Chinese National Geographic to feature Mississippi River

When American readers open the pages of National Geographic, they expect to see pictures of exotic people like the lost tribes of Borneo and exotic places like the Amazon River or the Great Wall of China.

A photographer/reporter for the Chinese language edition of National Geographic Traveler knows his readers expect the same thing.

So to give them that thrill he's made the trek to an equally exotic locale: the banks of the Mississippi River.

Since August, Chen Qun of National Geographic has been traveling up and down the big muddy river talking to people and taking pictures of what he sees.

On Tuesday Qun (pronounced Kwan) was in Cape Girardeau.

"It's exciting," he said. "You know the dot on a map, so you want to see it for yourself, but it's a surprise to explore it. Every dot is a new surprise."

Qun said one place that surprised him was Altenburg, Mo., 30 miles north of Cape Girardeau.

"I couldn't believe to see sixth-generation German residents who still keep their German culture," he said. "That was something new for me to see in the U.S."

Qun also visited Trail of Tears State Park and the abandoned river town of Wittenburg, Mo.

He hopes his article, which won't be published until September, will cause Chinese tourists to visit middle America.

"The whole country has just opened its doors for its citizens to go out," he said of China. "They know Chicago and they know New York, they even know Yellowstone National Park, but the places along the Mississippi River they don't know yet."

Qun, who has lived in Denver for 20 years, says Chinese tourists are itching to discover America. Unfortunately, he says these newly wealthy tourists often hit an unexpected road block.

"You'll have to talk to the State Department about that," he said. "They can't get tourist visas. I'd say 70 or 80 percent of the tourists go to Europe now."

tgreaney@semissourian.com

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