Dalian, China.  Once again getting through Chinese immigration was a long process.  Because we left China last week to visit Japan and Korea we had to do the process all over again.  Their system is the worst we have experienced.  You would think that they would be pleased to welcome over 500 tourists this time of year, definitely not the case.  I do not think I saw a single smile or kind word from any of the immigration officials, they treated us like we were criminals trying to break into their country. The tour guides were very much the opposite, they were all young people and were very enthusiastic about showing us their city.  They actually got very emotional when we complemented them on their English and their guide skills.

Today was the first day of the Chinese New Year and their were many decorations throughout the city and many families enjoying the outdoors despite the very cold weather.  Our first tour stop was the "Green Hill" platform to see a view of the city (it was not very green this time of year!).  The city is known for its squares and we visited several of them, the Russian designed "Zhongshan Square", The "People's Square" across from the local government building and a popular place to fly kites, and the huge "Xinghai Square".  This square was very impressive, completed in 1997 it is the largest in Asia, over 12 million square feet (twice the size of Tiananmen Square in Beijing.  It has an amusement park, many interesting sculptures, beautiful landscaping and it is surrounded by modern tall apartment buildings and hotels.  We were told that the whole square, including the landscaping, is lighted at night.  We also drove their winding coastal road to the city's most popular beach "Tiger Beach".  The last stop was at a tourist oriented shopping center.  By the time we reached the shopping center it was after 4 pm and it was starting to get colder so we decided to just catch the ship's shuttle bus back to the dock.

This will be the last post.  We are in Tianjin on Friday morning and will spend the night there.  We are not taking any tours as we have been here before and it is a long drive for any of the offered tours.  We will be leaving the ship early Saturday morning for the three hour drive to the Beijing airport.  We will arrive back in Las Vegas on Saturday as we gain a day heading home.  Thanks to those of you that followed the blog.  Tom wrote many of the comments but Noel did the post and pictures.  Thanks dear - good job.  Tom has also learned that he is far too compassionate and understanding and has vowed to change.

Our ship was greeted by colorfully costumed folk dancers

There were eight of these huge lanterns in "People's Park"

There were four of these huge New Year displays around the Xinghai Square.  We have heard them called goats, sheep and rams?

Around the perimeter of the square there were sculptures representing different sports

Huge apartment buildings surrounded the square, we were told that they were the most expensive in Dalian.

The amusement park was busy despite the cold

Six star "Castle Hotel"

Huge sculpture of five tigers at "Tiger Beach"

As in other Asian cities they do like to have animated lights on their buildings!