DalianDalian.com

GraemeNicol posted a photo:

Yantai to Dalian ferry, Bohai/Yellow Sea, China, May 2008

During travel is when China feels at its most Chinese, perhaps because the collective nature of public transport removes the barriers that I cannot help but bring from my more individualistic culture. Though a foreigner in China may find it difficult and indeed undesirable to play more than the role of an extra in the ongoing narrative of China as a society and a culture, for these seven hours, they are equal participants in the single journey. We start the story together with the Chinese in Dalian and with the first step onto dry land upon arriving at Yantai, conclude it with a full stop. Inbetween, we follow the same narrative. First, there's the excitement of being up on deck, perhaps with some snacks, waiting to sail, then cameras come out as we watch city and coast fade from view, next the pace slows and we retreat indoors, maybe with a beer, as the first signs of discomfort and boredom begin to show, and then after grabbing what rest or sleep we can, there's the final flurry of activity, face-washing, queue standing, as the boat nears its destination. Aside from the sense of shared narrative, what makes it effective for documenting is the confined yet open nature of the boat itself. There's a lack of private space, but also the sensation, if you choose to venture up on deck, of being out at sea. Within this duality some kind of distillate of the human spirit seems to flow more freely than in the city. Throw in some good lighting and some so-bad-it's-good decor and it becomes a photographic playground.

GraemeNicol 發表相片：

Chinese have long been crossing the Bohai Sea back and forth between Shandong and Liaoning provinces. In fact the original residents brought by the Russian and Japanese colonialists almost 100 years ago to populate the new port of Dalian mostly came from Shandong, and still today there are ties across the water in terms of dialect, cusine, and of course family. Although a hovercraft also makes the trip in three hours, I've always taken the slow seven hour ferry. Travel offers a sense of a shared experience, pleasure turning to discomfort followed by stoicism and finally relief, that seems to bring out the best in Chinese society.

Dalian to Yantai passenger ferry, April 2008.

shahemenkou 發表相片：

Sung to the tune of the beetles.

Dalian, Development Zone

Graemetric 發表相片：

Dalian, China, April 2008.

Graemetric 發表相片：

Olympus XA, Kodacolour 100.
Dalian, China, March 2008.

Somehow, this website flew under my radar until very recently. Just one of those many things that many may know about, but because everyone else thinks everyone else knows about it, no one mentions it. Similar to eBookers back in the UK. Book air tickets, hotels, etc, online. Whenever going somewhere I'd phone around some travel agents and compare prices. While maybe not always the best prices, CTrip can provide a very convenient benchmark, and the web interface really is very nice.  read more »

Last week I was taken aback at the sheer stupidity of one particular taxi driver. It was like he didn't know how to turn the wheel and push the gas pedal at the same time, kind of important for driving.

I'm OK if the driver doesn't know all the destination possibilities in this city, but they should be able to follow directional commands pretty easy.

So the question I have is this: if the meter says 17RMB for instance, is it OK in your opinion to pay him 15RMB for instance, believe about 2RMB of the price was due to his clumsiness?

PS--Save all the comments about "get his number and report him" and all that other stuff that's not related to this post.

+graemetric- posted a photo:

Enough abstracts for now, back to street portraits...this one taken with that faulty Kiev-60 medium format camera. To see the others taken recently with film rather than digitial, including the other with this camera, check out this set:
www.flickr.com/photos/slavers/sets/72157603252646922/detail/

Dalian, China, November 2007.

shahemenkou posted a photo: