Well, there were times this year when I thought this day would never arrive, but here it is at last. Today, I set off for China for three weeks, and to say I’m excited would be a huge understatement. Of course, I have 20-some hours on airplanes and in airports coming up to temper my excitement, but I’m sure that the moment we land in Beijing, I’ll be going, “I’M IN CHINA!!” (Sorry, had a Samantha Brown moment for a second there)

One reason for my excitement is that the trip will take me to Beijing, Xi’an, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Guilin, Guangzhou (my hometown), and Hong Kong. Aside from Guangzhou, I have never been to any of those places even though I spent the first ten years of my life in China. Also, I have not been back to China since 1994, so I’m sure it’ll seem almost like a foreign land to me in many regards. Of course, there is also the added excitement of seeing my huge extended family again after 15 years. I’m also looking forward to photographing these locales, which are steeped in beauty and history. I’ve got enough memory cards for about 5,000 pictures. Here’s hoping that will be enough.

Look for what I hope will be daily (or almost daily) posts about my experiences in my homeland. All posts about the trip will be gathered here as well. Here’s a map showing the route of my trip (orange denotes return trip):