DALIAN

DALIAN

A View of Dalian: the soccer ball is well known in the City, just as the city is well known for the sport

Shopping

Victory Square Underground Mall

Tian Jin Lu - Behind Holiday Inn, you can find anything you want at great bargaining prices

The Electronics Place - The warehouse off of Victory square, a big white building with trash always in front of it (black plastic bags) is the place to find all the CDs, DVDs, VCDs, MP3s, and software you could ever want.

2-7 Square - here you can find the friendly tailor and the huge fabric warehouse. You can design your own stuff, and pick out fabric from a huge array of stands. Keith went for the trouser shirt style, June designed her own chinese style silk shirt, and Seth had some jerseys altered. Totally worth it for the experience, even if you don't need any clothes. Way cheaper and faster than in the States.

Seth, June, and Keith hangin' with the Tailor dude. The shop was small, but man can that guy sew!

The Friendship Store off of Zhong Shan Square is where you can buy cheese, chocolate, and all that other western stuff. For when the craving hits you.

Camel Mart - right outside the west gate of campus is a great little convenience store with all the neccessities. Buy your daily goods here.

Restaurants

Sao Kao – This is a unique eating experience! Hot Coals sit in the center of your table, making the restaurant hot and smoky. Order sticks of raw meat (beef, lamb, squid, chicken, silkworms), plates of raw vegetables, and corn cakes (‘bing’). Spice em up (cumin, chili pepper, and salt), Cook em up and enjoy the best BBQ you’ve ever had. The place is kind of dirty, but no matter. It was our favorite meal of the week, every week. Bring Marshmallows to roast after the meat feast. Don’t forget the beer ;).

Sao Kao action at its best for Seth's birthday. Even Prof. HH Shen is joining in on the fun!

Dream and Food Garden – You won’t miss this one, it is the only restaurant with an English name. The service is kind of bad, but the food is great. Wine with pork ribs and dates was a favorite of Lu’s. This is one of the cleaner restaurants, but beware the noise level.

Maui Wowie – Right past the dream and food garden with a green and yellow sign is the place we like to call Maui Wowie. The posters in the place are misleading: you can’t really get ham sandwiches and french fries here. We found the best service and great food at this joint, it was the saddest for June to leave. Top picks: caramel apples and bananas (ba se pin guo han shan jiao), beef with potatoes, egg with tomatoes. The veggie picking here are kind of low, but the service makes up tenfold for it.

Hot Pot – Owned by the same woman who runs Sao Kao is another sweaty experience known as hot pot. A boiling pot in the center of the table allows you to cook a variety of meats, vegetables, and noodles to your taste. The pot is split into two sides: spicy and non spicy. Those who are adventurous will sweat with the best on the spicy side. There’s another killer hot pot place, much bigger 3-4 stops (Haishejaio) down on the 406.

McD, KFC, Pizza Queen You can find on your own, and need no description. Watch out for the lines, the Chinese people have no sense of order. Be ready to PUSH!

William’s Café – If you are craving some good western food at a reasonable price, then head to Williams on You Hao (Friendship) Square. They have great fries and pasta. Watch out for drink prices, you may want to bring your own off of one of the street stands.

Hollywood Studio Disco Pub – If you want the setting of a Hard Rock Café, you have come to the right place. Live music at night, posters of rock stars everywhere, and the BEST western bathrooms around… Prices are a bit outrageous, DON"T order a water, it comes as Evian and at a higher price than most of the meals.

Peking Duck Place (Tuan Ju De Kao Ya) – Xing Kai Lu. Great duck show, they cut it up for you. Soup is delicious, and free. 80RMB for half a duck. You may just want to go to Bejing for this one. But try it out, it is worth a look for the good traditional food.

The Guest House Restaurant – The most convenient by far, but the selection was a bit low. Best picks: Tza Man Tou (fried buns with sweet sauce), Do miao (a yummie veggetable), Chicken and Cashews, Snow peas with Bamboo shoots (hulan do gin shuin). A big plus about this place is the existence of a limited English menu. Watch out for the frowning waitress! She has no patience.

