Fujian Province Travel Guide

When most Australians go to live abroad for the first time, they usually take the "safe" option and go to the UK.  If they are feeling extra adventurous, maybe they'll go to America or Canada.  My best friend and I decided to go to Dalian, China, and I have no doubt in my mind that it was the best experience of my life.

When Chinese people refer to Dalian, they allude to one catch-phrase - "Dalian is a beautiful city," or "the pearl of the orient."  While the beaches don't have the pristine sands of Western Australia, or the magnificent skyline of Melbourne, Dalian is undoubtedly one of the nicer cities of China.

Dalian is one of the smaller Chinese cities with only a population of about 6.2 million(yes this is small), but only has and urban population of about 3 million including a developmental zone. 

Dalian governs the entire Liaodong Peninsula of North-East China, while mountains surround the northern end of the city, which makes for many-a lovely hiking trip through the mountains and surrounding townships.  As Dalian is a seaside city, there are also plently of opportunities for strolls along the coast when weather permits.  

As with most of China, there is also plenty to do and costs were minimal.  As an English teacher, I was able to live on about 500RMB per week(about $70US) and this included eatling out every night, and having an active social life.  Having travelled in most provicences of China, Dalian definitely had the best food, as unlike the rest of China, it food was niether sweet or laden with MSG.  For $1 US, you could enjoy a tasty Chinese BBQ with lamb sticks and Corn bread, before heading out for an evening of drinking and playing Jenga or connect 4 at Noahs Ark or Dave's Bar.

In the summer, Dalian comes alive in it's many paks and squares where you can join in with the locals and play Hacky Sack(with a feathered ball thing), or a version of Duck Duck Goose they play where someone walks around everyone who are standing in a circle and drops the hankey behind you before being chased (sadly I got caught and ended up having to stand in the middle with the other losers singing "We Will Rock You".  In Zhongshan Square, in the city, they also do dancing.  In our mis-guided attempts however to learn the steps, we ended up leading the locals in dancing the "Nutbush" to their music!

Don't get me wrong, Dalian had it's drawbacks.  Hygiene in retaurants, a hole in the ground for a toilet, the beaches had pebbles instead of sand, and communicating and accepting the beuracracy of their customs was often frustrating -as you would expect, but overall, Dalian was a fabulous experience, and I highly recommend it.

Gulanyu is a tiny island west of Xiamen (another island).  Many of the houses are former residences for western consulates during the late 1800s and early 1920s. Because the island is so small and has so many historic houses, no cars are allowed on the island. Walking is best or renting an electric cart.

Food: 1 McDo, 1 KFC, the Marine Garden Restaurant (so good, that the President of China once ate there), and dozens of smaller restaurants. There is one store that sells a peanut biscuit (sorry to those with peanut allergies) and it's delicious.

Bring: raincoat or umbrella during the summer or a hankerchief on a sunny day. It's very hilly so be prepared to sweat.

Xiamen is an international port city on the southeast coast of China. It is actually an island connected by a land bridge to the mainland. Travelers often arrive by long distance bus with the bus terminal in the heart of the city. Alternately, they can arrive by plane, landing at the airport to the north of the island. Xiamen itself has several scenic attractions, notably the HuLiShan fort to the south of the island. The Xiamen botanical gardens just north of Xiamen University is also an attraction, but be careful, or you might wander into the nearby military base. There are dozens of parks, especially the one near the lake in the middle of the island. Xiamen University itself is a pictoresque place to visit and each day, hundreds of tourists arrive to visit the university. Night life is diverse as there are dozens of bars and clubs to choose from. Cuisine ranges from traditional Chinese and Xiamenese fare to Indian, Cuban, and western, but be prepared to pay more for non-Chinese cuisines. Nearby Xiamen is Gulangyu island. Although tourists go there, it is also a place of residence. Therefore, many famous buildings or notable buildings are also someone's home or a store at the ground floor. Gulangyu's cemetaries are actually filled with British and American missionaries from the 19th century. For more information, www.amoymagic.com is a good website for further resources.