Nanshan Garden Hotel Dalian

... tortilla chips with the meal. The enchiladas were pretty good.<br><br>Now part of the reason I don't eat western food is the price. Let me give you an example. On my way home from school I have found two places where I especially like to eat. I can get a bowl of noodles in hot soup for 6 yuan. Or I can stop at the kiosk and get a serving of fried rice or fried noodles for 3 - 5 yuan. Remember 7 yuan = $1. My ...

... saw some security guards sitting in front of their little station. So I asked Wo keyi ma (Can I?) They yelled &#8211; Bu keyi (No you can&#8217;t) Clear enough for me. And I headed down the hill and back home. Maybe I can get up to the space ship before I leave. The ride down the mountain was definitely more fun than the ride up.<br><br>On the way back to the apartment I had to stop for one more picture. One thing you do notice here is interesting translations on signs and shirts ...

... to Chinese cities. It's centred around what's called Zhongshan square (in English and Mandarin -- although it's actually a circle), which is surrounded by early 20th century architecture: think pilasters, columns, cornices, etc. My hotel is situated just off this square-circle-shape; essentially faded grandeur: a huge high-ceilinged suite, with the electrics hanging down the wall, the smoke alarm casually placed on the windowsill, and ...

... food.<br><br>The next morning I went to a café to use the wireless, then walked downtown. On the way, I decided Dalian was a bit too hot, icky and modern for my liking. Worse, the air was filthy, so when I got to the bus station, I bought tickets to Dandong, for the next day, then headed out to Beichuidao, supposedly one of Dalian&#8217;s better beaches. The drive out there was actually pretty nice, but the beach itself was crowded with people and trash and the ...

... come up with the most accurate adjectives... like a little kids room, meets misprinted fabrics, meets dim lighting and an attempt at cozy. We stepped in and I howled with laughter.<br><br>On the two little cots that were side by side, lay little cotton pjs, which we changed into and waited for our masseuse. When the gentlemen came in, they introduced themselves and started by placing warm pillows on our stomachs and ...

... and got the price down to Y60. So we agreed, and the shop keeper started running around to gather them all up.<br><br>All the places around us were closing, so we felt relieved and accomplished that we were getting the shirts. We had to open each one individually, because many of the first ones he gave us were navy blue, not black, so we had to keep a close eye on him.<br><br>Once all fifteen were amassed, we handed over the money&#8212;and he started ...

... in that first class was the super smart student who always has all the right answers in class. He was so dejected by not having all the rules, and not succeeding like some of the other students, but it was fun to tease and use him as an example of the many proud people who were left to fend for their lives in any way they could. <br><br>I think it was a great lesson. And we successfully repeated it many more times throughout the day, and in other classes...<br><br>Ashley

... of the countries. The US has power and money. Italy is the world's art storehouse. China has people and potential. Likewise, the US has crime, Italy is lazy, and China has lousy internet service (the part that's not censored). A few statistics: USA Italy China Population (July 2007 est.) 301,139,947 58,147,733 1,321,851,888 Median age: 36 ...

... ned zhongshan square. on my way back, unencumbered by my bag i looked one last time for the other hotel...and found it. but the cheapest rooms started at RMB180 now...not 98. not worth moving for. i went back to what was now my hotel...where i was paying three times more than what i wanted...and had a shower. today was sunny and gorgeous...and i explored as much of dalian as i could. i had already decided that i would move on to haerbin as soon as possible seeing as i ...

... for touts ourselves and found someone who trekked us across half the city but got us a nice room at a really good price. It was also conveniently located opposite a yummy dumpling restaurant where we were clearly the first ever westerners to set foot and I got rather stared at. The waitress really wanted to practice her English on us, but unfortunately her vocabulary seemed to be limited to the words 'what' and ...