I hope he doesn’t mind me borrowing this pic…:d. By the way, at that time, the price for a ticket was 160RMB, so it can’t be 120RMB now.   You can check out his Kingdom of Discovery experience here.

Kingdom of Discovery Park lays on a 470.000 square meters property and it’s made up of six theme blocks. This is how a map looks like:

Besides all the rides and fun stuff that is available in the park all day long( and included in the price), there are a few special shows(also included in the price) like:

The first show starts at 10.30a.m.  It is called the “Water Stage Show”. A few girls, a few costumes and a few good dances.

Next is The stunt show. The show runs four times a day, everyday(except Tuesdays),  the first one starts at 11.00a.m.  and the last one at 04.00pm. It’s a parody,  very funny. The show has a lot of great stunts: car stunts, motorcycle stunts, high jumps, explosions and fire stunts.

At 14.00 starts the Kingdom of Discovery Parade.

Around 16.00 there’s a special show. During the time I was there, in July, they made the “Water show”. Something similar to the Parade, but with a lot of water … The girls in the show are dressed as mermaids, have water guns and are shooting at people. You can buy a water gun and start shooting back. At one point, everybody is watering everybody. This is the reason I have no pictures with this show.  So keep your gadgets safe.

At night, there are two shows. Five nights a week there’s the Night Show. It has clowns, Shaolin priests demonstration, nice dances(traditional dances, break dance, pop dances) and many more. The song in the end of this show is great … Irene Cara – Fame. I love it.

Of course, the show ends with fireworks.  And a special moment, due to the Olympic Games that were about to start in Beijing:

The other show is called “Romeo and Juliet”. This show runs in the Castle, only 2days a week(on weekends, when is more crowded). This is the best Kingdom of Discovery dance show. There’s lots of dances and entertaining moments.

In the end of this show there’s a little disco moment … the band starts singing and everybody comes on the stage and starts dancing.

Besides all this, Kingdom of Discovery has a live band that sings 4-5times a day(in the Castle Zone).

There is also a real church in the park and some people go there to get married.

Last year(2007), my cousin was a choreographer in the park, she made most of the dances in all the shows. I am proud of her.

So, if you get to Dalian anytime soon, don’t hesitate to visit Kingdom of Discovery.  You’ll have a full day of fun!

Check out the full Kingdom of Discovery Photo Gallery

It is called “The Great Diamond Heist”.

The show runs four times a day, everyday(except Tuesdays),  the first one starts at 11.00a.m.  and the last one at 4.30pm. (I hope I remember the hours right).

It’s a parody,  very funny. The show has a lot of great stunts: car stunts, motorcycle stunts, high jumps, explosions and fire stunts. The cast is made up of people coming from all around the world: Ukraine, Germany, Romania(my cousin), The United States and Australia.

I think I saw this show about 30 – 40 times in the month I stayed there. My cousin played a part in the show and I used to go to the set almost every day, before the last show. I never got bored of it.

All great guys. I had the pleasure to meet them personally.

If you ever get to Dalian and you want to visit  Kingdom of Discovery, don’t miss the stunt show(so, avoid going Tuesdays).

As I said in my previous post, I stayed near Dalian(in the theme park Kingdom of Discovery, 40min by train  from Dalian), so I frequented only semi-touristic and non-touristic areas(and here I mean you would see few foreign tourists). Dalian is located in Northeast China, in the  Liaoning Province and it has a population of 6.2 million.

Here’s all the stuff about China(that region of China) that needs to be said…

First thing that really surprised me was that Chinese people are absolutely crazy about white people. This is the main reason that 90% of the Kingdom of Discovery’s employees(the entertainers, not maintenance personnel) are white – to attract Chinese people. And it works perfectly. I heard from a manager there that the park must have at least 6.000 visitors a day to make profit.

I personally  was asked lots of times by Chinese to take a picture with them …  The usual formula you will hear is “Can I make a take a picture with you?”.  Very very funny )).  This can happen anywhere … on the beach, on the street, in a restaurant. And you make them so happy if you accept … you start feeling like a star.

Second thing is the road infrastructure.   I was really impressed. Even the smallest cities are linked by highways… Good roads,  but the driving is absolutely crazy …. At one point we took a cab between two cities and that guy some how thought that we were in a hurry … We thought we were going to die. There is no driving conduit … everyone is driving with any speed on any lane … on the highway … There are no rules.  It’s really scary.

Third thing: they have motorcycles as taxis. This is probably the most scary stuff I saw.  20years old motorcycles, most of them with no lights or any signaling, and nobody is wearing a helmet. And you can see them on the highway, day or night. Many of the friends I made there, that were working in the park, had at least one motorcycle accident. The motorcycle taxi fare is half compared to a car taxi and they can carry up to 3people with luggage besides the driver, so they are popular.    For a car taxi, the price is 4Yuans per  kilometer.  The minimum cab fare is 12Yuans(you are charged 12for the first 3km at start, and after that, with 4Yuans/km).

