Dalian in a Day

**This was supposed to be posted last night, but I forgot the email
address for remote blogging. I apologize to my one fan of this
blog.**

So last week while daydreaming in class, I mapped out a quick trip to
Dalian and Beijing. Dalian is the 2nd largest city in Liaoning
Province (known as Manchuria pre-1949) in northern China, and at the
tip of the Province, surrounded by ocean on two sides. Originally, I
had planned to stay in Dalian for 2 nights (Sun-Tues) and then fly to
Beijing and stay for 3 nights (Tues-Fri), but after arriving yesterday
morning from Shanghai, I quickly learned that Dalian is not a 2-3 day
destination.

Dalian is a large city with not much touristy things to do. The side
of the city that I stayed on was where the ports are located. Also
where Zhongshan Square, Youhao Square, and Labour Park is. I was done
with those 3 places in about 2 hours. That side of the city is kinda
like Oakland or Long Beach. Port cities, but not much else to do. So
I went back to my hotel and planned my escape. Since I used ctrip.com
to book the flights and hotel, I called them to make the changes.
Easiest experience ever. Have you ever tried to change travel plans
on expedia or orbitz or travelocity? You either cannot or you get
penalized a boatload.

Changed my flight to today (mon, 5/18) and cancelled the 2nd night of
the Dalian Hotel. No penalty. Was supposed to pay an 86rmb
modification fee to Air China, but they didn't ask at the airport, so
I didn't pay. Shh.. Yeah, changing a flight here costs 86rmb, which
is about $12usd, wow! What's Southwest and JetBlue charging now?
$50? I think United is at $150 now. And you bet your ass that they
won't forget to collect from you.

Anyways, back to Dalian. The other side of the city is where the nice
beaches and views are. My plan was to check out the beaches in the
morning, take pictures, chill, etc then hop on a 5pm flight to
Beijing. I asked the hotel staff how to get around -- by taxi it would
be about 100rmb total, but then I worried about the availability of
taxis (or lack thereof) in these touristy areas. I could also rent a
private car for the day for 400rmb. Ehhh... that's a little bit too
much, and since I wasn't in a rush, I went with the taxi option.

There's a few places that Lonely Planet listed -- Tiger Beach,
Beichuidao Beach, Xinghai Square -- worth checking out, but as soon as
I climbed into the taxi, the driver had other ideas.

(all in Chinese)
Him: "I will take you all around for 150rmb."
Me: "No. Please take me to Tiger Beach. Here look at my map."
Him: "Ok, I can take you to Beichuidao as well, it's very beautiful.
And I will wait for you and stop whenever you want, so you can take
pictures."
Me: "No. Please take me to Tiger Beach."
(so this back and forth went on for awhile. him pointing at where he
would take me. me insisting on going to tiger beach. all of this,
while he was weaving in and out of morning traffic.)

Finally, I asked how much. He said we can use the meter and then add
20rmb to the total, to charge me for stops. That sounded acceptable.
The hotel said it would be about 20rmb to Tiger Beach, 40rmb to
Xinghai Square, and then about 30rmb to the airport. That's about
90rmb total, but then I would have to find another taxi each time I
stopped.

Now, if you're expecting a horrible Chinese travel story, sorry to
disappoint. The driver turned out to be pretty cool. He even played
tour guide as he explained the history of the area and stopped at all
the picture-worthy sites. And my instinct was correct. Each time we
stopped, there were about 2-3 groups of tourists that mobbed the taxi,
hoping to get the heck out of there. So yeah, I may have spent a
little bit more money (I think I could've negotiated down to 120 rmb
flat rate. Halfway into the ride, he turned off the meter. I
could've complained, but I didn't want to annoy him and be dropped off
in the middle of nowhere.), but I had peace-of-mind by not worrying
and fighting with other tourists for scarce taxicabs.

So yeah, the other side of Dalian was beautiful. Almost like Monterey
and the central CA coast. Complete contrast to the port-side. I'll
post pictures when I get back to Shanghai. In the end, Tiger Beach
really sucked. It was some cheesy Sea World knockoff. Probably
better compared to Marineland than Sea World. And the driver
(surname: Chun) knew some off-the-Lonely-Planet-path places he took me
to for better pictures than the average tourist.

