Terminal 3 and Dalian

TERMINAL 3 – Is amazing! Completely space-age with echoes of the dragon. And HUGE – the largest building in the world – you can fit ALL five of the Heathrow terminals inside terminal 3. We debarked the plane quite rumpled and bleary-eyed after 11 ½ hours playing sardine to find ourselves in Blade Runner. I felt like I had just emerged from a time machine. Everything went very smoothly – they have the human flow down to a science. They have a super fast train to get you from one end to the other. And it’s incredibly clean!
We changed planes for our flight to Dalian – AND I have my first meal in China! On the China Southern flight to Dalian (we sat one hour on the tarmac BTW) yes, we were served a snack– and it was . . . . a hot dog – granted it was squared instead of rounded, but it was a hot dog in a bun (slightly sweet) with mayo and a pickle.
Justin met us and he has rented a really nice car for us to travel around in – four doors. Traffic here is crazy and laid back at the same time. Pedestrians here amble across the street – at any time and anywhere – what’s a crosswalk??? Traffic flows around them as they creep across busy thorough fares. Justin has made a list of things we can do – including incredible massages – 1 ½ hour long for $40. Now, I’m not a big devotee of the pound and rip technique of massaging – I’m hoping I can get an hour and one half of back scratching – dream on. . .
After checking into our hotel, we went for Spanish tapas – absolutely delicious. Did I mention that Dalian is quite cosmopolitan? I asked Justin if there were any Chinese restaurants here. It was under the colonial rule of Japan and Russia. There’s a fair share of Japanese restaurants.The Russian section has buildings complete with spires. The part of the city we are staying in has a real colonial feel – tree lined narrow streets and old buildings – quite lovely! Reminds me of parts of the Domincan with a Asian flair.