Dalian China Ramada Plaza Hotel

We are staying at the Ramada Plaza Dalian this week and it is a beautiful hotel in the heart of the city!
It is just 100m from the railway station and only 11km from the airport. There are 366 recently renovated guests rooms including 30 Executive Suite rooms. Each room is equipped with 5-star hotels facility such as free ADSL/safety box and flat screen TV. The indoor swimming pool and exercise facility are free for all the of our in house guests. Guests may also enjoy either International or Asian cuisine at our newly renovated -Windows on the Square-. The Ramada Plaza Dalian is the really ideal choice for leisure travelers because local food choices and attractions are abundant and there is even an American Breakfast Buffet for 136 Chinese Yuan (CNY)!

We were able to get the package deal and secure a week of breakfast for all five of us for 250 CNY a person, so 1250 CNY/week = $197 USD!
We were able to book 2 rooms, one with 2 queen size beds for the girls and one with 2 beds and a pull out sofa for the guys. The price for the week is 16,860 CNY which equals $2,653 USD.
Alex slept on the pull-out couch but got prime television viewing as it was right in from of the couch. All he watched was Chinese Baseball, cartoons where everything was blown up, and Chinese game shows. It was fun to watch the game shows because the boys would bet on whether or not a contestant would make it through the challenge. We even got the girls in on it and Kristen gave Noah a run for his money, correctly guessing 5 obstacle outcomes in a row!




As far as dinners go, we did the traditional Asian cuisine the first night.
The restaurant was beautiful. It looked out on the skyline in Dalian, all the hustle and bustle down below.
Alex had kung pao chicken, crispy noodles, and won ton soup. Kristen had sweet and sour shrimp with fried rice.
<---- Mary Beth had Stinky tofu or chòu dòufu, a form of fermented tofu that has a strong odor. She thought it would be interesting since the couple next to our group had it and it turned out to be great! Mark and Noah both ordered Peking Duck and ate one whole duck platter. Kristen was grossed out by the sight. The night's bill wasn't bad at 632 Yuan which equals 100 USD. We were so overwhelmed with all the fascinating trips we had planned for the week, we decided to just go out and buy groceries for the rest of the week. We cooked everything in the kitchen in the lounge on the 7th floor of the hotel.
Our grocery list included:
5 pounds of white rice
10 pounds of chicken breast
5 pounds of pork
4 packages of wonton wrappers
3 containers of spicy chile sauce
4 heads of lettuce
4 containers of cream cheese
2 pounds of crab legs
5 containers of pre-made wonton soup
5 packages of egg noodles
5 pounds of shrimp
4 packages of pre-mixed frozen vegetables
8 liters of Coca-Cola
20 small sponge-cake treats
One bottle of chinese mustard and
one large box of Fortune Cookies with a happy panda on it
Total for the food: 2,795 Yuan or $440 USD.

Not bad for a market trip for 5 people.
We all took turns cooking. Alex had a cool idea to make homemade egg rolls and crab rangoons! Turned out really tasty. Kristen made crispy noodles by frying up the wonton wrappers in chicken juice and mixing in the meet in the fried noodles.
Noah was the best at making hot chile fried rice that really burned on the way down. Good thing Mark suggested we get some Coke, so we would have a recognizable drink! Mary Beth stayed away from the Stinky Tofu this time and make some killer roast pork and tossed vegetables!

The grocery mart we shopped at:

Total for the hotel + food: 21,537 Yuan = $3389 USD