First lady Michelle Obama faces scrutiny for China trip with daughters, mom

[Jazzy]

First lady Michelle Obama is getting ready for her third overseas trip without her husband since arriving in the White House, but her journey to China may be watched more closely.

Mrs. Obama will be traveling with three generations. She'll be joined by Sasha, Malia and her mother, Marian Shields Robinson, a subtle gesture to traditional Chinese values. White House officials are calling this visit a "people to people" trip.

In between meetings with university students, the first lady will make stops at the Great Wall of China, the Terracotta Warriors Museum, and even the Chengdu Panda Base.

The highly-orchestrated visit is intended to help soften U.S.-China relations. It also includes a number of events with China's first lady -- less than a year after Mrs. Obama missed her visit to the U.S., which some read as a political snub.

There are already some comparison being made to the first lady's 2010 visit to Spain, which was heavily criticized, CBS News' Jan Crawford reports. The trip, which some viewed as really a family vacation, cost taxpayers nearly $470,000. White House and Secret Service officials are refusing to say how much the trip will cost.

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Sounds like a family vacation to me. What do you think?