Art Exhibit and Russian Street

On Thursday afternoon J and I headed over to the Russian Street of
Dalian. It is just on the north side of town, so we met at Friendship
Square and walked over. It was pretty cold out so the first thing we did
was to check out the Dalian Art Exhibition Hall, located at the top of
the street. It looks like a luxurious old home, and judging from the
interior, J and I suspect it was built by the Japanese at some point.
Inside there are three exhibition rooms; two on the first floor and one
on the second floor (there was also a 3rd floor which was closed for
some reason). The exhibition featured a number of "oil on canvas"
paintings of towns in southern China. We found out later that a number
of artists from Dalian went down for a tour last October to paint their
impressions of the town. Some of the paintings were rather detailed,
showing sunlight gradation against buildings, and some were awesomely
abstract with thick brushstrokes of oil. We really enjoyed the entire
exhibit and I even opted to buy a book of the paintings, which they were
selling at the entrance for just a dollar or so.
After the exhibit, we walked down Russian Street. Most of the buildings
are no longer in use. Many of them must be a hundred years old or more.
There was a stone plaque near the entrance to the street that had the
date 1898 chiseled into it. The design was apparent in the colors, the
windows, and the facades, but mostly in the rooftops; some rose up like
steeples and one expanded out above the building like a jiffy-pop. We
snapped some photos as we walked down the street, then turned around and
headed back downtown. The temperature seemed to be dropping and we
hurried to catch the bus back home.