Dalian, China. $135 Visa well spent

Our first stop in China was met with excitement. Unfortunately for much of the American crew, it was not the same. Many of our department and crew including Lucy, Bruce and Rosanna were not able to get a Chinese Visa in time for their departure from the states. Even though it would be more expensive, they were counting on the consulate in Japan to receive their visa’s. The day we left Tokyo it was a national holiday and they were not able to process their visas. I shall now take this time to thank the bazillions of Chinese people in Vancouver for living there and having our very own consulate that I could go to and have my visa the next day.

So, for Steve and I who gave up Kagoshima and Kobe so the others could get off in Japan and we could get off in China, it was our first port in (what felt like) a while. We didn’t know what to expect, but often there’s not enough time to do any research so we didn’t really care as long as we were on land. We took the shuttle from the ship to Dalian’s “Friendship Store” which is basically an overpriced mall for the passengers to spend their money, get back on the shuttle and go back to the ship. From the store, we found a cab driver and I had just been joking about how I’d like to see a Panda Bear when a man came out of nowhere with a map and a picture of a Panda. We negotiated a price for our new friend to take us around. He took us to the seaside where they had various monuments and every where you looked, modern buildings and ramshackle homes butted heads like bighorn sheep.
Our driver took us to the Panda Park which was much larger than I expected. We spent 3 hours in the park, realizing it was more of a downtrodden zoo than a park. We did see the panda, asleep in the corner of his cell. We also saw monkeys, bizarre-looking toucans, lions, tigers and elephants. We saw kangaroos, seals, tiny panda-raccoon animals with vicious looking teeth. I have a love-hate relationship with zoos: I’m excited to see the animals so closely, but sad that they are kept in captivity and especially in that particular park, the facilities being so stark and dirty. It was still nice to be outdoors walking around. However the “fresh” air we were getting was really mostly smog and I had a sinus infection for the next 5 days.