This was yesterday...Friday, June 27th
1
) I got to watch a Chinese college graduation. It was very reminiscent of Soviet Era. Red flags flying high, military style music and the national anthem of China playing proudly. The graduating girls where wearing green t-shirts and the men whore white. There were no parents or relatives present as family usually lives in far away provinces. In the end, canfeti was thrown as students rejoiced. They signed each others shirts like we sign the yearbook. It was amazing to watch.
2) Shopping. We went to a place called Victory
Square. At first our Chineese student tour guide by the English name of “Jack”, took us to a regular shopping mall where choices were vast but prices were high, very similar to malls back home. Our American thirst for consumptions and bargains was not satisfied so we asked Jack to take us to a sort of bargain mall where they sell cheap knock-offs and haggle for the price. This second-tear mall was just a few steps down, in the basement. When we got there Jack said “I am Chinese, and I get lost in the place, please stay together”. He was right, the mall was enormous, 5 floors down, maybe 1000 or more merchants, maybe as high as 5,000. Little shops went in every direction. There was an entire floor dedicated to shoes. The place was filled with people, hot and intimidating. You didn’t know where to look, what to look for and what to do first. Needless to say, you can’t walk out of the place without buying anything. I left with a “Prada” purse worth $13 (50% off the listing price, via haggling). A friend left with a $25 “Rolex” ladies watch.
3) Chinese Hot Pot. I will have to get the Chinese name from Jack. Apparently, this was the best restaurant of this style in Dalian. Jacks eyes lid up when he was telling us about the place. The Hot Pot style of eating is very traditional Chinese, where a lot of raw meat/fish/tofu/vegetables…anything you order, you cook in big pots of liquid spiced with different ingredients. We had a spicy/non spicy option. Everything tasted amazing, including the live shrimp we trew into the boiling liquid. We were for wormed by Jack on the shrimp; they leap from the water onto the table and people trying to avoid their steaming fate. We sat in a VIP room, a private room for 13 people with a lounge sitting area, TV, and snacks before dinner. It was elegant and traditional at the same time. The two a half hour feast with tons of bear, and a bottle of wine cost us $25 per person.
The city was actually named by the Russians. In 1898 the Russian Empire leased the peninsula from the Qing Dynasty. During the Russo-Japanese War (1905) in near by Port Arthur, the Russian Naval fleet had a major battle with the Japanese.