So this whole adventure took up the entire day and I barely caught my
5pm flight? Nah. Started at 10am, and arrived at the airport at
11:30am. Ha! Switched (for free) to an earlier flight to Beijing.

Just in case you're wondering, here's the "Shangbert Planet" tips for
Dalian-in-a-Day.

-- Arrive about 10am into Dalian.
-- Cab over to Youhao Square. About 35rmb.
-- Walk over to Zhongshan Square, passing Youhao Square and its big
ball in the process.
-- Pick up food along the street somewhere and eat in Zhongshan Square.
-- Should be about 12pm. Call a cab somewhere.
-- Neogtiate with cab driver to take you around to the other side --
Beichuidao, Tiger Beach, Xinghai Square. About 100rmb.
-- About 2-3pm. Ask cab driver to drop you off at Labour Park. Take
cable　ｃａｒ　ｔｏ　ＴＶTower -- 50rmb. Take pictures. Another 50rmb to go up
the Tower. I didn't find it worth the price so I didn't go. Take the
slide down the hill. Yes, it's a slide. You ride a little car that
you can control the speed. It's pretty fun.
-- Should be about 3-4pm. Go rest somewhere, walk around, or shop.
-- Find a food street and eat for cheap.
-- At dusk/early evening, walk over to Zhongshan Square again and
check out the crowds that have gathered. There's a group of college
students playing Chinese hackey-sack. There's some dog owners
gathering. There's also an impromptu Chinese jam session playing
traditional Chinese music. That was very cool. Lounge around the
square listening to music, enjoying the cool sea breeze.
-- Cab to the airport (35rmb), with plenty of time to catch your
9-10pm flight out of Dalian!

I should totally be a travel writer.

http://shangbert.blogspot.com

Springtime in Shanghai

the picture above was taken today on xingguo lu in the former french concession. it was about 90 degrees today, but absolutely beautiful.

the picture below was taken in February while it was still frigid outside. i never would've imagined those barren trees would sprout green leaves that quick.



http://shangbert.blogspot.com

100 RMB

In the recent City Weekend (a bi-monthly magazine in Shanghai), there’s an article about living on a 100 RMB per week. 100 RMB is a little less than $15 US. In an informal survey of some friends, most people said that they couldn’t do it. But I actually think I could. You have to keep in mind that the cost-of-living here is in some respects less than LA or New York or San Francisco. Don’t get me wrong, there’s expensive parts of Shanghai, where you could most easily spend a couple hundred US on dinner or go to a bar and spend Vegas prices on drinks.

But then there’s still the local places that have dirt-cheap prices. For example, today I ate a full lunch for 8rmb. I had 12 dumplings for 4rmb and a plate of cold, spicy noodles for 4 rmb. Seriously. I was stuffed full for just over a dollar. The same meal would be at least $7-8 back home. And yesterday I had 12 XLB’s for 8rmb, which were really good. (Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera out yesterday, so no pictures there.)

I think I can go at least one week on 100rmb. I would eat cheaply (no different from what I already do) and just drink beer at home, instead of a bar. Living on 100rmb would also mean not taking any taxis, but that’s ok b/c I can ride my bike or walk, hence improving my health too!

Not that I’d do it, but I know if I had to, I could.

http://shangbert.blogspot.com

Bluetooth Subsidy Act..

does not exist in Shanghai. I thought that the CA law that banned talking on cell phones while driving (aka Bluetooth Subsidy Act) was a further step towards a "nanny state", where big government would pry into every part of your private life in order to control every one of your actions. It basically penalized good drivers for some stupid people who probably shouldn't be driving or even be insured in the first place. But typical CA legislature overreacts and passes a punitive law that pretty much became a corporate/taxpayer-paid subsidy for Bluetooth hands-free products. So after the law passed, you would see people wearing those annoying Bluetooth devices around their ears, b/c they were just so damn important that they needed to wear it like some gaudy, look-my-ear-is-blinking-blue-lights accessory. I also don't think the highways became that much safer b/c I think people falsely believed that they were driving safer when talking with one of those devices.

