SETTING SALE: After more than four years sitting idle in a Dubai port, the storied passenger liner Queen Elizabeth 2 is bound again for the high seas as part of deal to convert the vessel into a luxury hotel in Asia, officials said Thursday.

CHINESE PORT? The precise destination of the QE2 was not announced. But a map noted its planned voyage ending in China, raising speculation of seaports such as Shanghai or Hong Kong.

THE BACKGROUND: The QE2 has been docked in Dubai since it was purchased by the state investment company Istithmar World in 2007 for $100 million at the height of the city's boom era.