THE HOTEL.....When we got to the hotel, I thought "Good Lord, this place is in an alley!" But I guess it was a street that in the
States would have probably been an alley. We walked in and the only thing on the ground floor was the doorman. I thought "Huh?"
But we went around a couple corners to the elevator and went up to the 8th floor. There was the lobby and it was very nice. They had my
reservation ready (which I was wondering about because I booked through an online hotel booking agency). I had to put down a deposit
of around 200 dollars which I got credited for when I left. If you are going to exchange currency at the hotel here's what happened to me.
If there was anything wrong with your bills they would not take them. Said it was a bank thing. If an end was a bit folded or a crease in
it, nope they would not take it. They would hold them up (I had twentys) and look them all over. Out of $400 dollars they only would exchange
$180 of it. So I ended up at the ATM a couple of times. The room was ok. Not a 4 star by our standards, but it was clean and about the only
thing that looked bad was the carpet. It had been used a while. There was a small refrigerator in the room. And it was stocked with water,
juice, beer and I don't know what all. They checked to see what you used out of it each morning and then put that on your bill. Which I guess
is normal. There was also a few things like souveniers and small emergency kit (the only thing I could figure out that was in the kit was
condoms. Yeah...I guess that could be an emergency!) And of course there was a charge on that stuff also. One thing that was hard for me
to get used to was paying for refills. At all the eating places we went, if you wanted more to drink, no matter what it was, you were charged
for it. Phone calls to the States were very expensive from the room, as I knew they would be. So be sure to figure out your calling plan
before you go. No one I asked seemed to know what I was talking about when I said "foreign calling card or temperary phone for foreign
calls" I finally just gave up and used the hotel phone. I wouldn't have done that but I had some illness in the family I had to keep track
of while I was over there. The computer hookup was no problem. I had a converter with me and used it, but I would not have had to. All
you need is a plug adapter as some other members on here have stated. The bed in the hotel was hard...no wait....VERY HARD. When
I first sat down on it there was absolutely no give. I thought this is going to be great to sleep on for 6 nights. But really I did sleep well on
it. Maybe I should rethink my mattress here at home. There was a restaurant next to the lobby which was pretty good. We had breakfast
there most mornings. I stayed at the Grand Century Hotel in Shenyang
THE PUBLIC RESTROOMS: Two things....be sure to take toilet tissue with you when you go out. (I was in 2 or 3 public restrooms and none
had any paper) And the other thing.....the first one I went in, I headed for the back stall (for some reason I always do) ...no paper...so then I went
to the next one..."What the ****!!" No stool, just a place level with the floor to do your business. So I'm thinking "Huh?" So I asked the
lady and translator when I came out about it and they just smiled and laughed a bit and never did tell me. I later found out that they just
squat and do their thing. So be prepared for that when you see it.
THE TRAFFIC AND DRIVERS...We have a saying here (or I do anyway, came up with this while I lived in Texas) They just made a Mexican
left or right...where in one lane and go clear across the other to make a turn (no offense to the Mexican population here) Well in China its
"HOLY CR**P, WHERE THE **** 'S HE GOING? The driver can be in the far left lane and all of a sudden he want s to be in the far right lane.
Over he goes across like 5 lanes of traffic. We had a one taxi driver that was getting on the main highway (kind of like an interstate here I guess)
and he goes down ramp the wrong way. Its the off ramp for the highway, but he goes down it to get onto the highway. Once again I'm thinking
"Huh!" (I said that alot while over there) I never did figure out their driving methods, but I never was too worried while riding with them. I figured
they had been doing this all their life, so it must work for them. So I just sat back and wondered. Then you have the people crossing the street.
They are either brave, trusting, or just don't care. Because they usually cross no matter what the lights say. Stand right out in 6 lanes of
traffic trying to cross while the vehicles dodge around them. And the ladies always seemed to want to walk on the street, not on the sidewalk.
Never did figure that out either.
THE AGENCY... Well, I have thought about the agency since I returned and I honestly cannot find anything bad to say about it. I dealt with
CiMengYuan International Service in Shenyang. The only thing that happened that wasn't supposed to was when they picked me up at the
airport, the lady had said there would be no charge. But he asked for 200 REN which is about $25 US. Taxi would have been about $15.
