Great Scenery and Natural Wonders

• The north shore of Lake Superior is truly "superior". Such purity and tranquility, dotted with serene mountains and hills, that can cleanse away the dust of crowded city life and life's constant struggles. I was so impressed with it from my 1993 trip there with my daughter Christine, that I tried to impress my parents by taking them there during their visit to Canada in 1995 (and I think I succeeded).

• I heard a lot about Vancouver and Victoria before my visit there in 1995, but what really impressed me was the un-crowded side of Vancouver Island, with their 800-year-old trees and undisturbed seashores.

• Olympic National Park is my top favorite among the parks. I visited the park in the middle of the winter (Dec. 1994), and was treated with the beauty uninterrupted by the crowds of summer visitors. There are many magnificent sights, but the rain forest is especially great!

• I skipped Yosemite National Park in my first few visits to California and didn't know what I really missed until I was actually there later on. Great sight, but usually too crowded.

• Meteor Crater in Arizona is interesting, and Las Vegas is fun too, especially there is something new every-time you go.

Great Culture/Historical Destinations

• My native China, particularly my native city Xi'an (see below), has a lot to offer visitors. New cities are just not my cup of tea.

• My love for music greatly influences my choices. I love Dresden, where I had my most impressive Wagner experience at the Semperoper (I love the surrounding areas too!). I love London and Berlin (and Amsterdam/Concertgebeuw) for their rich musical life and the abundance of impressive live performances, which I always managed to attend as many as possible during my visits but badly missed them afterwards. We visited Vienna at the wrong time, when Vienna Philharmonic and Vienna State Opera were out at Salzburg Festival, but we paid our respect to many of the great composers at their graves (and haus). I enjoyed my visit to Bayreuth too, although not at the festival time (couldn't get in anyway, so why bother). I also thoroughly enjoyed our own Bach-tour (Eisennach-Weimar-Leipzig), when Christine wore her "Die Beethoven Stadt" T-shirt from Beethovenhaus to Bachhaus.

• Europe has such diversity in history and culture, quite a contrast to that of my native China and my adopted home here, that you need to go back again and again, and again.... I love some of the popular destinations, such as Paris, lovely and lively, but also learned to treasure some hidden jewels, such as Bamberg and Eisennach, Germany, Leuven and Anterwerp (especially for Rubens/Brughel lovers), Belgium, and Oviedo, Spain, charming and unpretentious, and some interesting pairs of contrasting neighbours, such as Belgium and Netherlands, and Portugal/Lisbon and Spain/Madrid, so hard to imagine the differences in geographical distance. Madrid's Prado Museum, particularly its Goya collection, showed me the true power of great art (which I only associate with music before).

Great Places Where I Lived Before (... so I had a better chance to explore...)

• Boston/Cambridge, where I was presented with my culture shock, still remains dear to my heart, often nostalgic to Harvard Square (especially the small bookstores and record stores, most of which are, sadly, gone by now), Sanders Theater, Open Rehearsals at the Boston Symphony, Charles River, Boston Common (Hatch Shell!), First Night, .... And, fortunately, I didn't drive when I lived there.

• Washington has a lot of unique things to offer. But the problem is that you don't really realize that until you have left the area. The Mall and all the things around it, Library of Congress Chamber Music Series, Kennedy Center (especially NSO and Rostropovich playing Shostakovich), University (of Maryland) Community Concerts and piano/vocal/other competitions, Redskins (when they were really good, at the time I was there :), and also, proximity to other places (e.g., lovely Annapolis, all the major Eastern US cities, -- I especially treasure it after I moved to Texas).

• Toronto gives me my first real job, my first real home that I can call my own (and shoveling snow on my own), my first vote (casted for the losing candidate), my first appreciation of baseball (remember the back-to-back World Series Champion Blue Jays?), foreign movies (Cinematheque, and the now-sadly-closed video store on Yonge and College), and ethnic food from all around the world. Close to Toronto, Parry Sound and the Festival of Sound provide a perfect summer escape, if you need one, and Niagara Falls, where Christine was addicted to the "ouch-ouch" alligator game, stands extremely well after repeated visit.

• Xi'an. I rather still call it Chang'an, the ancient capital for more than 1000 years, the epitome of the golden age of the Chinese civilization. Unfortunately, ignorance of history is so widespread these days. As a result, my beloved city was often slighted, belittled, or ignored, by non-Chinese and Chinese alike. HuaShan, the famous mountain close by, is truly stunning as well.