15: City Breaks and Wusu

Episode 15 is travel and tourism heavy. Pete rolls up with Wusu beer and the conversation becomes a round-the-world check-in. We discuss the hotspots and the headaches of modern travel — crowds at Copacabana and New Year’s Eve, Macao’s gambling scene, post-Covid rebound, Jet2 / package holiday banter, and whether Beijing, Bangkok or London deserve to top your bucket list. The episode’s centerpiece is our Top 10 most-visited cities of 2025 (a headline-making list from industry data) — we unpack why Bangkok dominated, why pilgrimage and gambling cities surged.We also take Wusu seriously: origin, flavour and why it’s a favourite in parts of China and among travellers who’ve sampled Xinjiang beers. Along the way we touch on North American stops (Toronto, Vancouver), the Lake District idylls, street food in Bangkok and New Delhi, Asian gateway hubs (Singapore, Hong Kong, KL, Tokyo). This is a travel episode for people who love cities, airport lounge gossip, and a decent lager after a long flight. Pour a Wusu, recline, and come travel with us. Featured beer — Pete’s pick: WusuWusu (乌苏啤酒) — a pale lager originally brewed in Xinjiang (Urumqi) and now distributed widely across China. Expect a malty, refreshing profile built for food and long conversations; it’s a regional classic with several variants. We taste, compare notes to Chang and Carlsberg-style lagers, and recommend it with spicy street food and late-night airport snacks. Top 10 most-visited cities of 2025 (Euromonitor / industry reporting)We used industry destination indexes and year-end roundups for this list — here’s the Top 10 by international arrivals in 2025 and why each mattered in our chat: Bangkok, Thailand — big inbound numbers, strong leisure travel, street-food & temple tourism.Hong Kong (SAR) — regional hub bounceback and city-scale tourism offers.London, UK — history, events and business travel kept it near the top.Macao (Macau), China (SAR) — gambling & events drove big arrival spikes.Istanbul, Türkiye — cultural crossroads and resilient tourism.Dubai, UAE — luxury, events and stopover traffic.Mecca, Saudi Arabia — pilgrimage travel (Hajj/Umrah) keeping arrivals high.Antalya, Türkiye — Mediterranean leisure boom.Paris, France — perennial draw for leisure, culture and business.Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia — Hub connectivity and value tourism rounded out the Top 10.(We debated New York, Rio, Tokyo and Rome as “fan favourites” — they’re huge for different reasons but the 2025 arrivals data gives a slightly different picture of global flows.)#PintsOfView #WusuBeer #TravelSpecial #TopCities2025 #MostVisitedCities #Bangkok #HongKong #London #Macao #KualaLumpur #TravelPodcastDROP Pete and Cliff A MESSAGE via:Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61581833338165Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1814164025858782 Playout music by V1CEROY. The debut album OUT SOON!