Blogs from Dalian, Dalian, Liaoning, China, Asia - page 5

Well, we’re here and mostly settled in. The flight from Victoria to Vancouver was a bit anti-climactic. Loading 6 suitcases plus carry-on bags into the van, driving to the airport finding two carts to shift the stuff to the check -in desk is a lot of work for a 15 minute flight. Then we had to pick up the bags and repeat the process in Vancouver because the Air Canada flight isn’t a connection to the Japan Air Flight. But at least our passports and visas were waiting for us there. Now that the Olympics are over the visa process should return to normal making these things a little less exciting. We were wondering what would happen if they had been delayed! The flight to Japan was just over 9 hours. With 60 teachers, some spouses ... read more

This past weekend I went to Dalian, along with about half of my fellow classmates. Dalian is a city in the Liaoning Province of China and is sandwiched between ocean. One side faces out towards mainland China and Beijing, the other faces Korea, North Korea if im not mistaken. Some background on Dalian: It's claim to fame in contemporary China is its urban planning and urban form. While the city is an important tourist destination, it is also famous as one of the most 'livable' cities in China for its own residents - the first Chinese city to be recognized as one of the UN's 'Global 500'. Today's Dalian is a visual encyclopedia of Tsarist Russian, Japanese imperial, Chinese Socialist and Chinese Modernist ideas about urban planning and the organization of city space and people. We ... read more

I can hardly believe that I have cycled so much in 7days'holiday. From Qingdao(where my university is)to Dalian(a coastal city in northeast China),and I also passed the city of Yantai(145mailes away from Qingdao). Today I have come back to my university ,and I have eventurally believed that it 's true !I have survived !I have made it!I have come back! I used hesitated a lot before ,because my racing bike has gone.For sure someone will lend me a bike ,but I didn't think I can borrow a bike which can last so long time .However one of my friends made up his mind to join in this trip,and this is his first trip in China .I did not wanna let him down,so I have come . I biked to Dalian with a cycling club in ... read more

Bing Yu Gou doesn't mean 'Ice Fish Dog' as my initial attempt at translation went. The trouble is no Chinese person has yet to tell me what it does mean. It's become an obsession for me. The most convincing answer I've had so far is 'Ice Mountain River', with the name conjuring up (in Chinese minds anyway) images of idyllic scenery and fresh mountain streams. Many locations in China have been given such a name to attract the tourists. Bing Yu Gou is apparently very 'haoting', nice-sounding, which was enough to appease me. It's also known as 'Little Guilin', Guilin being on the backpackers trail in Southern China, though I've only seen photos so it's difficult for me to comment. . The first 20 minutes there were perfect. After entering through the East Gate we boarded ... read more

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 ... read more