SEATTLE - So you'd like to go to China but don't have the time, or the money? China is here.

I toured Seattle's International District today in honor of 08 08 08 and on the anniversary of having been to China as a reporter 30 years ago just after U.S.-China trade relations were normalized.

KING

Jean at the Tsue Chong fortune cookie company

We can't all be in China, but we can all get a taste of it right at home. And I don't mean just the cooking.

Seattle's International District is a rarity among ethnic communities in the U.S because here various small ethnic groups work together for the common good, according to my most excellent traveling companion, Assunta Ng, founder of the Seattle Chinese Post newspaper and NW Asian Weekly.

Because of the focus on the Olympics being held in China, we focused on the Chinese features of the International District.

The elegant new Chinese Gate sits astride South King Street, welcoming the world to China in Seattle, just as the Bird's Nest Stadium welcomed the world to Beijing today. This Chinese Gate, the newest in the U.S., is not only colorful, huge and ornate, but SO elegant the ubiquitous pigeons don't event think about messing with it.

The new Wing Luke Asian Museum is an affiliate of the Smithsonian, and it's a gem, a must-see, honoring a city councilman of the same name elected in 1962. In the first month it has been open, it has entertained more people than have visited the old museum in five months.

A beautiful pagoda on Maynard Street, the gift of the Taiwanese government, covers a park where concerts are held in summer. Today a guitarist brought us what else... Bob Dylan!

Continuing our cross-cultural adventure we followed the alluring sweet smells to Tsue Chong Co., the biggest and earliest fortune cookie factory in Seattle. Grandma used to make about 20 boxes of fortune cookies a day here, but the output has been cranked up to 80,000 thanks to a new Chinese fortune cookie machine, made in - Japan!

KING

Jean and the owner of the Tai Tung restaurant

I like green tea, but never have I tried some so fragrant, as that served at New Century tea shop, so special the small tin of leaves (about four inches by four inches) went for $100. So much here is tasty and much more affordable it's hard to decide on a souvenir.

Hungry? Try the oldest restaurant in Chinatown, Tai Tung. Want Dim Sum? Try Jade Garden. Hungry for BBQ? Try Harbor City Café.

You can walk out with a whole roast pig or crispy duck if you happen to need some for an upcoming festivity.

We settled on LA Café on Jackson Street, where the chefs were so good some who have trained here have helped open restaurants in Shanghai.

Feeling tired? Get an herbal pick-me-up at Yansan. The gigantic mushroom promises to reduce toxins, while the goji berry supposedly helps one sleep. A multi-herbal remedy in a bag says it will grow you some more hair. Who knows!

Chinatown is a city within a city, offering housing, health care, groceries, hair salons, banks and a post office all within a few mile walk.

I'm grateful to Assunta, and to Stacy Nguyen, editor of the NW Asian Weekly for their time and insights. But feel free - and I do mean free - to tour China in Seattle on your own. The sights, smells, history and uniqueness - to say nothing of the price - of a walk through Seattle's Chinatown is priceless.

If however, you are intent to pay the airfare, Hainan now flies non-stop Seattle to Beijing. Wait until the Olympics are over though so you can share not only the Chinatown walk, but the TV watching with us on KING TV's coverage of the Olympic Games in China.