January is probably not the optimum time to visit China...it's very cold. The photo at left shows you what the official tourist garb is for this time of year. You miss the gardens of bright flowers that highlight the warm months but you did get a better picture of how difficult the living conditions are for some of the over 1 billion people living in China.

It's impossible to see much of the country's almost four million square miles in a short visit but you can hit some of the highlights of this tradition rich country.

On our tour we visited the four areas below and I've included photos of some of the "must see" things on any tour of China. Take a look.

• Beijing (Great Wall, Forbidden City, Ming Tombs)
• Xi'an (The Terra Cotta Warriors)
• Shanghai (the modern city)
• Suzhou (the silk capitol, the Grand Canal)