Blogs from Dalian, Dongbei, China, Asia - page 2

On our way out of the apartment, Wesley and I noticed some branches outside of our neighbors' front door. I asked Wes if he knew what they were for but was met with only a blank stare. I'm not one to be overly superstitious, but I got a little worried. These branches somehow reminded me of the Biblical story about the passover. Either we put some mystical markings outside our house or evil spirits will come and haunt us till days end. Right as we entered the classroom, our teacher started talking about a special type of branch called "Ai Hao" that is placed outside of people's houses during Duan Wu Jie. So it's true. These branches do serve special purposes, and that's to ward off bad luck. Oh well, I guess I can get some ... read more

Having a bit of trouble with everything at school and home. First of all no one seems to understand my relationship with Cam. Everyone thinks we're having an awful relationship and doesn't know why I'm in it. Just to let you know first of all I'm not masochistic and from past experience ya'll should know that I've stuck to relationships that I benefit from not ones that harm me. Yes Cam and I fight and yes that aggravates me and I do end up complaining about it a lot to others because most of the time I don't understand why it happens. But just because we fight doesn't mean we don't love each other. Cam has been extremely sweet lately and he's even told me that he's fallen more in love with me than he was ... read more

By this time I think I've tried all variation of Ce Suo (washroom/restroom) along the various roads, highways and attractions. They range from behind a bush, a hole in the ground with 4 walls, a sliding channel lined with heavy plastic with 4 walls, a bigger room with a gutter separated by walls, turkish squat toilet, and all the way to 5***** self-flushing urinals with soap dispensers and running water. Do bring your own hand sanitizer and toilet paper! Before I tell you about my day I think some history of Lushun is in order. Lushun literally means "smooth journey". It was/is called "Lion Mouth" because of its difficult access. It is situated in the southern most tip in the 3 NE provinces and had long been a strategic location for military operations. In 1882, ... read more

The weather was gorgeous outside so I spent the whole day trekking along the famed Bing Hai Lu. I started out at Ying Bing Lu and eventually made my way to Tiger Beach. The following are some snapshots of my hike. ... read more

Route to Dalian and Back After Vietnam I took a series of flights through Bangkok and Shanghai to Dalian, China. This coastal city of 1.5 million is in North Eastern China, close to North Korea. There I stayed at a university and helped conduct research on the same type of device for which I received my graduate degree. I had arranged to be there for one month. Most of the time I was busy working, typically from 8:30 a.m. to 8 or 9 p.m., every day of the week. So, because of that, this blog will be a bit different. The university in which I lived had a very nice campus with many new buildings and nice green spaces. However, some aspects made things a bit annoying for research, such as a lack of a machine ... read more