Dalian Day Two

After a breakfast of boiled white bread dough rolls, spicy tofu, vegetable fried rice and pickled cabbage, we trundled ourselves into the university-supplied van and went for a tour around Dalian.

Dalian is a beautiful city and a popular destination for Chinese tourists. It is the northern-most warm water port of China. Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Company is the largest shipbuilder in China, which means the vast expanse of the shoreline is dotted with shipbuilding machinery, dry docks, cranes and skeletal structures of marine travel. Shipbuilding began in China back in the 19th century, when Russia found the port of Dalian. Over the years, DSIC split into two then merged back into one, after decades of building military ships such as submarines and aircraft carriers.

These pictures were taken on the way to the Golden Pebble beach, during a rainstorm that was intermittent during the day.

I thought the machinery looked like large King crabs :)

By the time we had arrived at Golden Pebble Beach, about 30 minutes outside of Dalian, the rain had stopped and we were blessed with warm but overcast weather. 

This is the Yellow Sea. It's not pristine waters by any stretch. The beaches were littered, clotted, with trash of bottle caps and various plastic detritus. I had tried to warn the kids not to submerge themselves in the water, to keep their eyes, ears and mouths free of seawater. That lasted approximately 4 minutes. 

The beach was short and the sand was very fine pebbles (doh), not the smoothest silky sand we'd hoped for. There were a few striped umbrella'd tables that were for rent, but they were about $50 US for the day, and we had only planned on being there for a few hours. 

There was a private helicopter that could be hired to buzz the beach. 

I'd never seen a patient of acupuncture cupping therapy before...

I demanded the children rinse out their eyes ears and mouths after swimming. 

We all still got very sick with sinus and nasal congestion by the time we left for the States...

Here is a horse-drawn carriage we could rent for beachside touring. 

This is where I bring up our lovely tour guide. Her name was Wu Yao, Wu being her family name and Yao, which means 'beautiful jade' . She WAS truly lovely. She was a student of Lian's and had been 'volunteered' to take us around to the various sites of the city. I get the sense from having been around foreign professors and hearing stories from campus that hiring grad students for slave labor is basically de rigeur in foreign cultures. She would not accept any money from us, I fear another Western cultural faux pas, we possibly offended her. Giving favors is a huge compliment in Asian culture, and to try and reciprocate financially is considered an insult. I totally get it. 

Anyway I digress....she welcomed us at the hotel, and spoke ad nauseum with our driver, who spoke not a lick of English and was about 40 years older than her. She was charming and engaging, and she made the man, a complete stranger to her, laugh at her jokes. 

At the beach she sat and watched our belongings as the kids scampered in the surf. I did not get in the water, rather I scouted the beach back and forth for sea glass and cool shells. I asked her repeatedly if she would like to get into the water, and she politely declined. 

Maybe she knew something we did not? Yao was very very sweet and had loads of energy and patience. A perfect guide for our first full day :)

After we left the beach, we decided to get lunch. Seeing as Kentucky Fried Chicken is *everywhere* in China....I mean EVERYwhere, we thought we'd give it a shot. Her English was fair to middling,and her KFC-speak was spare, so we struggled in describing what we wanted to eat. She was gracious and patient with us, even as other patrons were pressing up against us impatiently. We ate the chicken in the car as the rain progressed again around us, with the driver driving a maddening 60+mph in flood conditions and at one point hydroplaning across a lane of traffic. 

Our next stop was the Castle Hotel, the famed five-star hotel perched on a hillside near the city center of Dalian. I had initially found it because of a Pinterest search for tourist stops (again, thanks Pinterest!) but was disappointed to find out that you cannot tour the hotel, and the drive up to the hotel grounds is blocked by a locked iron gate. 

My pictures don't really give it justice so here is a few Google images :) 

So since we were NOT allowed entrance into the castle, we chose to dance...

Here is a link if you feel so compelled to check in to the Starwood Castle Hotel Dalian...www.starwoodhotels.com/luxury/property/overview/ 

IF you are so fortunate, please message or reply with pictures of the interior. Our curiosity was definitely piqued. 

We had about 20 minutes before our driver was to return and taken us back to Dalian, so we thought we would take a short riverwalk along the Malan River. Dalian is located on the Laiodong Peninsula, with city ending in the Yellow Sea. 

I loved Dalian. It had a definite European charm, reminiscent of kitschy German and Swiss architecture. 

European architecture and Chinese fishing boats :) 

This is the Dalian Shell Museum. It was again another Pinterest find for me. Again, since we saw most everything in the downtown on an overcast gloomy day,  my pictures do not give it justice. So we go

back to Google...

Our guide had told us that the museum was closed for remodeling, we could not tour it, which broke my heart. I have a love affair, nay, obsession, with all things of the sea. Sea glass, sea shells, sea horses....if it is comes from climes alkaline I am so inclined ;) 

After trying to capture the structural and architectural genius which was the museum, we decided to cross over the bridge and walk around on the other side of the river.

the parking lot was flooded. We gave up our anxiety about walking in sandals in puddles and gutters very soon after our entry into a nascent monsoon season in China...

ha cha cha...sweet Doe....

to be continued....

