Dalian 2005

alian Summer Research Program 2005

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Plazas

Victory Plaza (Shengli Guangchang) Routes 406 or 901. Taxi probably about Y20-Y25.
Shopping for all here. There's a huge white mall that is crudely expensive compared to the shops that lie below it. There is a Dalian New-Mart Shopping Mall which has a mix of decent priced and cheap stuff (Giodarno, for example) and there's a swimming pool on the top floor and an arcade on some-odd floor. The best part of Victory Plaza is what lies beneath. Go down any of the stairwells you see around and you'll enter bargaining heaven. Once below keep walking around until you find even more steps to lower levels. (if you have problems finding the other levels, go towards the Pizza Hut above ground and you can descend from there). Don't pay the prices they claim, offer a 1/5 or a 1/3 and go from there. Know how to bargain in Chinese.

Olympic Plaza (Pronounced Oh-lim-pick-ahh Guangchang.. if all else fails draw a picture of Olympic Rings) Routes 26. Taxi probably about Y16-Y20.

This is a pretty cool place. You can rollerblade around the rings at night and they have relatively big sizes of blades and skates. Look for Jerry, a blond-highlighted Asian who runs the business. He's nice. Also here is an underground Wal-Mart along with a small shopping center that includes a Watson's Pharmacy and a Dairy Queen. Across the street is another small shopping plaza that has a Warner Bros Movie Theater, and they usually had at least one movie playing in English.

Youhao Guangchang Routes 406 or 901. Taxi probably about Y20-Y25.

You can see this square from Victory Plaza- it has an Epcot ball in the center of it that looks pretty at night. There's not much (that we ever saw) around except for two cinemas almost directly across from each other.

Zhongshan Guangchang Routes 502(west gate) Taxi probably Y25-Y30.

In the succession of guangchangs, Zhongshan is directly after Youhao, which is directly after Shengli (Victory). It's also the most fun to say. Zhongshan Guangchang! Zhongshan Guangchang! Here you can find the Bank of China- the ONLY place in Dalian to develop traveler's checks (this will be at the 2^nd to last stop of the 502) on Yanan Lu.

Dave's Bar is off one of the streets at Zhongshan Guangchang also - see the Clubs & Bars page for more info.

Xinghai Guangchang Routes 406 and 901. Taxi probably about Y18-Y22.

This is a place to go at night and during the day. It consists of huge Olympic statues, invisible toilets, a GIANT half pipe (that's actually an open book), a stay-in-place soccer hot air balloon, a mini-amusement park with rides and games, cycling, a modern Dalian museum, a Shell museum (in a huge castle at the top of the hill) and just some generally nice scenery. Try to go on a non-hazy day and a non-hazy night.

2-7 Guangchang (yup..said.. “Er Qi Guangchang”) Not sure about buses- ask a grad student if you don't want to taxi it. It would be a short taxi ride if you took the 406 or 901 to Shengli Guangchang, otherwise, a taxi would range from Y27-Y30.

There is an inside market open from 9-5 where you can bargain and you'll find the typical Chinese touristy stuff and “brand name” stuff. Here you can also get clothes tailor-made, like the traditional Chinese women's silk “dresses”, or, Qi Pao, right behind the market (where there's ANOTHER market- not visually as appealing) in a small store outside, to your right. Just give ‘em exact measurements (and if it's for someone in the states a picture to go with the measurements would help) and pick out the fabric you want. They'll give you a price and a day to come pick it up. Anticipate prices from Y350 and up. They're nice.

Carrefour (Jia(1^st tone) le(4^th tone) fu(4^th tone)) Taxi about Y15-Y18.

We don't know the name of the area this falls in, but there is a ton of shopping to be done around here. It's sign can be seen from the small bridge on Wuyi Lu if you're heading away from Campus and you look left when approaching the bridge. Other than the Carrefour there is a colorful building that's like a regular American mall with high (and higher) prices that says MYKAL on the outside. Further down the street is a Wal-mart again and then another mall where you can bargain on the inside. There's also a lot of Western food opportunity around here.

Heishi Jiao Route 406 to about the 4^th stop. It's next to a middle/high school on the left side of the street.

Go at night. It's a semi-long street with food and stuff to buy. Here you can buy spices, shoes, tea, and jewelry. If you take the road south towards the beach, you will walk by a small college and eventually walk onto a concrete plateau that looks out over the ocean. The view is nice and we set up shop here with some Chinese students and had some barbeque meat.