So anyways, my whole point is that in the 3ish months that I've been here in Shanghai, I haven't seen one person wear one of those Bullshit-tooth devices. (And of course, the xenophobic American media response would be: b/c Chinese citizens are too poor to buy cell phones, aren't allowed to own personal automobiles, and b/c the government doesn't allow personal wealth and people live in squalor and poverty. All, which of course, is horse shit, but I digress..) It's kinda refreshing actually to not have to see people talking to themselves while walking down the street.

So in conclusion, which place doesn't allow its citizens to talk on their cell phones while driving?

A) California
B) China - the "communist" country


http://shangbert.blogspot.com

Yo!

Can-Do Spirit

One thing that really attracted me to Shanghai (and to China, in
general) is the can-do spirit that people have around here; which is
contrary to popular Western beliefs that Chinese people are
continually oppressed by a heavy-handed Big Brother type government.
For example, I've seen small restaurants and stores pop-up literally
overnight around here.

Such actions would be next to impossible, say for example, in
California. Think of how many different public agencies you would
have to get a permit or approval from just to begin the process of
building your business. And while some of the public agencies have a
very specific and well-meaning purpose, such as health and safety,
most of those agencies could probably be consolidated or streamlined
into one or two public employees. I've heard from friends who have
tried or have started businesses in the City of Los Angeles that you
need to secure approvals from at least 13 different agencies/departments/
commissions/etc before being able to operate your business, and that
some of the agencies require pre-approval from other agencies before
they can even act upon your request. And of course, none of the agencies ever talk to each other so the right-hand of bureaucracy never knows what the left-hand is doing.

Obviously, all this unnecessary red-tape wastes a lot of time and
money on the part of the business owner. And after going through the
whole song-and-dance, there's no guarantee that you will receive any
of those 13 different approvals. And then politicians and bureaucrats
who create these maddening regulations wonder why businesses are
fleeing California.

So back to my original point. Tonight as I walked around Panyu Road
on my nightly quest for dinner, I noticed a small food hole-in-the-
wall selling something. The last time I walked around here was last
Friday afternoon, and it wasn't here yet. Someone asked the lady when
she opened, and she said this morning. So basically in the span of
about 2 weekend days, a small food place was able to open for
business. Another example occurred when my sister visited a few weeks
back. When she arrived, there was a restaurant near her hotel that
was pretty much filled with rubble. The restaurant was up and about
to open for business -- booths, tables, cash registers, kitchen,
restroom, large sign outside, lighted menus, etc all done -- by the
time she left 6 days later.

I'm willing to bet that Shanghai can put up a skyscraper faster than
any city in the LA region can put up a retail shopping center. Even entertaining such a thought sounds ridiculous, but that is the state of business in California, and I'm fairly certain that I'd win that bet.

http://shangbert.blogspot.com

Worst Shampoo Ever

A few years ago, I went through an Herbal Essences (HE) phase where I
bought almost every H.E. brand product available. I specifically
liked the shampoos and hair gels, and it didn't hurt that Proctor &
Gamble would offer "buy 1 get 1 free" coupons in the Sunday paper
every few weeks or so, making it that much more affordable. B/c of
the coupon deal, I ended up with a whole bunch of HE shampoos. One of
them was called "no flakin' way", which for your edification purposes
is pictured above. Since I had never seen this shampoo before, I
decided to buy it since it was only about $1.25 per bottle after using
the coupon.

I used it a few times, and then discovered the Whole Foods brand
Everyday Value 365 Herbal Mint Shampoo and fell in love with that,
thereby shelving my remaining HE shampoos. Before leaving for
Shanghai, I decided to take a few HE shampoos with me, since my
parents probably wouldn't use it and thus would sit in their house
untouched until I returned for a visit or for good.

Quite possibly, "no flakin' way" is the worst shampoo on Earth. Not
just the worst shampoo in Herbal Essences' distinguished hair product
line-up, but the worst shampoo ever. My hair never felt quite clean.
But true to my frugal and waste-not-want-not ways, I did manage to use
all of it, and I'm so glad to be moving onto the next HE shampoo -
"degunkify" - my favorite shampoo before it was displaced by the above-
mentioned Whole Foods brand. Not sure what I'll use after I'm done
degunkifying; the local markets here do carry HE products, but I'm
tempted to try out a Chinese brand instead.

http://shangbert.blogspot.com