Dalian, China

DALIAN, CHINA
5 November 2007

Our first visit to China was not quite what we expected. That's perhaps an understatement. We arrived at 7 AM on Monday morning and as usual, it took longer than anticipated to clear Customs and Immigration. We were two days late on our arrival schedule, due to rough seas, and everyone was anxious to be there. This delay meant that the crew would be late going home at the end of their tour and for us it basically didn't matter much except we had decided Doug needed to see a doctor, because of an injury to his back during rough seas through the Taiwan Straits. The Captain agreed to have the ship's agent arrange for transportation and an interpreter to the nearest hospital and told us to be ready to go at 3 PM. I wasn't sure Doug would be able to walk down the gangway ladder but, though in considerable pain, he made it down and into the waiting taxi. The agent accompanied us for about two miles where we were met my another younger agent who went the rest of the way with us. When we arrived at the hospital, he asked for an English-speaking nurse and we were soon shown into the doctor's office. After some questions regarding how the injury happened and where the pain was, we were taken to another building for a CT scan. I'll try to describe the hospital: The first thing we noticed was the smell - not a typical anticeptic smell but more of an unclean body odor smell (not good). The building itself was fairly modern but not well built, rather shabby and in need of renovation, and not very clean. In just a few minutes we had the xrays and returned to the doctor's office where he looked at them and described (through the nurse) what he saw. Nothing broken, no need for surgery, just needs to heal. He advised keeping weight off the area - not prolonged sitting or standing - staying vertical as much as possible until it healed. He suggested ibuprofen for the swelling and inflammation and pain pills - all of which we had. Since there was nothing else he could do, the agent escorted us back to the taxi for the ride back to the ship. The parts of town we drove through didn't warrant any photos so if I post any here it will be of Doug with the agent and a couple of quick shots of the interior of the hospital. Some sightseeing, huh? Oh well, we were happy to learn it was nothing serious and that with rest he would heal.

Martha, Helge and Sunhilde took a tour of Dalian and surrounding area in the afternoon and saw some beautiful areas. Here's what she had to say about their sightseeing:

While Doug and Rebecca went to the hospital for Doug’s back, I went into Dalian with the Swedes. Our driver’s name was Eva. She was very nice but her English was limited. Dalian is a city of 5.3 million inhabitants. It is a very large and busy port city, very modern, architecture reflecting Russian and Japanese occupations, and very clean except for the air. Eva said Dalian was a favored vacation spot due to its location by the sea and temperate weather. President Hu Jintao has a vacation house in Dalian.
As Eva drove us into the city she pointed out a TV tower where she used to work until they replaced her with a younger, prettier girl. Eva drove us through the city, we stopped to walk down Japon Avenue, and drove south along the seaside coast and through some large green areas of flowers, shrubs and trees. Clearly, in Dalian, driving on your side of the road is merely a nice idea. Eva explained that driving right-of-way goes to the most aggressive driver. And what pedestrians have to do to cross the street is downright scary.
Eva is married and has only one child (by law) - a daughter, who is 12. Eva took us by her apartment, which is in the city on the sixth floor of a building of about eight floors. It is a very pleasant apartment complex with a woods on a nearby bluff. I asked Eva if she thought President Hu was doing a good job and she just shrugged, smiled and said something like “no comment.”
Lastly we went to yet another ubiquitous shopping mall. I didn’t buy anything. It all looked like stuff that had been made in China (ha, ha).
From Dalian it was just an overnight trip south in the Yellow Sea to the port of Xingang (just East of Peking (or Beijing).