Foreign lands are as close as California

Considering the dreadful exchange rate for American dollars abroad, families might have to tuck away the idea of a trip to a foreign country this year.

There are domestic alternatives, however, that might give you a similar bang for your American buck while expanding your kids' perspectives on the planet.

Don't have an extra $20,000 to treat the family to the Beijing Olympics this year? Visit San Francisco, which has a Chinese-American population of around 140,000 and North America's largest and oldest Chinatown. The city by the bay claims the earliest Chinese Christian church as well as the oldest standing Chinese temple in the country: Tin How.

From May to November, explore the Chinatown Night Market in Portsmouth Square for colorful entertainment and merchants offering bargain trinkets, curios and arts and crafts. Small side streets, produce and fish markets, arched eaves and filigreed balconies, gold dragons ornamenting building facades and endless restaurants lend an authentic air of the Far East.

Kids will like a bakery stop for moon cakes and sesame cookies, and teahouses specializing in dim sum are fun, family friendly and economical. Give the kids inexpensive cameras and stroll food markets that feature a parade of gnarled ginger roots, golden glazed ducks, sharks' fins and tanks full of fish. Be on the lookout for a group tai chi session or men playing Chinese chess, too.

Chinatown is as busy as a Hong Kong side street, so the best way to experience this 24-block neighborhood is on foot (your hamstrings and quadriceps will think you made it into this year's Olympic competition!).

For information on Chinatown tours and more, visit www.onlyinsanfrancisco.com.

Older kids and teenagers can appreciate insight into Asian art and culture at San Francisco's Asian Art Museum and its blockbuster exhibit "Power & Glory: Court Arts of China's Ming Dynasty," the first exhibition of its kind to be presented in the United States (runs June 27 through Sept. 21). See the grandeur of the Ming dynasty court through more than 240 historically significant artworks, including paintings, jades, textiles, jewelry, lacquer, porcelain and architectural pieces drawn from the Palace Museum in Beijing, the Nanjing Municipal Museum, the Shanghai Museum and the Asian Art Museum's own collection. The Asian Art Museum offers special Tuesday free admission and family programming cued to current exhibitions.

For details, call (415) 581-3500 or visit www.asianart.org.

There are plenty of low-cost things to see and do in San Francisco: the first Tuesday of every month is "pay what you wish day" at the Cartoon Art Museum offering rotating exhibitions of art from comic books, animated movies, magazines, ads, newspapers and video dating from the 1730s to the present.

The Exploratorium is a wonderful science museum housed within San Francisco's historic Palace of Fine Arts in the Marina District. There are hundreds of interactive exhibits and admission is free the first Wednesday of every month.

For information on hotel packages, events, activities and transportation in San Francisco, visit www.onlyinsanfrancisco.com or call (800) 637-5196.

Many families dream of sharing an African safari adventure together, but political and financial insecurities can quash that idea. California comes through again at Santa Rosa's Safari West, where families get to bed and breakfast in a room with a view of giraffes from a private deck. Lodging is in authentic canvas African safari tents, complete with hardwood floors, comfy beds, full bathrooms and verandas with sweeping views of the preserve. Imagine drifting off to the sounds of cranes calling or chattering lemurs instead of cars honking.

Take a jeep tour led by a staff naturalist to see and learn about zebras, Cape buffalo, desert antelope and wildebeest. Neither a zoo nor a drive-through theme park, Safari West is an African wildlife preserve and safari resort where the family can get an immersing African experience minus the passports and plane trips. Home to more than 400 breeding mammals, birds and reptiles, including endangered wildlife, such as cheetah and eland, Safari West also offers private and personal animal encounters, such as feeling porcupine quills. (Extra activities such as a Behind the Scenes tour need to be booked prior to your visit.)

Located in Napa-Sonoma wine country, which offers grassland and forest similar to African geography, Safari West tours (you need not lodge there) cost $65 for adults and teens; children ages 3-12 are $30. Lodging ranges from $230-$255, but check for seasonal and group specials at www.safariwest.com or call (800) 616-2695.

Full continental breakfast is included with accommodations, but you can also enjoy lunch at the onsite Savannah Cafe, a barbecue dinner on a veranda or an in-tent Swedish massage for an additional cost.