Back!
After a few days on the road, it's nice to be back in smelly old Baoding again. Dalian was really a different place from here, blue skies, fresh air and clean streets. They are really making an effort for the city to be spotless and it seems to be working. At the same time, a lot of things there looked very fake, they are building a city of imitation American townhouses and European castles, it's like they are trying to create something 'Western' and 'developed' while at the same time ignoring all things Chinese. Though I suppose this is very 'Chinese' in a new sort of way.

But apart from the city, the trip was worth it just because we could spend time on the beach, after being stuck inland for so long it felt great to see the ocean and feel the sea breeze. Mmm.

We stayed in a funny hotel, booked for us through the travel agency, a fair way away from the city centre. I don't know exactly what the real deal was, but it was somehow connected to the military, I suppose, and there was a little base or something just next door. And all the people in the hotel wore military uniforms. Another funny thing is that we never got a key to our room. Instead, every floor had an 'attendant' who was there all the time, ready to open the door for us when we got back to the hotel, ot give us more hot drinking water when we needed it. This whole thing was certainly one of those 'only-in-China' experiences, with the hot water being cut off most of the day and all.

In fact, we made a mistake with the departure day, and realised when we got to Beijing that we were there a day early (we had asked for four nights in Dalian, but instead they booked us for four *days*). But, we ended up spending a really good day in Beijing, checking out the action on Tiananmen Square on Labour Day (which wasn't really anything that special, just a lot of people out and about) and visiting the huge area of the Temple of Heaven the next day.

Probably lots of other things to tell, but I'll continue later, as I'm knackered now and my own stone-hard bed is calling... Will also post a whole bunch of photos later and link them here.