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Monday, December 28, 2009

3 weeks in asia: part 1



the first leg of the three weeks with daniel involved going to a city with a history of only a century, dalian, in northeastern china.  it was an hour flight from seoul.  we were there the last five days of november (26th-30th).  it was really cold and getting around required a driver.  luckily our uncle wally, who works for intel, is required to have a driver, so we had a driver.

because most people in china also don't speak english, we had xiaohong, who works at intel, act as a translator and in a way a guide for us.  she was extremely smart and knowledgeable about many things and we were very thankful that she took time out of her life to show us around.



going up to this sculpture was unbearable.  we were at the top for maybe two minutes and my ears were numb.  it felt as if the wind was going to blow us away as well.



 
 
this castle was a shell museum, but it was closed because the museum contents were being relocated so the castle could be turned into a hotel.
i believe xinghai square is the largest square in china.  it had a bunch of really nice sculptures of athletes in motion.


this buddhist temple was about an hour drive out of dalian.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
want to eat shark fin?


 
 
 
some serious toilets.

one day we drove like four hours north-northeast up to small city called dandong.  the city is on the yalu river which separates china and north korea.  the remains of the 'broken bridge' is a means of propaganda for both china and north korea.  the north korean side was destroyed during the korean war.

 
 
 
 
 
 
the ferris wheel is in north korea, but i'm quite certain it's just a decoy.  i believe the same is true for these people who appear to be enjoying leisure time.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
dalian is one of the most popular summer tourist destinations for chinese. supposedly during the summer months this area is so crowded you can't see concrete.
 
 
 
sometimes you just have to do these kinds of things.

 
 
 
 
 
 
these young military boys were getting schooled on how to march in time.

hell yeah, dinosaurs.

 
 
scuba sharks and makin' bacon.
 
 
 
 
 
we flew back to seoul on the 30th and stayed in the sauna in the airport.  immigration didn't like that we were only going to be in korea for less than a day.  if it was possible to sleep in a sauna or hotel at the airport without going through customs we would have.