This city of 10 million is the political and economic center of South Korea. Its citizens live precariously next door to a bellicose and threatening neighbor. Yet they continue to build major industries and a beautiful city, while restoring historical landmarks and maintaining their traditional customs.… Read More Seoul, Korea
Nagasaki will forever be known as the place where the U.S. dropped the second atomic bomb. Its people will always be scarred by the bomb’s destruction. Today the city has been rebuilt, but it continues to remember its past and remind us of why we need to strive for peace.… Read More Nagasaki, Japan
This popular seaside city on Japan’s southern island of Kyushu is especially known for the highly active Sakurajima volcano. About 3,000 people live there although they are constantly affected by volcanic ash. School children are required to wear helmets all the time when they’re outside.… Read More Kagoshima, Japan
We had an opportunity to see many faces of Shanghai during our visit. We got a taste of its traditional past, which has been rediscovered and rejuvenated, and its powerful present. We saw some heavy handed authoritarianism and lots of warmth and positive spirit. Shanghai is the largest port in the world by volume, and a financial and manufacturing center. … Read More Shanghai, China
This small island in the district of Okinawa has a very natural, unpretentious feel to it. No masses of tourist shops and tee shirts, just beautiful beaches, lush forests and lots of rice fields and farmlands.… Read More Ishigaki, Okinawa, Japan
This eastern coastal city has changed from a fishing harbor to one of Taiwan’s major international ports since the 1970’s. It’s also a city with a great deal of seismic activity, experiencing thousands of earthquakes a year. We didn’t notice any during our uneventful day here. The popular Qixingtan beach has a long beach walk… Read More Hualien, Taiwan
This major port city of 2.7 million was our first visit in Taiwan. Kaohsiung has changed massively in the last few years. Driving through, we could see the transition from a polluted industrial center to an attractive city with parks, waterfront sports and temples.… Read More Kaohsiung, Taiwan
We had a lot of admiration for how well Hong Kong works. The population is one of the densest in the world with more than 17,000 people packed in per square mile and they live with an uncertain political and economic future. But the city hums along smoothly, a financial powerhouse, a tourist magnet and it maintains excellent city services with a civil atmosphere. We had three days in this port and would have loved to have more.… Read More Three Days in Hong Kong
This capital of a nominally communist country is bursting with the energy of a naturally entrepreneurial population. As we found in Saigon and elsewhere, Vietnamese people like having their own businesses and more than half of them do. … Read More Hanoi, Vietnam
This port was our gateway to Hanoi, but it is also an attractive resort area. One of the things Ha Long is known for is its spectacular caves. We took a boat cruise over to one of them them, Thien Cung, which means heavenly palace. The amazing stalactites and stalacmites, formed over hundreds of thousands… Read More Ha Long Bay
J and J Travel 