Nous sommes tout Francais

My heart is breaking. Tears cannot be stopped as the news out of the City of Lights continues to be
one of horror. As I write the situation is considered fluid, but the reality is there is no doubt that this was an act of terror.

A friend of mine said tonight on social media "The terrorists have won".

Dalian

We arrived in Dalian in the late afternoon. The expunging of ourselves from the bowels of the train station into the late afternoon heat and sunlight with galling humidity was like being slapped with a wet white towel. Once in the face, once on the back. We found our host, Lian, who was a stringy tall man with a broad smile, heavily-pocked and scarred face and very quiet and somewhat critical demeanor. He had hired a driver who met us in the parking lot, approximately one nautical mile away from the train station. He shared a story with Dan about how the university had-at the last minute-chosen NOT to pay for Dan to lecture at the university, but they paid for the hotel, driver and several meals.
After we left the station, dragging our luggage and backpacks, we were faced with another steep set of staircases. Lian was gracious enough to offer my bag, after I nearly lost my face on tripping on the hem of my stylish wide-legged palazzo pants. (who trips up stairs anyway?).

He led us to our waiting van, and sternly smashed our bags into the back of the van. Dan and I sat in the middle seat and the three children piled into the back bench seat. The drive to our hotel was interminable. It was on a Friday and the weekend traffic into this vacation destination was coiled like hot metal centipedes on the highways. It took nearly *two hours* to get to our hotel, which was on the campus. It was an international hotel for university visitors. As we were waiting in the hotel lobby orienting our hotel rooms (two again, and this time not across the hall but separated by a few rooms between-dislike) I saw what HAD to be a father escorting his teenaged daughter dressed in a tulle miniskirt and sparkly high-heeled sandals up to his room...she looked all of sixteen years old, with her head bent looking at the floor.

We got settled in our rooms, and then wandered around the campus of Dalian University of Technology. It was a pretty campus, with lots of trees over cobblestoned streets and intriguing architecture.

 Driving into Dalian from the airport.

 Starting to see the highrises of the inner city of Dalian from our van (Hour 2 of our trip)

 Finally made it to campus! Threw down our things and took a walk to get our bearings with Lian. I think this was their athletic center. There was a large soccer and baseball field adjacent to it.

Checking out the campus map. 

One thing that struck me immediately about Dalian University is the constant cacaphony of cicadas. Swarms of dragonflies were everywhere as well. 

 Hey there is Chairman Mao.

 Lian took a liking to Tank. Tank and Lian shared a fondness for basketball. Maybe it was his ease with males more than females that created that camaderie, or maybe it was the abject fear Lian expressed over Tank walking into oncoming traffic. He seemed genuinely concerned for Tank's wellbeing and spoke steadily and calmly into Tank's ears about following the rules of the road and just general self-awaredness that comes with living in a metropolitan city. He seemed to make it his mission in life to swiftly educate Tank about the social mores of China.

Lian showed us the closest market to our apartment, it was rather impressive, heavily stocked with merchandise. Had I know this would have been my only time going in there I would have spent more time there. I had asked Beloved to go back and get something for me that evening (time has completely erased any memory of what it could have possibly been) it must have been something related to stomach issues (shocking). I fell asleep before he and the kids returned to the hotel that evening so obviously it was critical for my welfare...

 Oh LOOK at all the chicken blood. I'm pretty iron-willed about a lot of things in the kitchen but pools of chicken blood make my stomach churn.

So yes past the pools of chicken blood and bagged chicken parts piled up on the floor was a clothing boutique/warehouse towards the back of the store.After we checked out the market we headed back to our hotel for a rest before dinner.

We met Lian at a diningroom off the lobby of the hotel, where we walked past a wall of aquariums with red-inked placards scotch-taped to the fronts of each of them. Every type of bivalve and crustacean was bubbling away in there tank-acclimated environs, waiting for the gauntlet. The room was white with cracked linoleum, and it led into a large hall with dozens of tableclothed round tables, with buffet tables banked against two of the walls. There was a small assortment of aged women who gawked at us as we made our way to the room where Lian was waiting.

As per Chinese custom, the quest of the host sits at the head of the table, or the seat which is directly across the entrance. Beloved took his seat and we all clumped around next to him, with Lian on the other side of the table. The children squabbled and complained about Lian sitting ALL ALONE, so we spread out and finally settled into a meal.

Lian snapped repeatedly at our server, who would reply in same said curt tones. The food was not unlike the food we had eaten on the train, much more salty and greasy than the fresher foods of Harbin, and the food was much more anemic pale and institutional (wah-waaah). After dinner we took a short walk around the hotel, and then called it a night.

One lasting impression of the day: our host Lian was insistent that the hotel would not provide his tea for him. He bought his own tea, much to the chagrin of the server, and in his halted English explained that it was an expensive special tea that the hotel did not carry...