But I paid it anyway and thought what the heck. They met me at the airport and did the video and picture thing. Everyone was all smiles. The
lady I went to see had flowers for me (I'm allergic by the way..haha) grabbed my arm and held on till the hotel. I gave here a pearl necklace
and a box of chocolates when we got to the hotel. And a box of chocolates for the translator. The translator was with us the first day. We went
out for breakfast, then went to buy an electronic translator. They didn't have the kind I had in mind, so I got the one they all said was the
best. And I can't tell you the brand. We spent most of our time changing over from English to Chinese, then we'd have to change all the buttons
when she answered back from Chinese to English. Anyway it worked, but not well. When we were at the hotel (which was a lot) I used the
Yahoo translator Babel fish. She understood that pretty good. Anyway back to the agency. Our translator was Jenny and I had no problems
with her at all. She was probably around 23 or so. They agency charged 300 REN for her service. Around $45. And she did pretty good with
the translating. And was curious about things I said and what it meant. I also hired her for my final day there. I figured if I was going to have a
good day and go see things, I needed all the help I could get. I must say though, the weather was lousy. It rained about 3 or 4 days I was
there. And it was a cold rain. So not very good to get out and sightsee. We visited the agency the first day I was there. It was quite a ways
from the hotel, so we taxi'd it. It wasn't the best part of town. It was up several floors and was just basically a 2 room office. In one room
about 8 ladies were at computers and the other room was petitioned off, part like a lounge and the other part the boss's office. I asked about the
ladies...if they were translators or clients..and jenny said all were translators. So I guess thats the story of the agency.Don
Don
THE CITY.....I don't know if it was just where I was located, at and around the hotel or if it was in Shenyang as a whole. But it looked very much
like a depressed city. We taxi'd around a lot and everywhere I looked were construction sites not finished. Just sitting there.No one around. And once
in awhile I would see maybe one or two people working on a high rise building or other construction site. I thought "never going to get done like
that" I think what I got the biggest kick out of, was the morning I was leaving Shenyang on the taxi ride, I saw the street sweepers out. No motorized
sweepers, these were people out on the road with there big fantailed brooms sweeping by hand. I'm thinking "thats gonna take awhile" Also lots
of people in the city were wearing masks. I asked about it and they said they wanted to keep their faces clean. But I think it was probably all the
smog and stuff in the air, they were trying to avoid. And it was very hazy (on the days it was not raining) whether smog or something else you
couldn't see far. Did not see very much big heavy duty machinery at all. No dozers, or cranes or backhoes. Well there were cranes at the highrises,
but most were idle. i saw one guy tearing out a sidewalk. No jackhammer for him. He was using a sledghammer. He'd take a few swings, then
wipe his brow. Tough work. I'll try to post some photos I took of the city. I'm having trouble signing on here, so not sure how that will work out.
THE LADY.....Well, I know this is what most of you are wondering about. Tell the truth, I'm still kind of wondering myself. I just read David's post of
when he met his Mei. Well a lot that happened to him happened to me. I haven't mentioned the lady's name and that is for a reason. She was a
nice lady and I have nothing against her. I just don't believe she's the one I want to spend the rest of my life with. And I think deep down she
realized that also. The necklace I gave her when we first met. She tossed that on shelf and didn't even look at it again until she left.
I kept asking if she was bored (she really looked bored) but she would just say "no I'm happy" Well, I was bored! Now granted
it was raining alot and no one could do anything about that. Actually it was miserable outside. So we spent a lot of time in the room. Don't get excited
nothing happened. Although she stayed with me all the time I was there. Nothing. Maybe 3 kisses while we were together, and that seemed strained.
She watched TV, I got on the computer. I thought about going out on my own, but I'd have been lost in a heartbeat. I am notorious for getting all
turned around in new places. I can barely tell which way is north where I live in Virginia. On good days she really didn't seem like she wanted to
go out to see things. Thats why I got the translator on my last day. I wanted to see at least part of the city. And then of course, there is the phone
calls. As David said in his post.....all the time, phone calls, text msgs, going in the bathroom to talk. I guess thats the way they are as you experienced
guys said. But I was not used to that at all. Guess I'll have to work on that part. Anyway, I have no hard feelings. It was an adventure and I am glad that
I went. I am still optimistic I will find someone. Oriental ladies still fascinate me, and I saw so many attractive ladies over there, it about blew my mind.
So the search continues. I don't know about chnlove as the only source though. It gets very expensive. I am looking at another site, in addition to chn. Don't want to mention any names, but it begins with Cherry and ends with Blossoms. Anybody know anything about that.
Well, that is basically my story.
Hope someone gets something out of my experience.
Don
