HANOI, VIETNAM

Why in 2010: Vietnam’s leafy, atmospheric capital, Hanoi, celebrates its 1,000th birthday in 2010—that’s right, it’s a millennial bash—and the city is throwing a huge, yearlong coming-out party. A deep roster of cultural festivities, including flower festivals and art exhibitions (more info at vietnamtourism.com), is set for 2010, while local tour operators like Exotissimo Travel debut English-language tours that explore Hanoi’s days of colonial rulers and Communist heroes (exotissimo.com, from $45). At the same time, the city is burnishing its reputation as one of Asia’s coolest, fastest growing metropolises (its population has doubled since 1990 to reach nearly 6.5 million) with the opening of über-hip places like the year-old, artist-run café Tadioto (tadioto.com) and the three-story Tan My Design (tanmydesign.com), which showcases Hanoi’s top homegrown fashion.