# Dalian, China help??



## brazilusa (Feb 8, 2012)

I will be in Dalian, China for over a month and I am looking for contacts, hints and help. I hope to find a teacher and train there also. Any help is much appreciated.


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## Bill Mattocks (Feb 8, 2012)

The food sure is good!




Weirdy Flarour Beancurd by Wigwam Jones, on Flickr

OK, just kidding; the food really is good (I didn't eat at this restaurant).

I did a week's work in Beijing quite some time ago.  Things I remember...

The air was very polluted; my eyes burned the whole time I was in Beijing.

Everybody wants to be your friend as soon as they realize you're American.

Most of them are selling something.

If you get lured into a painter's 'studio', you won't escape until you buy something.  Probably two somethings.  And it's way overpriced.

You have to tell your credit card companies that you're going.  They will assume your card is stolen and disable it if you don't tell them; fraud is rampant and they're looking out for you, believe it or not.  And it's hard to reach them via the phone from Beijing.

The taxi drivers do not speak English.  Have someone write down where you want to go in Chinese and give that to the driver; also have something written down with the address where you live so you can get back.

The taxi drivers will charge you more than is on the meter, especially when you are on the way to the airport to leave.  If you argue with them, the police will come.  They don't speak English either.  You will pay or you will not leave China on time.  Just FYI, get used to being ripped off by taxi drivers.

The food really is amazing.

Lots of Chinese girls want to live in America.  Wear a wedding ring if you won't want a wife.  And keep insisting that you are happily married.

See the tourist sites.  They are amazing.  Visit the houtongs if they are still there; they might be gone now.  If they're not, they will be soon.

Take photos; you may never be that way again, and photos make great memories.

And have something to do during the five-hour layover in Narita in Japan on the way there.  You can't leave because you're in the secure international part of the airport and there's only so much to do.


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## Bill Mattocks (Feb 8, 2012)

Also...

Consider purchasing Repatriation Travel Insurance.  Available via AAA and other places.  What it does is give you access to US medical staff in China if you should become sick or injured while you are there; and a free trip home via commercial plane or private jet (depending on situation) if you required evac back to the states.

http://www.travelinsure.com/why/medicalevacuation.asp

http://www.medexassist.com/

http://www.echinacities.com/expat-corner/a-beginner-s-guide-to-renting-a-car-in-china.html

You may need a visa stamp in your passport:

http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/hzqz/zgqz/t84245.htm


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## mograph (Feb 8, 2012)

If you don't fly business class on the way out, try to get an upgrade on the way back. It might be worth it.


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## Xue Sheng (Feb 8, 2012)

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/13006-studying-martial-arts-in-dalian/

And do you speak the language and can you read it?

If you can't speak it you will likely not get what you are looknig for without paying lot and lots of $$$

Also check 

http://rumsoakedfist.org/

and 

http://www.emptyflower.net/forums/index.php?

Understand both sites can be rough and neither may give you any info even though they may have it


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