Thursday, November 6, 2014 - First full Day in Dalian

I awoke on Thursday at 7:45am out of a dead sleep to a sunny morning in Dalian.  I started the day with a welcomed shower which I could have used the night before, but I was way too tired.  Entering the glass walled shower room (about 8’ x 8’) I first checked the shower head height.  I was a bit disappointed to see that it was just over 6 feet – so kind of a pain for me.  On the plus side, the shower head was very oversized and featured a removable shower head.  It was then I realized I would be just fine – that was because I noticed this shower featured a large overhead shower head as well.  I began the shower without incident and part way through remembered to turn on the above shower head as well.  It was just about that moment that I learned an important lesson:  That is, there is a bit of water sitting in the system and it came out quite cold – On the plus side, I was now wide awake. 

After getting ready, I ventured down to the dining room where the all-important breakfast buffet took place.  It did not disappoint – with full international selections and fresh squeezed juices.  I think they had a dozen chefs working to keep everything going.  The dining area presented a nice view of the bay as well giving a decent view of the multi-year bridge project across the bay.  I would guess the bridge to be well over a mile long and is a double decker design with a large suspension portion in the center (the center reminds me of the golden gate bridge).  Very interesting to see it being built – they are currently lifting up the roadway sections to the center suspension portion.

For lunch, a standard Chinese meal in a restaurant about 10 minutes away by walking.  Of note, on the way back was a sidewalk sale that was held ON the railroad tracks.  I was told the train only comes through once a week and that the sales just go on during lunch break during the week.  It was just small scale items like socks, paper notebooks, etc.

After work, we drove to the far north-east side of Dalian for a vegetarian Chinese dinner.  Absolutely amazing to see the changes from my last trip two years ago.  I could see about 30 skyscrapers (> 30 stories) under construction with a new one being the largest one in Dalian – must be 80 stories tall.  Also spotted a new shopping center under construction that is double the size of the next largest mall.  As we neared the coast, we drove by about two miles of reclaimed sea that is now bustling with new construction.  In this area was a new convention center that was in the shape of a set of crashing waves – very cool.  I have to go back during the day to take some pictures.  It was immense.

The restaurant was located on the 3^rd floor of a standalone shopping center.  This new construction also featured a rarity in Dalian – an actual parking lot (5 Yuan to park – about $0.75).  The restaurant only had about 15 tables, but was very new and featured excellent foods like fried tofu in the shape of a fish, etc.  It was quite tasty and an excellent choice for a new visitor to China who is squeamish about trying the foods here.  It was a bit pricey ($50 for 3 of us) but delicious and they did a very nice job of presenting the various dishes.  In this mall, I am noticing a trend that I read was on the rise in China – Wine.  There were a couple of stores selling wine and even this restaurant had a large 10’ and 30’ long lighted display of wines for purchase.  They seemed to be in the $35/bottle range – which is expensive here.

I got back to the hotel around 7:30pm and edited the blogs and prepared for a 10pm-11pm conference calls with the US.  After the call, I went right to sleep and awoke on Friday at 7:00am.  So far, so good on the jet lag and sleep!

I promise to get some pics posted soon!