Leaving Dalian tomorrow

---

Last Day in Dalian

Today Miao and I will be packing up our luggage and getting ready to leave. Friday morning we get on the train and head up to Shenyang, the capital city of Liaoning province.

We will be in Shenyang for two days, then take another train to Miao's hometown of Fuxin where we will stay all next week.

I am very excited about this second half of the trip. I will get to spend some time in the countryside, as well as see Beijing and Tiananmen Square. We scratched the plans to see the Great Wall, though, which I am kind of bummed about but it was a necessary move. I originally planned on staying in Beijing for about a week, but I loved Dalian so much that after a week or two here I changed the itinerary for the last half of the trip. Beijing is big, polluted, very crowded, very hot and expensive. Dalian, on the other hand, is not very crowded, relatively cheap, and has wonderful cool air from the ocean that surrounds it.

Now, instead of 8 days in Beijing, I have only 3. And they are a Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Not the best days to see a big tourist attraction in China, I have found out. The crowds in China are unlike anything I have ever seen in America, and to take a trip to the Great Wall on the weekend during the sweltering Chinese summer just doesn't sound like much fun. So this trip we will be relaxing on the weekend we are in Beijing and walking around looking at the city, instead of fighting busloads of tour groups visiting the busiest section of the Great Wall.

I don't know when I will get to publish another blog, but it will probably be in about a week or so when I get to Fuxin... so take care everyone, have a great week, and although I won't be publishing a blog, I still check my email every day, or every - other day, so feel free to write me. I would love to get an email from everyone updating me on how your summers are going. Hearing news from home is actually really nice now, I guess I am missing everyone back home a little and am a little homesick for some news from friends...

Okay, take care!

---

Photos

Where I am going
I will be staying here if I miss my train.