Burt Wolf: Travels and Traditions

The island of Taiwan just off the coast of mainland China has held on to most of the ancient principles of Chinese culture while incorporating the most modern aspects of western society. We visit the most important temples, find out how the gods direct your future behavior, and discover the secrets of getting the best flavor when you make a cup of tea. We also find out what's cooking.

Burt goes to Washington, DC to tour our nation's National Shrine, then to Tepeyac, Mexico to join 5 million pilgrims who are taking part in the Feast Day of the patron saint of the Americas. We see how a revered picture - Our Lady of Guadalupe - became a symbol of hope and freedom for native Indians of Mexico as well as the Spanish settlers. We discover the history of Tequila and join Burt as he sits down to a meal of fried ants and grasshoppers. And you thought life is tough on "Survivor".

Guided by Taiwan's most famous television cook (the Emeril of the Orient), Burt tours the city's night market. We visit the traditional shops, and an extraordinary weekend jewelry market. We learn how practicing the martial arts can help keep your body young and how the ancient art of Chinese Medicine works. We are introduced to the world's most famous Chinese dance group and a television network devoted to Kung Fu puppets. We also get a riverside seat for the annual dragon boat races.

Burt goes to Guadalupe, Mexico to uncover the Story of Juan Diego and the patron Saint of Mexico. We discover how Christian groups separated themselves from Jews during the first century after Christ. We go to Seville, Spain to take part in the Holy Week processions, learn why Baroque churches were built to save Catholicism, and find out that after centuries of tradition, the people of Mexico have come to believe in only two things: Our Lady of Guadalupe and The National Lottery.

The two questions travelers ask most often are, "Where should I eat?" and "Where should I shop?" In this program, Burt takes a look at the history of shopping from its beginnings in 17th century London and the first department store in Paris, to New York's Fifth Avenue and the auction of a 92-million dollar painting at Sotheby's. We find out how the brains of men and women make them shop differently, who introduced the idea of ready-to-wear clothing and why. We see how the French Revolution changed the way people shopped, how the shopping bag and the price tag were invented, and why the survival of a nation can depend on how it shops.

We discover how shopping kept our original 13 colonies together during the Revolutionary War. How shopping is used not to make each of us different but to let us become part of a community. What the future of shopping might look like on the Internet. We meet a woman who closed her antique business on earth and opened one in cyberspace, a man who designed an Internet business that sells a car a minute and interview Meg Whitman, the President of eBay.

The destination for pilgrims for over 600 years, this monastery houses a painting of the Virgin and Child thought to have been painted by St. Luke. We tour a 15th century library, discover the three essential elements that connect an image to a miracle and what gives an image its supernatural powers. We also find out what makes places like the Vietnam Memorial, The Alamo, our Civil War Battlefields, and Abraham Lincoln's Birthplace popular locations for a pilgrimage.

Burt takes us on a tour of the city of Toulouse, discovers why the color blue terrified the soldiers of ancient Rome and how the cloth dyers of Toulouse used blue to make a fortune. They don't call royal families blue bloods for nothing. We visit the largest Romanesque Church in Europe, find out how in 1222 the King of France set the pattern for Donald Trump's real estate deals. We take a look at a group of 35,000-year-old cave paintings that were used to teach young men to hunt. We find out where to rent a houseboat and wander along one of the most beautiful canals in the world. We are guided through the largest collection of works by Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, visit Carcassonne, a walled city for over 2,500 year, and stop into one of the finest restaurants in the area to check out the local specialties.

For hundreds of years Krakow has been one of the great cultural centers of Eastern Europe. We tour the city, visit the ancient castle and Cathedral on Wawel Hill, discover the origin of the croissant, look at some of the 2 million works of art in the city's museums and find out how the immodest sight of a woman's legs saved the town'sMedieval wall. Burt also checks out what's cooking and visits the Jewish quarter of Krakow that was founded in the 14th century.

In the southwest corner of France, Lourdes is one of the most important shrines in the Christian world. Famous as a site for healing miracles, over 7,000 cures have been documented. Burt takes us on a tour of the churches of Lourdes, discovers the story of the shrine's beginnings, visits the mysterious grotto, takes part in a torch light procession, uncovers the shrine's political significance in the history of France and its role in the story of woman's rights. He also interviews the doctor who was in charge for the investigation of the most recent medical miracle.