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Published: April 17th 2008
Dalian
Dalian is home to China's most famous soccer team. Thus the giant inflated ball...We arrived in Beijing on an icy cold night to find the international airport essentially deserted. Our trip had gotten off to a rocky start. I will spare you all the details, but it involved a flight cancellation and a frustrated hour on the phone with Air Canada. The day was eventually saved by a kindly airline representative (and a little white lie about making it to Beijing in time for a wedding) which enabled us to depart only a few hours later than oringinally intended.
We spent the night in a hotel near the airport and by the next day were at the train station, facing the crush of New Year's Eve travelers in the world's most populous nation. We battled valiantly through the throng of people with a fair amount of pushing and shoving (when in Rome...) and after much confusion managed to purchase northbound train tickets.
So it happened that we rang in 2007 on a dark, rocking train somewhere in the flat, frozen countryside of northern China. On the train we became aquainted with Mrs. Wang who took great interest in our situation. She spoke no English and by this point I realized
Our Hosts
Taking a stroll with Mrs. Wang and Mr. Zhong around their apartment complex. I had practically forgotten all the Chinese I had learned in school. Nontheless, we managed to have what could arguably be called a conversation and she invited us to stay with her in Dalian.
We ended up staying for two nights and were amazed by the incredible generosity of our hosts. Upon arrival we were introduced to Yun-Tian, one of Mrs. Wang's coworkers. Yun-Tian spoke a bit of English, and between that and our faltering Chinese we were able to communicate to a degree. Over the course of our visit we were also introduced to Mrs. Wang's husband, Mr. Zhong, their daughter and son-in-law, and "Gege" another coworker who became our unofficial driver.
They treated us like royaly, feeding us constantly and showing us around the city. Dalian is arguably one of China's wealthiest cities, an important port and business center. Dalian was leased by the Russians in the early 20th century, and became part of the Japanese state of Manchukuo in the 1930s after the Russo-Japanese War. When the Japenese were defeated in WWII it was passed back to the soviets and eventually handed over to China in 1950.
This fascinating history shaped
the entire region. Evidence of the different actors in its diverse past-the Russians, Japanese, Manchus, and Chinese-lingers on.
We were driven around to various sights in the city, which was extremely fun in spite of the cold. Mrs. Wang is quite the entrapaneur. In addition to her regular job (which I gathered had something to do with buying medical equipment) she also owns various real estate in and around Dalian as well as in the provincial capital of Shenyang. She owns a farm outside of the city where pigs, goats, and chickens are raised. The property also hosts a number of fruit trees and the produce is sold at local markets. Mrs. Wang simply oversees the farm, all the labor is done by hired workers.
Mr. Zhong is also a very interesting man. He served in the Chinese Army and fought in the war against Vietnam (shortly after our own troops withdrew). He had also been stationed in Xinjiang, in wetern China, and seen China's first nuclear weapons being tested.
Words can not describe how extremely appreciative I am to our hosts for their generosity. I have learned so much in only a few
short days and feel as though I have made some very good friends. Thanks for an incredible stay.
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