Job Discussion Forums

cathyvan · Joined: 22 Jun 2003 Posts: 1

I have just returned from 1 1/2 years teaching in a college in Dalian and would like to interest some other qualified teachers or those with university degrees and TESOL experience. There are many advantages to this school - a clean city is only one!!
Cathy [email protected]

stevey · Joined: 09 Apr 2003 Posts: 142

I am planning to go to Dalian next year - i have secured a job there nad I am looking forward to it very much. what is the dalian down town city like? Is it like a western city? hows the nightlife?

where are the nice beaches? and when is it a good time to head down there?

kendall · Joined: 05 May 2003 Posts: 8

i too have accepted a job in dalian for the dalian university of technology. i hear that the night life is really good, but if you are teaching for the same uni, you are about a half hour from town. i am very excited and would like to chat about the opportunity if interested....

kendall

travesty21 · Joined: 24 May 2003 Posts: 56

Dalian is a nice city, if you want a very modern city and none of the older buildings and scenes you see in other more historical Chinese cities. Lots of tall modern buildings that sit completely empty, but it looks good. I have traveled alot in China and Dalian is definitely very nice, clean, and modern in comparsion. Dalian University of Technology I believe is about 30 minutes from downtown by bus, but there are other places away from downtown that are closer to you like Carrefour, Xinghai Square and other newly developed areas, which are nice areas. The downtown has alot, alot of shopping and they are building more. There is also many squares you can hangout at, Renmin Square or Zhongshan square on a nice night or day. I don't think traffic is too bad in this city and you can't really bike around, or you could, but nobody does. The bus system is great to get around. As for nightlife it is pretty good. There are alot of clubs and cool bars to go hangout at where you will meet alot of people depending on the crowd you are looking for, ie foreign or local. The two things I really do hate about this city is the cold, cold winters filled with coal smoke and bad air, this is where the south is better by comparsion. The other is the location of Dalian. It is pretty isolated and is not easy to take trips to very historical or interesting cities, so if you want to do weekend trips it is not the place to be. If you have anymore questions feel free to send me an email here on the discussion form.

baby predator · Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2003 2:23 am Post subject:

I love Dalian. It's one of the few Chinese cities I've visited that has a bit of character. The locals are extremely friendly, and the pace of life is very relaxed.

If you want a nice beach, you can take a taxi (or rent a bike very cheaply) and go to Bang Chui Dao, out along the coast. It's very beautiful and if you're prepared to walk for a bit, you can do a bit of sunbathing or swimming in relative peace and quiet.

There is also a fascinating statue called 'the Buddha with a thousand arms', about an hour's drive from Dalian in a place called Da Hei Shi (Big Black Rock). It's hard to get to, because many people haven't heard of it, but its well worth the trip. The statue is enormous (although it has considerably fewer than 1000 arms), and looks out over the beautiful coastline. There is also a small stone walled garden just beneath it, with several hundred small statues of Buddha inside. It seems to be one of the best kept secrets in Dalian, so make sure you check it out!

stevey · Joined: 09 Apr 2003 Posts: 142

American Friend of China · Joined: 19 May 2003 Posts: 23

Riding a bike in Dalian???

Absolutely not recommended, unless you have a death wish. Dalian is a total car city. There are way too many automobilies clogging the roads nowadays. And most of the drivers drive with total disregard to the rights of pedestrians. Just crossing the street is a total struggle. During my stay here, I've known of five locals (friends, acquaintences, and workmates) whom were hit by cars.

If you want to ride bikes, Jinshitan (Golden Pebble Beach) is a great place, but it is very far from the city center - even further than the Economic Development Zone. If you work for the Maple Leaf School in Jinshitan, bike riding should be no problem.

American Friend of China · Joined: 19 May 2003 Posts: 23

Oops. I just discovered that my last post didn't spell out the Chinese name for Golden Pebble Beach by printing *beep*, a kind of software installed by the censors. So, I'll separate each of the Chinese characters. That's Jin Shi Tan. Putting the pinyin together accidently spells a certain 4-letter word.

stevey · Joined: 09 Apr 2003 Posts: 142

i will have to check out the traffic for myself, - i consider myself quite "the daddy" at riding a bike in and out of traffic, on and off of pavements (off the pavement, go around the redlight, then back on the road). Very Happy

David Bowles · Joined: 30 Jan 2003 Posts: 249

I may also be going to Dalian this summer and I have one major concern. With all this talk of it being a nice, clean, modern city- does it have the small roadside restaurants with people frying stuff for 2 yuan in woks? A Chinese city ain't a Chinese city without streetfood...

beerdang · Joined: 07 Mar 2003 Posts: 112

The reason bikes are not popular is because the road is not straight . You have to go up and down hills. That makes it very hard to ride.
There used to have street food. The loca goverment banned it in main streets to make the city clean. They also forced many people to relocate for constructions. There were a lot of tension during the time. Now locals all love the results.

There is a place about 1-2 hours away from the city names Bing Yugou. It was hidden in the moutains ,but it has the best natural beautiy you can find.

stevey · Joined: 09 Apr 2003 Posts: 142

was that the town that some ppl got mighty hacked off cos they banned those polplastic containers being used for those takeawy rice /noodles food stuff? hmm..cant rem - but i jst rembr seeing some ppl with a huge banner - cant rembr which town it was. - hmmm, the hills may be a problem...

gmat · Joined: 27 Jan 2003 Posts: 274 Location: S Korea

Steve: re bikes

I don't think the hills in Dalian are the main problem. The problem for bikers is that the city is quite new and the roads in general are in very good condition. This allows every car driver, and especially taxis, to drive like they are Michael Schumacher. Insane.

You could not pay me enough money to ride a bike here. It is bad enough taking your chances in a taxi. For cars, standard operating proceedure when pulling onto a busy road is to ignore the stop sign or light and pull onto the road hoping that a car will let you in. Sometimes they don't Shocked

It is a good city, however. You will like it.

gmat · Joined: 27 Jan 2003 Posts: 274 Location: S Korea

Travesty:
I am not sure where you live in Dalian but I didn't find the coal much of a problem in winter because it is almost always windy (in winter). The air here even in winter is much better than Shanghai (obviously), and outside of winter, Dalian must have the best air quality of any big city in China. The benefit of water on 3 sides and a nice breeze. IMHO Wink

.

ps. If you are from Canada, or the Mid-west, Northeast or Pacific Northwest in the US, winter in Dalian will be a joke to you. Very little snow, although the windchill can be a problem on a few days.

David Bowles · Joined: 30 Jan 2003 Posts: 249

OK, not on the main streets...but there's streetfood somewhere there, right? Right? Not everyone in Dalian can be so rich/posh as to go for flashy restaurants over honest roadside noodles, surely?