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- Dalian
- The Pearl of The North
- Located at
the southern tip of Liaoning province and Liaodong peninsula,
Dalian is a beautiful and well-run little city. Because of its
strategic location and ice-free port, Dalian has historically
been a place the military might fought for. From 1894, Dalian was
controlled by Russia and Japan until 1945.
Dalian is more progressive, prosperous and better organized
than Shenyang. Its government has been trying very hard to develop
Dalian into a major economic force while maintaining its foreign
flavor.
Dalian is famous for its fresh seafood, peaches, strawberries,
apples and beautiful girls. Traveling in China, one will consistently
find restaurants boasting their specialty in Fresh Seafood From
Dalian. It's becoming a brand itself.
Nature and scenic spots are also worth a trip to Dalian. There
are many nice and pollution free beaches around Dalian. Mountains
around it are perfect for hiking.
- Dalian City
Ratings
- ** The
following ratings are based on a scale of 1-10, 10 being the
best.
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Days of Stay: 2 |
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- Quick
Facts
- Population
- 5.38 million
- When to
go
- Tourist Season
- May 1 to October 1;
Coldest Months - January and February, with temperature as low
as-21C( for one or two days);
Hottest Months - August, with temperature as high as 34C;
Annual Precipitation - 600-800 millimeters
- Getting
In and Out
- By Air - Dalian
is forty minutes from Shenyang and less than an hour from Beijing
by air. Dalian has direct flights with 41 cities and most major
Asian cities.
By Train - Dalian is twelve hours from Beijing and five hours
from Shenyang by train.
By Ship - Dalian is 32 hours away from Shanghai and 15 hours
away from Tianjin.
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History
Dalian was known as Port
Arthur during imperialist times. Dalian was seized briefly by the Japanese
in 1894, but was leased as a naval base for 25 years to Russia in
1898. In 1905, Japan took over Dalian again in a surprise attack
after the relationship with Russia soured over Manchuria.
Russian and Japanese influence can be seen everywhere in Dalian
with its old tsarist architecture. People of Dalian are also much
neater with their environment.
- Old Port
Arthur ***
- Port Arthur
is a 1900 tsarist-built fort on Jiguanshan Hill. Russians built
it to defend the attacks from Japanese. It also functioned as
a prison. Only a part of the old Port Arthur is open to the
public.
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Local Culture/Unique Tour
- Dalian
Fashion Festival ***
- People of
Dalian are very fashion conscious. Every June, Dalian hosts
a national festival to celebrate fashion. The whole events consists
of fashion shows and parades. It can be an interesting experience.
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Nature/Scenic
- Tiger Beach
and Star Dust Park*
- These two
parks are the most famous parks in Dalian. However, because
of tourist crowds, these two places can be quite hectic. Try
to avoid them. Instead, go to Bangchuidao or Binyu Valley or
ask a local person where to go.
- Bangchuidao***
- Bangchuidao
is the most famous swimming beach in Dalian. It has very clean
water and tight security. You will have to stay in Bangchuidao
Hotel to enjoy the best part of the beach. When the Chinese
paramount leader, Deng, was alive, he used to come here in the
summer to relax.
- Bingyu
Valley****
- Bingyu Valley
offers you a taste of Guilin in Dalian. It's about 90km from
Dalian and quite close to North Korea. Binyu has 40 peaks and
20 caves to be explored and covers an area of 47 km. With its
oddly shaped mountains, clear streams and green grassland, Bingyu
Valley acclaims itself as the small Guilin.
When visiting Bingyu, try not to stay in hotels. There are cottages
available in the mountains that offer you good opportunities
to explore the mountains more thoroughly.
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Food/ Shopping
- Famous
Local Food
- Sea food
- Famous
Local Restaurants
- Shang Palace
- This restaurant is located in Shangri-La and is famous for
spicy jelly fish and lemon duck.
New Orient Seafood City - This restaurant offers swimming fish,
live shrimp and all kinds of other fresh seafood to its patrons.
Prices are moderate unless you order exotic dishes such as stewed
shark fins.
Everyday Fish Port - Everyday Fish Port is a local restaurant
chain that offers fresh seafood at much more moderate prices
than the two mentioned above. Give it a try.
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Night Life
- Dalian's night
life is very lively because of recent inflow of foreign business
people. The most famous ones are J. J., Casablanca, and Wild
Cat. They all have good dance music and are relatively more
expensive.
Sun City in down town Dalian is an integrated entertainment
center with Karaoke, discos and bars.
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Adventure/Sports
- Snake Island****
- 25 nautical
miles away from Dalian, there is an island famous for its dominant
inhabitants, snakes. With an estimated 13,000 pit vipers, this
is a snake sanctuary. Currently, there is a research center
studying the medical benefits of the venom.
With a permission, you can go to this island and watch, from
distance, snakes snatch birds from the air and swallow them
up.
- Sports
- Dalian is
right by the ocean. It is rather hilly as well. Scuba diving,
fishing and hiking can be arranged. In addition, the Japanese
crowd also brought golf with them. There are three golf courses
in Dalian.
Bowling is a very high class sport in China. Check out the Brunswick
Bowling Alley if you want to have a taste of local yuppies'
lives.
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