’s first global contemporary art museum moves from exposed-concrete industrial spaces to airy white-cube galleries upstairs, with rotating exhibitions featuring Thai and international artists. Opened in late 2025, it’s one of the most exciting new museums in Bangkok, and houses renowned American artist James Turrell’s first permanent installation in Thailand. You’ll also find the Chapel, a glittering mosaic-clad gallery that feels blissfully removed from Bangkok’s chaos. 

 

Two visitors standing with a member of Mandai Wildlife Reserve staff on a wooden viewing platform at Rainforest Wild Adventure, Singapore, overlooking limestone rock formations and a water-filled valley below.

Rainforest Wild Adventure, Singapore

Tigers, langurs and sun bears are just some of the stars of the show here. Rainforest Wild Adventure  is one of the top new wildlife attractions in Singapore, home to dozens of rare and exotic species. Designed to recreate South East Asia’s natural ecosystems, this 13-hectare attraction features eight immersive zones ranging from watering holes where tapirs lounge languidly to caverns inspired by Borneo’s ancient caves, complete with stalagmites, limestone pools and an abseiling adventure. Adrenaline junkies can also tackle canopy jumps, suspension bridges and rock climbs high above the jungle floor. 

 

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