Where are we today? Tianjing
We pulled into Tianjing this morning. Yesterday, we were in Dalian. Today, I will be catching up on the blog with tidbits from Suzhou, Dalian, and Tianjin Of course, this is the Year of the Dragon according to the Chinese zodiac. All the cities in China we have seen feature dragons and the color red in decorations this year, and Dalian was no exception. Our guide in Suzhou the other day explained that it is considered very fortunate to be born in the Dragon year, so many Chinese families time their pregnancies to coincide with this time. I read later that this has sometimes strained the limits of maternity care in certain years. All of the red and gold is very cheerful on these chilly, in between winter and spring days. The current city of Dalian was founded by Russians in the nineteenth century, so the old heart of the city has a Russian influence. We visited a city park that was laid out during the Russian time. There has also been a huge Japanese i...