Prince William's China trip is first royal visit in decades

Prince William is in China for the first time to strengthen British-Chinese diplomatic and economic ties. This is the highest-profile member of the British royal family to visit to mainland China in nearly 30 years, reports CBS News correspondent Seth Doane.

His was an "express" tour of Beijing by motorcade, seeing the capital the way only a prince can, including a brief walk through the legendary Forbidden City cleared free of tourists. It was once the home of emperors who ruled this country and was a stop on his grandmother, the queen's, trip in 1986.

The Duke of Cambridge visited China's President Xi Jinping on Monday. The two met in the modern-day center of power, the "Great Hall of the People."

State media Xinhua wrote the prince's "field trip" "may also serve other royal family members with fresh knowledge about China."

Prince Charles, his father, had once referred to Chinese leaders as "appalling old waxworks."

Earlier in the day, Prince William visited the ancient narrow alleyways called Hutongs, stopping at a courtyard home renovated with funds from his father's charity. He talked with students at a community center including Geng Shou, who said he was excited to meet a prince.

"He was so classy and elegant, as you'd expect British people to be," he said.

In Japan, the media referred to him as "Diana's first born," a nod to just how much the Japanese loved his mother, Princess Diana. The string of photo-ops there took him from the serious, an area ravaged by the earthquake and tsunami of four years ago, to the light: trying on a traditional warrior outfit.

These trips always have a fair share of pageantry. Now the prince is in Shanghai where he's working to boost business ties, but the question is -- what did he discuss with President Xi?

State media in China is reporting they talked about soccer.