This afternoon, I'll board a plane in Shanghai and begin the 30-hour trip home. I leave China with a wealth of memories and images. We've seen and done so much more than I've had the opportunity to blog about here. So as a farewell gift, here are some of my other...

So far, I've written a lot about China's history, its imperial dynasties and how that heritage shows up in modern Chinese life. Today, though, we took a welcome break from history lessons to explore the Shanghai Museum, a free public institution that houses some of...

We've enjoyed a number of over-the-top meals here in China, including hosted dinners last night in Xi'an and tonight in Shanghai. Chris Lee, owner of China Plus USA, is very well respected here in China, and so when he brings a FAM tour on a visit, his tourism friends...

  For tourists, Xi'an is best known as the home of the terra cotta warriors. Discovered by local farmers digging a well in the 1970s, the terra cotta warriors are part of the massive grave complex of Qin Shihuang, an emperor who ruled around 220 B.C. Previously,...

In Xi'an, a city of six million people in central China, the legacy of ancient emperors is still alive today. For many years, Xi'an was the imperial capital of China (the current capital is Beijing). After flying to the city this morning, we spend our evening...

As a city, Beijing is a sprawling mass of high-rise buildings, many of them apartment and condo towers built to house the 19 million people who live here. But in the Hutong area of the city, just a block behind the skyscrapers on busy city streets, quiet neighborhoods...

It's not every day that you get to take a walk along a 2,700-year old wonder of the world. So for me as a traveler, today's visit to the Great Wall of China was pretty special. We've all seen pictures of the wall, and probably heard various tidbits about it, such as...

  It's a foggy day in Beijing, dreary weather for touring. But it will take more than mist to dampen my spirits -- today, my first in China, we are visiting the Forbidden City, one of the most renown sites in the whole country. This elaborate complex of palaces...