Memorial Day Weekend in Dalian

Scrolling through FaceBook this weekend, I got a little sad looking at pictures of barbecues, beach trips, clam bakes, hiking and other adventures friends embarked on during Memorial Day weekend. It's always such a great holiday, marking the beginning of summer and the abundance of outdoor activities, when the sun lingers for longer and everyone just seems happier.

Memorial Day in Dalian. 

While the holiday isn't celebrated here, Scott and I did jet off to Dalian, a northeastern city about an hour's plane ride from Beijing, for some fresh air. Yes, you read that right: Dalian has some of the best air in China because it's a port city with sea surrounding much of it.

On Dalian's rocky shoreline.

The city's architecture has a lot of different influences since it was under Russian and then Japanese control for quite some time. Most of the roads are connected between large squares used for strolling, playing games and group exercise in the form of old ladies marching and dancing. Older buildings tout Russian architecture, and you would think you were in a European city if it weren't for the florescent colors that illuminate the ornate structures at night.

Doesn't look like China. 

Dalian is considered a smaller city in China, which is hard to believe considering its population is somewhere between six and seven million. But it definitely had a quainter feel -- if that's even the right word to use for a city so large -- than Beijing. Taxis were cheaper, people walked slower and English signs and menus were few and far between.

One if by land ...

We spent much of our first day on one of Dalian's beaches, which was rocky and filled with seaweed, more akin to a beach in Maine than the sands of Florida. Taking in the fresh ocean smell, we climbed some rocks and watched Chinese tourists hunt for sea glass, take numerous pictures and dip a few toes into the icy waters before shrieking and running away.

Collecting sea glass like the Chinese tourists.

On the way to the beach we walked through a large park that had hilarious outcroppings of fake animals and benches filled with iron statues, so that only one, not two or three people, could sit down.

Why the sad face? 

Being serenaded.

Dalian's food specialities revolve around seafood, of course, and ordering was an adventure.  At many of the seafood restaurants there's no menu, just tanks of fish and artificial food platters to show what certain dishes will look like. While our Chinese is definitely improving, we still hadn't learned many words for specific types of fish (tuna, salmon) and how food is cooked (steamed, fried or boiled). So when the waitress asked us what kind of fish we wanted or how we wanted it cooked, we had no idea and just asked her what she recommended. We sat down at our table not knowing exactly what we were getting.

We'll now take your order. 

Both our dinners like this turned out spectacular, though, and we feasted on crab, clams, shrimp and several types of fish, of which I still don't know the names. There's a bit of fun in not knowing what the heck you're eating, and being pleasantly surprised when it tastes delicious.

We ended one evening at a Chinese lounge/bar that had hot pink strobe lights illuminating a DJ dressed in basketball shorts and donning Beats by Dre headphones. He mixed Biggie Smalls with Ace of Base and JLo with the Macarena. I guess there's still a learning curve when it comes to good music in China. But the songs did remind me of some Memorial Day weekends 20 years ago, when I was most likely bopping along to something like "I Saw the Sign."

Excuse me, I'm (not) with the DJ.