Fourth thing is the fact that Chinese are not so good with English. But they don’t realize that. They have a lot of written signs and welcome messages also translated into English. One of the funniest translation I saw was at the entrance of Kingdom of Discovery. There is big sign there that says:  “WELCOME TO HERE”.   And they have many many more of these funny translations.

Fifth thing is that they have Starbucks.  I had my first Starbucks coffee in China, in QuaiFaChu, a non-touristic city(small city close to Dalian – I don’t know to spell it, I just sounded it out.). I payed for a coffee 37Yuans, that’s 3.7Euros.  This is more than the minimum salary for a day’s work in China(normal people make 2-3Euros a day).

Sixth thing are the malls.  There are malls just everywhere. In Dalian, all the center of the city has a big mall underneath, like 3-4 floors in the ground, that connects to all the malls in the area, that have 7-8 floors. You need more than a week to go to every mall.  There are 3-4types of malls/stores: First are the malls with the original big brands, that have higher prices than Europe. Second are the malls with smaller brands, that have more accessible prices.  Third are the malls/stores with fake brands, that have written “No bargaining” … These are the malls that usually have good and very good prices for stuff. And last, there are the malls that have no prices listed and you have to ask the seller for the price. These are the “bargaining malls”. Read more about shopping in Dalian.

Seventh thing is that Chinese people are scared of water. I think about 99% of them can’t swim. They all enter only 2-3meeters in the sea and also wear a swim belt.

First are the malls for the snobs, with original big brands, that have higher prices than Europe. There, everything is very expensive.

Second are the stores with good clothes, that do not belong to a known brand. These stores have more accessible prices.

Third are the malls/stores with fake brands, that have written at the entry “No bargaining“ and have prices displayed for every item … These are the malls that usually have good and very good prices for stuff.

And last, there are the  “bargaining malls“. Most of these malls have no prices displayed and you have to ask the seller for the price. These kinds of malls have savage employees.  You don’t even need to glance at  someones boutique and the seller will run after you with all kind of stuff in his hands, telling you again and again “very gooda, very gooda”. You will constantly have 5-10 sellers in your face that will try to convince you to buy from their store. Very loud and very impolite. First time I entered in this type of mall I was more than confused … I didn’t know what to do, how to react  … good thing that I was with my cousin. She was used to this and told me what to do:  display a mean face and start cursing them:))) … very efficient method to keep them away.  She also thought me how to bargain here.

Important rule: Never ever ever pay the amount of money the seller is asking, especially if you are white(be certain that they will try to take as much money as they can from you). My advice is to ask somebody that knows how “things work”  to come with you on your first shopping spree. Perfect would be to go with a Chinese person that you can trust. You will surely not be ripped off.

These sellers usually are asking three times more than the actual price. Here is the bargaining/buying procedure:

1. You see something you like;

2. You ask for the price;

3. The seller is typing his price on a calculator and shows; Only 1% of the sellers I met knew English.

4. Here two things can happen:  The wrong thing – You can pay the amount the seller is asking, take your stuff and go on. Or you can do the right thing - Make a very surprised face like it is way to expensive and  try and turn to go away from his shop;

5. In 99% cases the seller will do anything to stop you and will hand you the calculator to input the price you would pay for the item. Always, always keep in mind that the product you want to buy, can be found in many other places.

6. Input  a price that is around 3 times smaller that his original price.

7. The seller will first act totally surprised and will try to tell you that it’s no way you will get the item for that price. And will take the calculator from you and will input a price that is just a little smaller that the original price.

8. Here there are three ways of dealing with this …  one is to input another price(but not more than half of the original price), second is to turn around and leave. Third way is the bad way – to pay what the seller is asking;

9. If you input another price, step 7 and 8 will repeat.   If you turn around an leave two things can happen. One is when the seller is happy with the price you are willing to pay and realizes that he can’t get more from you. And says  Ok! Ok! – you got the item for your last price offer. Second is when the seller isn’t happy with your price and let’s you go.

10. If he lets you go, be sure that he is mad now and will not sell you the item with less than what he initially asked, even if first he was willing to sell you for less at start.  So you need to go to another  store and repeat these steps, but be sure to raise a little the price you offered the first seller – you are now sure that the item you want to buy costs more that the price you were trying to get.

