LOUYANG, CHINA - While walking along this ancient city’s lovely riverbank, admiring the legendary Longmen Grottoes along with the wide-eyed Korean and Japanese tourists surrounding me, I suddenly realize I am a stranger in this land of my ancestors’ birth.

BEIJING - The iPod plugged into my ear was playing David Bowie’s China Girl as I stepped aboard the Hainan Airlines flight at Pearson International Airport that was taking me back to my China roots.