There is no tipping in China and the smiles continue

Had a feeling that might get your attention. You do not tip in China - and the service is amazing. We tried to tip our waitress the first day we were here and she was so confused and visibly upset that we felt really awful for offering her money. Cab drivers don't even expect tips! Yesterday Tony and Justin had a FULL body scrub. They went to the spa here in our new hotel (we moved across town for a different experience in the modern part of Dalian.) The entire body was rubbed free a dead skin (sounds yucky, but the process results in gloriously soft skin), massaged, pedicured, manicured, and completely pampered and feed beer - and no tip.

The folks to the left rode up a long, rocky mountain road/trail to the Buddha above Justin's school. Two on one bike, three on the other - just look at the smiles.

Where are we?

Parts of Dalian look so much like Mexico it's disconcerting. Tony keeps thanking everyone by saying "gracias." People here are really friendly - we've seen lots of smiles. The sense of personal space is different - yesterday lots of people apprached us to ask questions - are we related, is this your mom and dad, your hair is so blond, can we have our picutre taken with you. The group of ladies above approached us at a beautiful park by the sea and were so friendly. Karen has joined us and she's lovely - so smart and speaks beautiful English. Tony wandered into a music shop and got a lesson on an ancient Chinese erhu - ;-) and then he played a bit of guitar for them. A real cultural exhange - they really liked the blues. The park we visited has the largest square in the world-everything is on a grand scale. So, yesterday we walked around, soaked up the city and the smiles, finished the day with all four of us having an excellent massge (1 hour!) and met a lot of Justin's fellow teachers at a new "American" style bar. Well, breakfast is ready - we're a Texas I 55 again. The food has been really good everywhere.

Friendly

Did I mention the Chinese are VERY friendly. Really nice - and want to talk with you. Tony just finished a 15 minute conversation with a couple who gave him a pack of cigarettes as a thank you. Tony loves China already. People who love to talk AND GIVE you cigarettes.

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.

June 30 or is it the first?

June 30 or Is it July 1?
I can tell from the little airplane gliding along our route on the Air Canada in flight map that we have passed the International Date Line and that it is indeed tomorrow, today. My body is very confused. The flight has been pretty comfortable considering we’ve been in the air almost 8 hours and have about 3 ½ more to go. Seems like there is a lot more leg room than on other long distance flights I’ve taken. (Of course, this is the longest non-stop for me) I’ve tried to sleep – even took one of the pills the doctor gave me for the trip. I think I ended up in a drowsy limbo punctuated by the occasional baby noise and clanking food carts. Not really asleep, not really awake – just passing time. At least I didn’t drool. There is a selection of movies (each set has its own screen – but after viewing/enduring 27 Dresses – I decided to pass on Cloverfield or the Bucket List)
The new YVR international wing is beautiful – a ceiling to floor aquarium filled with fish and large native sculptures – an environment that seemed to be calmer than before and that’s a good thing because going to China is enough adventure for me. Tony executed his usual plan for minimizing flight anxiety – fear of flying and fear of bureaucracy – after we passed security at 11 AM he headed for the bar for one scotch neat and two beers. Works for him. I t just makes him more loquacious – expounding on politics and chatting up the flight attendants – he was teaching one gentleman the signs for water, bitch, and “I have to go to the bathroom.” As usual, everyone was laughing, and we got free champagne. Not bad.