A two-hour drive from the buzzing metropolis of Chengdu in Southeastern China is Mount Emei , one of four Sacred Buddhist Mountains. The mammoth mountain is home to 11 Taoist Temple complexes dating back more than 1,600 years, with a total of more than 30 Buddhist Temple complexes. China’s first Buddhist Temple was built atop Mount Emei in the 1 st Century C.E. Come along and join my friend Miu Mei as we explore Mount Emei.

Join the conversation dockside at Morro Bay Harbor with Jennifer Little of Discover Morro Bay Tourism Bureau , Mark Elterman with California Highway 1 Coast Discovery Route , and Morro Bay hotelier Joan Solu. January and February are dubbed the “Secret Season” by local tourism industry folks.

When the Palace Hotel first opened its doors in 1875 it was proclaimed the largest hotel in the world and San Francisco’s first luxury hotel. Destroyed in the 1906 earthquake, the hotel was rebuilt in 1909 and the grand dame of San Francisco lives on as the city’s most historic hotel and the place to see and be seen. Join Renee Roberts as she shares the hotel’s century long history that includes hosting luminaries from kings and queens, to Nikita Khruschev and the incubation of the United

Alexander Berko picked me up in front of NPR headquarters for a cab ride out to National Airport. Berko talks story about the dark days in the 1980's when Washington D.C. was known as the Murder Capital; former Mayor Marion Barry, and the struggles traditional cabbies face by brutal competition from Uber and Lyft, and most importantly his passionate pride for D.C., since emigrating from Ghana 39 years ago.

Join correspondent Julie Henning in Pensacola, Florida during the last weekend of the 2016 Foo Foo Festival . An anchor event each fall in Pensacola, Florida, the Blue Angel’s Homecoming Show signals the end of the tourism season and a time of milder temperatures and fewer crowds across the entire panhandle.

Less than two hours from Chengdu in Southwestern China is the 2,000 year-old riverfront village of Pingle. Long ago it was a first stop on the fabled Southern Silk Road that stretched for five thousand miles from Chengdu to the Mediterranean. Come along and join my Chengdu based friend Mavis Liu Mei and Tiffiny Shi Shi as we explore Pingle Ancient Town.

Jill Rohrbach, a Travel Writer with Arkansas State Parks & Tourism , shares her insights and recommendations for experiencing Northwest Arkansas. Jill talks about the Ozark Folk Center State Park in Mountain View and other cool destinations throughout the region. We’ll also tour through the majestic caves at Blanchard Springs Caverns , a short drive from Mountain View.

A visit with Sheraton Kona ’s Hawaiian Ho’okipa Ambassador of Culture and Activities, Nani Kupihe on the Big Island of Hawaii . I will forever remember Nani and her sweet lyrical-way of teaching Hawaiian culture, and her most touchingly infectious Aloha Spirit. You are invited to subscribe to the Lowell Thomas award-winning NPR Podcast travel show Journeys of Discovery with Tom Wilmer via: iTunes NPR.ORG Podcast Directory NPR One (APP) Stitcher.com player.fm podcast.de (Germany) blubrry.com

Just 50 miles from Las Cruces, New Mexico is the ethereal realm of the gypsum sand dunes that have engulfed more than 250 miles of the desert. White Sands National Monument preserves and showcases this dramatic natural earthscape.

Chateau Morrisette is Virginia’s oldest winery. It's located on the Blue Ridge Parkway , 3,500 feet above sea level, an hour from Roanoke and two hours from Greensboro, North Carolina. When the Morrisette family opened their Floyd, Virginia winery in 1978, it was the only one in the state.