Monthly Archives: July 2006

“Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.” Well, I am was officially on holidays. Michael Corleone’s words have been ringing in my head all day. Yesterday, after emptying my desk, I was sure I was done with teaching for the summer, but such was not in the cards. I’ve just …

In my roughly year and a half of living in the Dalian area I know I’ve mentioned Kaifaqu 开发区 a half dozen times, but I don’t think I’ve ever done the place proper justice. I love it. It’s everything Dalian claims to be but isn’t. It’s clean(er), has more greenery and less people. It’s quaint, but still features lots of modern conveniences.

In fact, if there wasn’t a guy there that likely still has an open contract out on my head, I’d live there now. Everytime I’m in Kaifaqu now, I unfortunately have to be looking over my shoulder. It’s only a matter of time before Maggie is spotted and I am (rightfully) assumed to be the bastard laowai that stole her away from her ex.

Even with the risk (hell, because of the risk) Kaifaqu is just one hell of a cool place. I realize that “Kai Fa Qu” (translated: development zone) is a name given to thousands of city subsections across China that are promoting large corporation investment, foreign relocation, etc…. but for me, it’s an actual city name. I just can’t get around it. I can’t think of it as some cold and empty development zone… actually I can picture that as something a hip guidance counsellor would have posted on his wall. “Welcome To The Development Zone”

When I first moved to Jinzhou it was a closer trek than Dalian, and as such I visited the bars and shopping centre there a lot. Since moving to Dalian my visits have been less, but last weekend Maggie and I decided to go up for a visit and have some lunch by the sea. As I’ve got a bunch of photos and a new fancy photo script to make displaying them ultra-fantastic-cool, here are the details of the trip.