Bakeries - there are a couple of bakeries and stands that are great to hit for breakfast and snacks. Keith and June hit one up the street out the west gate to the right for breakfast everyday. Deep fried Do Sa Bing was only 1 RMB and helped Keith get his daily grease intake! Truly Yummy. The other bakery is good for all those birthday parties we had, Chinese cakes are much lighter than here in the US, so eating more pieces of cake is totally neccessary.

Activities

Jian Tze – Chinese Hackey Sack: go to either Zhong Shan Square or Olympic Square in the evening and you will find many friends kicking around a birdie type object used much like a hackey sack. Join in the fun, young and old alike.

Massage – 270 RMB for 10 massages. Very Clean, very relaxing, very Kenny G in the background. It was a bit painful, but worth it in the end. Get either Head, Back, or Foot. June and Keith suggest the foot massage; they can even diagnose internal problems from the pressure points on your feet.

June surrounded by the people of massage.

Tennis and Badminton – Right outside the hotel and rackets are cheap at the campus store.

Ping Pong – third floor of the campus store.

Saltwater Pool – take the 406 down to the Saltwater Nautorium for a non beach experience. Almost like in a forest with fake trees. Very clean with hot showers, a jaccuzzi, massage, restaurant, bars. Shampoo, soap, and towels are provided, but you may want to bring your own towel. Swimming caps are required, but can be bought there.

Soccer Games - You can catch some awesome soccer games at the Olympic stadium. Ask you mentor to arrange tickets for the games. They are hard to get. Dalian Rules!!!

Places to go

Lao Hu Tan – Tiger Beach is one of the most popular with a lot of cliff hiking around it. Big tiger statues, cable cars, bungee jumping, bird sanctuary, speed boats, this place has the works. Take the 502 to Victory and then the 4? All the way to the end and you’ll be there. Or just grab a cab (~25 RMB from Victory).

Fierce ol' Tiger Beach. Good cliff hiking is right behind the statues.

Yian Ou Lin - This place has a lot of cliffs and the beautiful sites. Although you will be doing some serious stair climbing but it is worth the energy. Bring food and water with you when you go visit. There are no shops down at the bottom of the cliffs.

Zhong Shan Square – This is the place to change your money at the Dalian Hotel. There is a big TV that plays Michael Jackson almost every night and sometimes it plays soccer game during the day.

Friendship Square – Yo Hau Square is the place to go for latest movies and small shops and some restaurants. You can change money at the Friendship store.

Victory Square – You would want to come here for some serious shopping. Victory mall is the only mall in Dalian. It is huge!!!! There are lots of department stores here as well as small vendors. You can buy food, clothes, scrolls, etc.

People Square – Ren Min Square is the square where the government office buildings are located. The Zhong Shan Street runs through here. There is a huge water fountain that is one of the main attraction at night.

2-7 Square – This is one of the older squares in Dalian. You can come here for tailors, fabric and food.

Transportation

Taxi – Taxi starts at 8 RMB. Depending on the time, it costs 25 RMB to go down town. Beware of the crazy taxi drivers. They drive like mad men.

Buses – The two main buses we used while in Dalian were the 502 and the 406.

502 – This is a small bus that you can flag down at any time along its route, it costs 2 RMB to get downtown. A good place to get off is on Zhong Shan. Use this bus to get to the train station, get off at Victory.

406 - This is a big size bus that can also take you downtown for 1 RMB. You must catch it outside the west gate of campus, right before the dream and food garden restaurant.

After hours of hiking along these cliffs, a pretty beach awaited us... A great parting shot of the city we called home for two months...

The Dalian Group: L to R: June, Keith, Lu, Darren, Professor Yue, Christina, Ti-jay, Seth, Professor Shen