Dalian

For the Chuseok Holiday (Korean Thanksgiving), I went to visit my friend's parents who have just moved to an area outside of Dalian, China, to teach at an international school.  Luckily, I was able to secure a substitute for my last two classes on Thursday evening, and made it to the airport limousine stop just in time to grab the next shuttle.  It was a nail-biter on the way out of the city, because it was not only rush hour but also the city had begun to evacuate to the country and families' homes outside of Seoul for the holiday weekend.  Oddly, there was nearly no traffic on the highways, at least not on the way to the international airport!

I flew in on the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic, which carried on the theme of unity and fundamental rule that China had already embraced for nearly two millenia, so of course people everywhere were delirious with celebration (I had just missed the fireworks display in Dalian).  This also happened to be the weekend of the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival (similar to Chuseok in Korea), celebrating the first full moon of fall (which was Saturday), and nearly everyone had about a week off of work, so lots of stores and restaurants were closed.

I stayed at the Golden Pebble Beach National Resort, right next to Tim and Agnes' school, where they had an "assisted apartment" therein.  It was so nice, and clean, and practically empty, since they moved from India in August and were still awaiting the shipment with all their 17-years-of-living-abroad household furnishings and decor.  It'll surely be amazing once they've really settled in!

The beach was serene and clear, but with hardly any shells or creatures on the beach, due to the extreme over-fishing of the waters, and practically empty of people as well.  The area around the resort was heavily landscaped, but still very peaceful and quiet, and the whole place is remote and truly accessible only by car or bicycle (it's just too far to walk anywhere else).

We went into a smaller city called Kai Fa Qu and shopped around on Friday, and then had dinner at a hot pot restaurant where you order a specific broth flavor and various things to boil in it, and you mix your choice of condiments in a bowl and dip those boiled things in and then eat them on rice.  Tim and Agnes are thankfully both vegetarians, so we enjoyed tons of mushrooms and greens in a pepper broth and a mushroom broth, and several Snow Draft beers.  We walked around afterwards in the nightlife area of Kai Fa Qu that had the most curious architecture.  Some resembled Candy Land, while others had giant creatures and flowers attached to the facade; not as much neon as Korea, probably because we were out a bit early on a big holiday weekend.  We had a cocktail at an "Australian" bar that was far too smokey, and then went home and to bed.

Saturday I joined Agnes for breakfast (I ate a tiny fresh pizza!) and a "foot" massage, which included neck, shoulders, back, and legs.  The foot portion was clearly the tour de force, however, and they clearly applied reflexology.  Afterwards, we went shopping at an outdoor produce market for all the fruit and veggies Tim and Agnes would eat during the week.  I bought some moon cakes and some fun jewelry.   After coming home and eating lunch, I took a lovely nap, and then Agnes and I walked to the beach, where she read a book and I went swimming in the sea.  It was a bit chilly, but not too much.  We walked around after sunset and found our way to the amusement park nearby, looking for the entrance and a possible cab to take us home, but we could find neither.  Odd.  It seems, in China, that every man with a car is a potential cab driver, as long as he knows where to go and can negotiate a suitable price beforehand.  We nearly never rode in a legitimate cab (often because they did not know where the resort was), but the "cab" we found to get home from the amusement park nearly killed us and we had less than a mile to go AND there were possibly only 3 other cars on the road, but he veered into opposing traffic and timed his turns POORLY.  We had dinner, watched Australian TV, and went down to the gym.  They went to bed, and I watched a DVD before also turning in.

Sunday, we packed up and took a trip to Dalian on the light rail.  The trip was very nice, and the architecture in Dalian is really spectacular.  We tried to take a cab from the railway station, but again no cabs would drive us the six blocks to the hotel.  Agnes mangaged to speak to the driver of a tiny, green, 3-wheeled green bean that resembled a car and convince him to take us.  He drove against traffic on a one-lane road for several blocks while I held a map open for him, and then when we found the ritzy hotel we sought, the concierge wouldn't let our green bean drive up into the vallet.  Too fancy for a dirty green bean?!  It was hilarious.  We took our stuff up to the mini-suite on the 25th floor (they were unexpectedly upgraded!), and went down to the basement for the in-house German microbrewery for lunch.  I had a massive litre of Paulaner's Dark House beer, fresh pretzels, and egg speitzel, and I was SO tired!  Afterwards, we went across the street and walked all around Labor Park, which was alive with celebrations and tai chi performances and happy children and adults.  It was a glorious sunny Sunday afternoon.  We had an amazing time.

After the park, we had some coffee at the hotel, I grabbed my stuff, and took a cab back to the airport (my cab driver drove insanely, as though I were going into labor).  I watched my last Chinese sunset before boarding the plane and making my way back to Seoul.

A fabulous vacation!