From my bargaining  experience in Dalian, I can say that  about 50% of all the things I wanted to buy/bought, I got/could of gotten them for three times less that the initial price.  About 45% of them I got for a price between 1/3 and half the initial price. And the rest with a pretty big cut of the price.  So when you agree to pay more than half  the initial price, you will almost certainly be riped off.

Let me give you some examples of things that I bought and the prices I payed.

First thing I bought was a fake Rolex, you can find Rolex watches anywhere. I payed 80Yuani for it.  The guy initially asked for 200Yuani. I knew that all the watches were fakes, but anyways … it was cool to have one. They have an efficient method to make you think there are valuable watches:  They have some normal watches on sale, and when they see a foreigner checking out their store, they bring out a shiny suitcase, with big brand watches, like Rolex, Mont Blank, Philip Patek, Bvlgari and other. Most of them, very good replicas. They will ask for 400-600Yuani(40-60Euros) depending on the watch and your attitude.   But none of them cost more than 100Yuani. There are only few watches that are amazing  replicas and can get to 200 or even 250Yuani, but you will find those only in some malls, in some private rooms in the back(destined for foreigners), full with well made fakes(thousands of dvds, Gucci, Prada, Louis Vuitton bags, Armani stuff, Rolex watches, etc.). But you must know somebody to have access there.

I bought a charger for my camera. Funny story …  He first asked for 30Yuani, I said 10, he said 25 and I got it for 15. I was happy about myself for that bargaining. 15Yuani is 1.5Euros … pretty cheap for a charger, right?  But, the next day, in other store, I saw the same charger at 6Yuani. I felt a little stupid.

You can buy 4-5 pairs of socks with 10Yuani.

You can buy  nice boxers(Armani, Versace, D&G) with 15Yuani.

You can buy cool sun glasses with 30-40-50Yuani(Dior, D&G, Prada).

You can buy nice T-shirts or shorts(Nike, Adidas, Puma, etc..) for max 50Yuans(5Euros) and all kind of shoes for 100-120Yuans.

The day before I left, I bought a medium/big troller for all the stuff I bought there(I went to China only with a small backpack ). I payed 100Yuans for it, after a pretty big bargaining. The initial price was 350Yuans. Good deal.

If you happen to go to Dalian, or anywhere else in China, I hope this article will be of some help to you. Happy shopping!

I never knew exactly the speed and the altitude a passenger plane can get, but I found out during that flight. At one point the plane had 970km/h speed, at 12000m altitude.

My first step in China was in Shanghai, Pudong airport. My next plane to Dalian was in two hours and I couldn’t even leave the airport.

The airport is incredibly huge. It has two terminals. I landed on a terminal and the plane to Dalian was leaving from the other terminal, So I had to take a bus.  A good thing is that most of the airport employees know English(I had to ask about 5-6 persons to get to my next flight and all knew enough English to understand my questions and to answer).

Here are a few inside pictures of the Pudong airport:

First of all … the plane ticket was expensive(at least for me). Second … you need a visa to enter China.  It was very easy to get the visa a few month ago, almost a formality, but now, with the Olympic Games and all, the Chinese embassy  is way more strict.

So what do you need to do if you want to visit China ?

First of all … check the web site of the Chinese embassy in your country to see if you meet the reqirements to apply for a visa. Here I had a real problem. On the web site was clearly written: to get a Chinese visa you need:   The plane ticket(I think a plane reservation is good too), the passport( must have more than 2pages empty and must be valid for at least 6months at the time you leave for China, two photos of you – passport type and some money to pay the tax – the tax is 25$, but if you want to get the visa the same day you need to pay an extra 30$). When I got there, I was told that I also need a hotel reservation. Even if you have a friend where you could stay, or you own a place in China, you still need a hotel reservation. The emmbasy  is open to public for 4-5hours, two days a week  and I could not get the visa that day. I have a friend where I will stay, so I don’t need a hotel reservation … I searched the net for a few hours and found a nice portal where you can make a hotel resevation without giving  any  credit card details. So, the second time at the emmbasy I got my visa. The visa must be issued at least 7 days before you part. Another thing is that, at the Chinese embassy(at least in Bucharest), they only accept US dollars. So, be prepared.

Next … buy a plane ticket.  I bought the plane ticket online. Don’t  rush into buying the first plane ticket you find. I looked for a week before I bought it. Price can vary from 10+20 Euro to a few hundred Euro. For example, I payed 800Euros for my ticket(Bucharest – Amsterdam – Shanghai – Dalian  and back), but I came across prices like 1000euros, even 1300 Euro.  The main airline companies that have flights to China are: Air France(From France), KLM(Holland), Aeroflot(Russia) and British Airways(Great Britain). From these four airline companies, the cheapest are KLM and Air France.    I am flying with KLM and I heard they have great services. Of course I will give a feedback after the flight.