I spent 6 weeks teaching in Dagang in the summer of 2006. A city of about 300,000, it has many Western amenities and yet is still very Chinese. The Tian Lian Hotel was comfortable and the staff very friendly. The hotel restaurant also had delicious fare. My favorite parts of Dagang were the summer evenings in Century Square and the weekend open market, not to mention the many wonderful Chinese I met that sunmer.
During the summer months, people begin to come out at sunset and fill the huge (the size of a football field) city square. There is entertainment in the form of organized stage events, as well as the usual (and daily) Tai Chi classes, women's drum corps, line dancing, and the Chinese version of group jogging. Add to this a wonderful mix of young and old strollers, music lovers, and street venders, and you have a fun evening of entertainment to distract from the humidity and heat. Although Chinese television is pretty cool, too.
Every Sunday there is the open air market on the other side of the tracks (highway, that is). A couple of square blocks of food, clothing, household items, and antiques (of questionable authenticity). This colorful happening is lots of fun and most items are extremely inexpensive (and probably cheap in quality as well). The colors and crowds make it very authentic.
The people of Dagang were amazed to see two Western women walking in their city streets, but many came up to us to practice their English. Most were thrilled and very kind to us and we enjoyed the celebrity status.
The shops were well stocked with all necessary items and the main shopping street has a Western style department store called the Friendship Shop, packed with plenty of sales help. You won't see that in the States any more. There is still plenty of authentic smaller shops to make you feel like you are in China.
Dagang is about an hour south of Tainjin (a city of 12 million) and accessable by bus or train. Tianjin is a much more diverse city with more available (obviously), but Dagang is a nice stopover. Nearby is the city of Tongu with a beautiful waterfront and the developing Tianjin Economic Development Area (TEDA) Military Theme Park which boasts a real Russian aircraft carrier.
I don't imagine that most tourists end up in Dagang. It is a city that was built to service the oil industry, and from what I could see, most foreigners there were there because of their job, but it's not a bad assignment.
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