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Dalian Travel Blogs

Background: For centuries China stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences, but in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the country was beset by civil unrest, major famines, military defeats, and foreign occupation. After World War II, the Communists under MAO Zedong established an autocratic socialist system that, while ensuring China's sovereignty, imposed strict controls over everyday life and cost the lives of tens of millions of people. After 1978, his successor DENG Xiaoping and other leaders focused on market-oriented economic development and by 2000 output had quadrupled. For much of the population, living standards have improved dramatically and the room for personal choice has expanded, yet political controls remain tight.

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By RickGailBerry
October 28th 2009

Fairy's trip Asia » China » Liaoning » Dalian » Dalian

first house
This house belonged to the people that first befriended Fairy and her mom when they came to the village. The villagers were told that they were bad and not to speak to them or help them in any way. Fa... [more]

Our latest trip was only a weekend adventure, but it is amazing how much you can fit in to a couple of days. Fairy is the Chinese wife of a B.C. teacher. She runs a small shop with a variety of services: travel guide, massages, trinkets, as well as funding several charities in the region. She is quite an amazing woman. We signed up for a trip with her in october which turned out to be much more than we planned on. Our trip pictures are on two entries - the first one to the village and the second to the [View Full Entry]

By suntianhao
September 4th 2009

Don't Trust a Fart Asia » China » Liaoning » Dalian » Dalian

Chinese food, appallingly familiar to most Americans, is a very different beast in its home country. Learning how to order food was always the slowest of my grudgingly accelerating language skills when I was in Beijing, mainly because all the restaurants we went to had pictures on the menu. Since I've been back, I've been trying to learn the names of some of my favorite common foods. Eggplant here is amazingly delicious, perhaps because anything would be delicious if it were soaked in gratuitous amount of oil before serving. I always thought bacon made everything a better dish, so lucky for [View Full Entry]

By WilsonsInChina
September 1st 2009

Year Two Begins Asia » China » Liaoning » Dalian » Dalian

Ahhhhh... kayaking....
We only managed to get on the water three times this summer but it sure felt good!

We’re back in China for a rest from our busy time in Canada. 43 nights in Canada - 15 different beds. I had hoped to get caught up on my blogging this summer but it appears summer has caught up to me. We managed to see many relatives and friends during this hurried visit but didn’t get to see everyone we wanted to. Maybe in the Winter Holiday. Our priority was to spend time with the grandchildren and we were really lucky to be able to do that. After a run through parts of Alberta and Saskatchewan we picked up Lise [View Full Entry]

By suntianhao
August 31st 2009

Recognizing the Symptoms of Culture Shock: A Field Manual Asia » China » Liaoning » Dalian » Dalian

Life here continues to be action-packed. My boss Freddy has the energy of a pre-schooler, which might explain why he works in a school; he is constantly bouncing around, talking at 300 miles an hour, calling every 15 minutes to see if I need anything, do I want to get breakfast, how is my A.C working, will I be in school tomorrow, am I still alive and able to teach for him. Consequently, my work environment is rather fast-paced. Although I don't start working officially until Thursday (or getting paid officially, for that matter), I did full days both Saturday and [View Full Entry]

By suntianhao
August 27th 2009

Diving In Asia » China » Liaoning » Dalian » Dalian

These last few days have been action-packed. They have me jumping right in at the school. This week I have been shadowing teachers in classes, taking notes on how to manage a room full of 4-year-olds and helping out when necessary/possible. These little Chinese kids are as cute as I remember them. Classes are 90 minutes long, with a 10 minute break. The kids seem to be amazingly proficient with their English, but they might be just very good at memorization and repetition. We play lots of games and make lots of crafts, and that keeps them occupied and entertained long [View Full Entry]

By suntianhao
August 25th 2009

First Day Asia » China » Liaoning » Dalian » Dalian

KTV
Kareoke Bar. I told the Chinese teachers I don't sing, and now they are all on my ass about going.

Due to my diligent practice of staying up til 5 AM back in the States, I am quickly defeating my jetlag. Last night I slept from 10 to 7 -- pretty normal. Because China has only one time zone (which is exactly 12 hours ahead of EST for those who are keeping track), the sun rises here very early; and anyone who knows me knows that the sun is my mortal enemy when it comes to sleeping in. My neighborhood is reasonably quiet, though. I spent two hours trying to cook with my hot plate, resulting first in a grease fire [View Full Entry]

By suntianhao
August 24th 2009

First Impressions Asia » China » Liaoning » Dalian » Dalian

Photo 1

The flights were long and sleepless. My flight to Shanghai was delayed an hour, and after little sleep and much fidgeting I arrived in Shanghai needing to go through customs, recollect my baggage, and then re-enter the security checkpoint to get my connecting flight to Dalian (the airline couldn't pass my luggage through to Dalian, either because they are lazy or because Dalian has no customs officers). I rushed through all of this to find I had two hours to spare, and then my flight to Dalian got delayed another two hours, one and a half of them while we were [View Full Entry]

By WilsonsInChina
June 27th 2009

Our first year comes to an end Asia » China » Liaoning » Dalian » Dalian

Summer has officially arrived
We finally found the makings for Gin and Tonics and are sitting outside the apartment on our new IKEA folding chairs. Not quite as nice an environment as our deck on Pender but you do what you can.

Our first school year in China is finally drawing to a close. Term 4 has been very eventful. Dianne has really enjoyed her new job. Working in the same building as her replacement has allowed her to keep her finger on the pulse of a real operation while she does her head office functions. These involve the preparation of a lot of new course materials as well as many different exam papers for students planning to move on to Grade 10 as well as entering ESL from a variety of environments. Dianne has really got on well with her replacement, Wendy. [View Full Entry]

By RickGailBerry
June 17th 2009

Getting Ready Asia » China » Liaoning » Dalian » Dalian

Photo 1
Gail's Garage sale

The last month has been a whirlwind of activity and paper. B.C teacher licenses, retirement, pensions, and VISA info was the first round. Then selling the house, arranging for storage, dealing with mail, finances, cards, computers, phones, vehicles, packing and sorting - you know the routine. Everytime you check off something from your list, 3 more things pop up. It has been invaluable to have Rick at home to be dealing with so many of the items on the list. We had a great garage sale where we got rid of a lot of unneeded items. Having the last hour with [View Full Entry]

By Sandijoy
June 14th 2009

I love China in the Springtime Asia » China » Liaoning » Dalian » Dalian

Gates in Dalian

The months since the spring holiday have been filled with visits, weekend trips, and surprising changes. My delightful parents came for a three week visit and toured me around Qingdao (home of the 2008 Olympic sailing port) and Dandong (directly on North Korea's shores); I partook in a glamourous photo shoot that lasted 10 hours without food and learned a model's life isn't actually as easy as it looks (photos to be added later this week); and I accepted a position as co-department head for English 10 in September (where I will be heading the boy's campus). My parents, if anything [View Full Entry]

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