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Just eight blocks north of The Nines, a brand new Luxury Collection hotel, Portland's Chinatown is the city's oldest neighborhood, and one of the nation's nicest. Its entrance at N.W. Fourth Avenue and Burnside Street is clearly marked by a grand gate, adorned with 78 dragons, and 58 mythical characters, and flanked by a pair of stone dragons that signify the yin (protection of the young), and the yang (protection of the nation).

That's one of the things I love about Chinese culture, the way meaningful details are essential to their architecture. One location where these elements are particularly striking is the Portland Classical Chinese Garden on the corner of Northwest Third & Everett Streets. Take a look at the Tai Hu rocks shipped from Lake Tai near Suzhou, China, and the 51 "leak" windows situated throughout the garden, providing picturesque views of hundreds of native Chinese plants. The garden's Teahouse is the perfect place to relax over steamed dumplings and a warm cup of Oolong after an afternoon of shopping in Chinatown. But before you make your way over to this fabulous enclave of restaurants, galleries, and boutiques, check out Travel Portland's excellent self-guided tour.

Portland is a great example of a big city that blends beautifully into its natural surroundings, with more than 10,000 acres of parks and green spaces within the city limits. And with such an impressive urban forest environment, you might like to know a little bit more about the trees you're looking at, which is where the World Forestry Center comes in. Located in beautiful Washington Park, the center contains a forestry museum, two off-site tree farms, and the World Forestry Institute, all designed to improve public knowledge of forests and their importance in the ecosystem. The 20,000-square-foot Discovery Museum, for example, has hands-on, interactive exhibits on the forests of the Pacific Northwest and around the world, as well as People and Forests, an overview of man's interrelationships with forests. Those who aren't afraid of heights can enjoy a rare glimpse at what life is like at the top of some of these great trees, as the Take Me to the Top Canopy Lift bring visitors to a Canopy Bridge on the top of the museum, high above the forest floor and into the branches of the great trees. Don't look down. The World Forestry Center is less than three miles from the Westin Portland.

So many eras are defined by what went down on the dance floor. In the seventies it was sequins and disco; the fifties saw saddle shoes and sock hops; and that delirious decade of decadence, the 1890s, was filled with petticoated gals doing the can can, particularly in that oasis of absinthe-induced delight, Paris. At the turn of the last century, artists like Toulouse-Lautrec, Edgar Degas, and Jean-Louis Forain were chronicling the exhilarating past time with pencils, pens, and paints. The Portland Art Museum's cleverly curated exhibition The Dancer brings together works by these artists through May 11.

Over 100 images of Degas' delicate ballerinas, Forain's Impressionist performers, and Lautrec's bawdry ladies tell a story of France's fin-de-siècle society. Oregon Ballet Theatre continues that narrative on stage at the Keller Auditorium as they plié and pirouette to the music of French composers like Maurice Ravel, and Claude Debussy. Freshen up at The Westin Portland before prancing over to the performance. The museum, hotel, and theater are all within shimmying distance of each other.

Since 2003 the Portland Art Center has exhibited some rather ambitious and exciting installations. From the "Modern Zoo" to "Reed College Art Week" their shows are known for bringing together artists from varying backgrounds. The Center got its own space in 2005 in the former Goldsmith Company headquarters on South Adler St. in the heart of downtown, and now houses a collection of thrilling works in its four galleries, hosts classes and workshops, and rents out over 20 studio spaces.

"To cultivate informative and innovative interactions between the art world and the public" is the nonprofit space's mission. They're achieving that this month by showcasing "Piece Process," a multimedia group exhibition of paintings, photos, sculptures and films by artists of MIddle Eastern decent who live and work in America, Europe and the Middle East.

What it means is that Israeli, Palestinian, Jewish and Arab men and women have made a commitment to each other to create art together, proving to society at large that peace is possible among these groups. Recognizing that their project won't bring about an end to the conflict in the Middle East, the artists involved in "Piece Process" at least "demonstrate that an environment of dialogue, tolerance, integrity, dignity, and attentiveness can exist."

The exhibition runs through September 28 in the Main Gallery, and an "Artist Talk" occurs September 23 at 2 pm.

Stop into Abou Karim's for a Lebanese meal on your way back to the Westin Portland. Friday and Saturday nights feature belly dancing or live music.

Portland has something to entice any visitor, be they athletic, studious, artistic, or just plain hungry. And while it's good to have a plan when visiting a place, it's sometimes even better to wander around and enjoy a few happy accidents along the way. As an interesting item in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution points out, Portland is just such a place, with an amazing mix of the reflective and the whimsical. The Portland Japanese Garden is one of the finest such gardens outside of Japan, with carefully groomed flowers and plants mingling with water features spanned by beautiful bowed bridges such as the Moon Bridge (pictured). If you prefer Chinese gardens to Japanese gardens, you're in luck, as the Portland Classical Chinese Garden is designed in the style of the Ming Dynasty. After all that serenity, go for a run, skate, or bike ride along the Gov. Tom McCall Waterfront Park. The park is an example of how green this Pacific paradise has become. It's a mile-long former freeway along the water, now lined with cherry trees and grass and enjoyed by Portlanders year-round. Or trek through Forest Park, at 5,000 acres the largest urban wildnerness in the country. After all that activity, it's time to relax. The sushi at Masu is fresh and delicious, as are its inventive sake-based cocktails. And if the excellent wines of the Pacific Northwest are more your thing, you might enjoy blending a carafe of your own wine at Urban Wineworks. Guests at the Westin Portland or any of Starwood's Portland properties will find no end to the fun in this charming city.

[image via the Atlanta Journal-Constitution]