Dalian Part Deux (see below for the beginning)

Once we got over the being hopelessly lost and uncomfortable or in danger wherever we walked, Dalian appeared to be a pretty cool place. Polluted and decaying in some ways, absolutely brand new and sparkling in others.

We headed over to one of the major parks in town, where we wandered about for a few hours just enjoying the people watching and the hilarious amusement park that covered part of the hillside. One of the highlights of the day was chatting with an older fellow who spoke some English about why so many people were gathered in one area of the park. Apparently, every weekend, hundreds of people gather to try and meet singles in the hopes of arranging marriages. Well hundred of PARENTS gather to try and meet other parents of single men and women in the hope of helping their late twenties, early thirties children find suitable mates. Hey, in a country of 3 billion people, you wouldn’t think it would be especially hard to fins eligible marriage partners, but the one child policy and a desire to get ahead makes it pretty tough apparently.

Chinese "meat market"

Caligraphy in the park.

Chinese traditional musicians.

Paul watching a couple climb into the pond to catch turtles and put them in plastic bags- dinner?

Hilarious to watch the kids in these floating death traps!!

We wandered around a bit more, poking our head through back alleys and walking past decaying apartment buildings and fancy new malls (with Armani, Gucci, Mex, Calvin Klein, Omega, Hugo Boss stores and a rising wealth class of Chinese citizens who could buy a more expensive car then we own with the bling on their wrists – not to mention the clothes on their back!).

Random explosion- the smoke was green and red for a while.... no idea what the hell happened!

Before heading back to Jinshitan we took the light rail over to Metro and Ikea where we wanted to pick up a few things. We tried walking into Metro to pick up some imported groceries and were told we couldn’t come in without a membership card. Not sure what that was about because we had been in before without one, but hey this is China and things don’t make sense. We wandered over to Ikea and dropped almost a thousand yuan in about an hour! That’s about $150, and we did buy a really nice mattress topper for our uncomfortable bed. The only problem was, we now had to get everything home.

We debated trying to squeeze the almost six foot long bundle into a taxi for a while, but when we were somehow not able to find one after a few minutes (that NEVER happens in China) we decided we really didn’t need to spend the 150 yuan it would cost to taxi home. Instead we would just jump on the Qing guay  and ride the train home.

Dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb.

Seriously.

After we bought our tickets, we found out just how crowded the train can get on a Sunday afternoon. So crowded we couldn’t even squeeze on the first train that came by. So crowded that when the second train came, and Paul somehow managed to push himself, his bag and a six foot tall bundle of foam into the mass of humanity that was packed into the train, there was absolutely no way for Kristen to work up enough momentum to get herself and the remaining bag onto the train. No way possible. So Paul went on without her (nothing he could do, he was trapped by the sea of Chinese that had engulfed him and his awkward and anger inducing bundle) and took with him his wallet which happened to have all the money in it.

Resourceful Kristen snuck her way into a tiny space in between an older women and an incredible smelly man when train three arrived, and eventually managed to wheedle her way over to a seat that came available a few stops down the line. Paul finally worked a hand free and called her to find out she was ok. Unfortunately, she was pulled off the train by a disgruntled worker when the train emptied inexplicably a few stops later. Undaunted she jumped on the next train, and after almost two hours of being pushed up against other people, Paul and her were reunited at the Jinshitan station. One ride in a civilian-pickup-truck-posing-as-a-taxi later and they, and their bundle, finally made it home.

Moral of the story: take the taxi next time.