Friday, August 2, 2019

Fujiazhuang -- the world's busiest beach

 Dalian is a beach town in northeastern China. Every summer the city hosts a huge beer festival, so after checking into my hotel I headed straight for that. Above photo, nice idea to include a consulting service for the uninitiated like myself.
 What do the female Chinese employees wear at the beer festival? Bavarian dresses of course!
 Along with thousands of gallons of beer, street food was also readily available.

The next morning I headed out to Fujiazhuang Beach. That entailed a 45 minute taxi ride during rush hour but hey, how often to you get a chance to visit the most crowded beach in the world?



 As a seaside town, the main tourist activities seem to be eating seafood, drinking beer, and going to the beach.

 I recently saw these in Busan, South Korea, as well. Urechis unicintus, a type of marine spoon worm, is often referred to as the penis fish. Not sure how these are prepared -- being a vegan, I didn't try any.
 For westerners who prefer something a little less exotic.
 As for myself, I opted for the veggie platter at the hotel restaurant. For 29 yuan, or about $4, I got a delicious meal cooked right at my table.
 Spotted this person in downtown Dalian selling knock-off goods out of a van.
 A 6-syllable name. I don't know a lot of 6-syllable words, though one does come to mind: nonpossibilities.
 Above photo and below: Not a whole lot to do in Dalian, though I liked Labor Park so much I went there twice.





 Dalian North Train Station: time to head home to Beijing. Lots of other people heading there as well.
Long ride home. The train ride took 8.5 hours instead of the normal 6.5, and at one station we sat for an hour. This wouldn't have been that bad if  I could've gotten out and stretched, but for some reason we were not allowed out on the platform and the train doors were kept locked.

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Shenyang, northeast China

Heading north of Beijing, but not any cooler up there. Shenyang is about a 4-hour ride on a high-speed train.

Above 2 photos, robot in the lobby of my hotel. Call for room service and it will deliver to your door.
Outdoor food court, downtown Shenyang


Dancers in Beiling Park.
Traveling heavy, Shenyang Train Station.
Moving on to Dalian, a beach town near the Yellow Sea.
 Above, photo and bottom 2. Sorry, technical difficulties, so these 3 Beiling Park photos from Shenyang got tacked on later. Above, rattle dancing in the park. Below, the men crack whips and the women dance.

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Summer in the city

 Today I went through some Beijing photos I recently posted on Facebook, thought I'd do a blog posting as well...
Above: having a shave, 7:30 am at a local Starbucks.
 Then some breakfast, and a nice long snooze.
 Took this shot this morning at the local wet market.
 Above and below, Beijing mini-car shots.

 At our house we're very serious about recycling.
 It's estimated there are around half a billion bicycles in China.

Bags of instant noodles at Beijing Railway Station -- BY FAR the favorite food in China when traveling by train.



 Clothes and birthday cakes for pets. Many Beijingers like to pamper their pets.
 Also snapped this shot this morning, in Sanlitun, Beijing's fashion district. Not only an odd fashion, but also would be really hot in this 99F weather!
Took this shot the other day at the alcohol section of Hello Mart.

Thursday, July 4, 2019

Busan, South Korea


 Above 2 photos, just before departing for South Korea, I went to the Chaoyang Park summer festival in Beijing.
 A very nice part of Beijing Airport.
 Noodle seller, Busan, South Korea.
 South Korean fortune teller.

 Volunteer tour guide, Beomeosa Temple.

 Above 4 photos, Beomeosa Buddhist Temple.
 Makeup time at a Busan subway station.
 The colorful Gamcheon cultural village.
Beverage seller, Gamcheon Village.
Traditional Korean clothes.