A seaside port of coastal roads, wooded hills and early 20th-century squares, with seafood on every street.
A seaside port of coastal roads, wooded hills and early 20th-century squares, with seafood on every street.
A round square laid out under Russian rule in 1898 and ringed by banks, offices and a hotel built mostly in the Japanese period, among them the 1909 Yokohama Specie Bank (now Bank of China) and the 1914 Yamato Hotel (now the Dalian Hotel). Metro Line 2 to Zhongshan Square.
A 500 m pedestrian street with the former Russian city hall and other Russian-era buildings, restored together with newer Russian-style copies and reopened in 2000. Free to walk, with souvenir shops and cafés.
A seafront square of about 110 hectares on reclaimed land, opened in 1997, with a path of 1,000 bronze footprints made by local residents. The Xinghai Bay Bridge crosses the bay just offshore and is lit at night. Metro Line 1 to Xinghai Square.
A coastal road of more than 30 km along the south and east shore, between wooded hills and the sea. The middle stretch past Beida Bridge and Yanwo Ridge has the best views; walking the scenic section takes about 3–4 hours, or take a taxi between viewpoints.
A marine park on the south coast, on Binhai Road, with a polar aquarium, a coral hall, sea lion and walrus shows and a bird garden. Check current prices and opening hours on the park's official channels before you go.
The former Port Arthur, at the tip of the peninsula and reached by Metro Line 12. The Lüshun Japanese-Russian Prison Site Museum tells the history of the prison built under Russian rule and expanded under Japan. Parts of the district are closed to foreigners; see the tips.
Cubes of starch jelly fried until crisp at the edges and eaten hot with garlic and sesame sauce, Dalian's best-known street snack.
Fried salted fish served with a slab of corn cake, a dish said to come from fishermen's lunches at sea.
Scallops steamed in the half shell under a garlic topping, a staple of the city's seafood restaurants.
Dalian sits near the tip of the Liaodong peninsula, with a long coastal road running between wooded hills and the sea. Russia founded the city as the port of Dalny in 1898, and Japan ran it from 1905 to 1945, so the center has a street of Russian-era buildings and a round square ringed by early 20th-century banks and a hotel. Most visitors come for the seafront, the parks and the seafood.
Dalian suits travelers who want a slower, greener stop after Beijing, and it pairs easily with Shenyang, about an hour and a half away by high-speed train. Summer is the local holiday season; May and early autumn are calmer and drier.
Start at Zhongshan Square on Metro Line 2 and walk around the old banks and the former Yamato Hotel, then go on to Russian Street. In the afternoon, take a taxi along Binhai Road and stop at the viewpoints around Beida Bridge. Finish at Xinghai Square as the lights come on along the bay bridge, with seafood for dinner nearby.
On the second day, choose between Laohutan Ocean Park, a good pick for families, and Lüshun, the old naval port, for the prison site museum. Check the rules for Lüshun before you go, because parts of the district are closed to foreigners. Set up Alipay or WeChat Pay before you arrive with the paying in China guide.
Checked on 29 October 2026. Opening times and ticket rules change; confirm on the official site before you go.
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