Dalian, China

Cleaning supplies

[*edit: Sorry for the delay! Here's a mini Dalian guide in case you ever find yourself in this corner of the world!]

Dalian is located on the southern tip of the Liaodong Peninsula, west of Pyongyang, North Korea. Like Hong Kong and Shanghai, Dalian had a colonial past that lent a distinctive shape to its skyline. From 1858 to 1950, the city was occupied at turns by the British, the Russians, the Japanese and the Soviet Union, before it was finally returned to China in 1950. In the summer, Chinese tourists flock to Dalian for its beaches, but the city remains comparatively unknown as a destination among foreign tourists. Though urban redevelopment progresses no less steadily here than it does anywhere else in China, the urban planners have incorporated a nice amount of green space and many of the newer buildings are actually quite picturesque.

We hopped over to Dalian from Seoul (less than an hour away by plane) for a three-day weekend. Tristan and Heather, new residents of the city themselves, showed us around.

Check out my set of Dalian photos on Flickr >

---RESOURCES---
Wikitravel: Dalian: I found Wikitravel to be the most helpful for giving me the quick lowdown on Dalian's different districts and what there is to see in each one. You'll probably find yourself concentrating most of your non-seaside activities downtown in Zhongshan and Xigang, so be sure to download and print the maps to those two areas.
DalianDalian: This website has a Google map with both English and Chinese names on it, as well as the location points of plenty of foreign restaurants and cafes.
Dalian Xpat: A little difficult to navigate, but it has an Events listing, a small restaurant directory and a Forum.
Flickr: Before we went, I looked up "Dalian" on Flickr, and saved some of the interesting photos I found into a Gallery. It helped me keep track of some of the things I wanted to see.


Signs

---WE GOT AROUND---
By taxi: Taxi drivers will probably not understand any English, so be prepared with the names of your destinations, including your hotel name, written down in Chinese. Try searching for the English name on Baidu.com (China's answer to Google), or ask your hotel front desk for help.
By tram: One charming feature of Dalian's urban landscape is it's tram system, which dates from 1909. There are still some vintage cars running along the tram lines, but the more up-to-date cars look nice too, in a sleek and mod 60s kind of way. Here are some details about which lines sport the old-timey trams, and where they go.
On foot: Dalian is small enough that you can get around most of downtown (Zhongshan and Xigang) area by walking. For a sense of scale, you could probably get from Zhongshan Square to Labour Park on foot in 20 minutes, provided you aren't run over by a car along the way. As for avoiding that tragic fate, we followed the same tactic we used in Bangkok: run alongside a hardy-looking local when crossing the street! Regrettably, traffic lights and crosswalks are few and far between in Dalian, and the driving attitude that most of the locals have adopted is a little bit scary...

---WE STAYED---
Express by Holiday Inn at City Center Dalian: We only wanted a clean place to crash at night, and the surprisingly roomy Holiday Inn Express suited our needs perfectly. I recommend passing on their bland breakfast buffet, though. Instead, grab a snack from the supermarket across the street or from a stall along Tian Jin Street.
Chinese name: 大连海尊快捷假日酒店
Chinese address: 大连市中山区天津街189号
Dalian Hotel (大连宾馆; Dàlián Bīnguǎn): Among mid-priced options, the Dalian Hotel (大连宾馆; Dàlián Bīnguǎn) on Zhongshan Square is a standout with loads of historic character, but they don't seem to speak English so those who can't communicate in Japanese or Chinese may be out of luck.
Kempinski Hotel Dalian: For more lush digs, try the 5-Star Kempinski Hotel Dalian. They have a Paulaner Brauhaus microbrewery in the basement.


Patterns

---WE SAW---
We spent most of our visit to Dalian poking around the Zhongshan and Xigang districts looking for interesting architecture and delicious street food, so I've listed the highlights of our downtown wanderings below. But Dalian also has a picturesque shoreline so, if you're there during the warmer months, check out the beaches along Binhai Road. I also regretted missing the TV Tower south of Labour Park; I hear there's a fun slide you can take down the hillside.

Zhongshan Square (中山广场 / Zhōngshān Guǎngchǎng): Dalian has numerous squares, actually circular in shape, scattered throughout the city. The colonial-era buildings surrounding Zhongshan Square date from the era of Japanese occupation and are now mostly inhabited by financial institutions. Built between 1910 and 1920, they are beautifully preserved and give a lot of character to the city's architectural heritage.
Tianjin Street (天津街 / Tiānjīn Jiē): Souvenir and snack stalls run along the length of this pedestrian shopping street in the Zhongshan District. Nosh on some spicy lamb chuàr (羊串) or sweet, candied tánghúlu (糖葫芦) as you browse. One section of the street has some seafood stalls where you can order your shellfish out of tanks, but they seem a little tourist-trappy and the grilled river prawns we tasted there weren't all that fresh or tasty.
Russian Street (俄羅斯風情街 / Éluósī Chuí Qíng Jiē): If you follow Shanghai Road north from Zhongshan Square and cross the Shengli Bridge, you'll find Russian Street, a short pedestrian road lined with renovated and preserved Russian colonial era buildings. They are mostly filled with souvenir shops and tourist traps, but the street itself makes for some beautiful photos if you can find a way to crop the postcard stands out. For me, the more interesting buildings were at the northwestern end and beyond, where the dilapidated Russian buildings blend into a landscape of Soviet-style apartment blocks and smaller, run-down Chinese dwellings.
Central Wholesale Market: Located across the plaza just north of the Dalian Railway Station (大连火车站), this market has several floors packed with wholesale goods -- everything from dried and canned foods on the first floor to clothing, accessories and toys on the upper floors. You'll find some pretty cheap souvenirs here. To the right of the building entrance is a food court with common street eats on offer.
People's Square (人民广场 / Rénmín Guǎngchǎng): Unlike most of Dalian's circular squares, this one's actually kind of rectangular! People's Square is bordered by some Russian style government buildings. Come here to watch the kite-flying action, or join in yourself (there are a few vendors around waiting to sell you some kites). There's an area of quaint old Chinese houses a few blocks northeast of People's Square that is worth exploring. Judging from how these things normally turn out in rapidly developing China, they might not be there for much longer.
Japanese Street: Recently revamped, Japanese Street is supposed to feature architecture from the Japanese colonial era, but has pretty much been renovated beyond recognition. But because it doesn't appear to be receiving the droves of tourism traffic that the city was probably hoping for, it does make for a pleasant and quiet stroll, and here and there you might find the odd old Japanese style house that hasn't met a wrecking ball.
The Forest Zoo (森林动物园 / Sēnlín Dòngwùyuán): Keen on seeing a passel of pandas, we took a taxi to the Forest Zoo's Panda Hall, only to find one washed-up, bored fellow lolling about in his glass enclosure. He didn't want to be disturbed. Nearby, there was nothing going on in the intriguingly-named "Violent Animal Performance Area," so we boarded the cable car for a looong ride (with stunning views of the mountain and ocean!) to the other side of the park to see the lions, tigers and bears (oh my!). The Forest Zoo is a fun diversion, but it takes the better part of the day to see and is not a world-class zoo by any means, so skip it if your visit in Dalian is short.


1. Jiǎozi, 2. Over the bridge noodles, 3. Hotpot, 4. Barbeque, 5. Wrap, 6. Tanghulu, 7. Dao xiao mian, 8. Cold rice noodles

---WE ATE---
Dalian isn't really known for its distinctive or particularly delicious local cuisine, but since many of the citizens hail from other parts of China, you can experience a variety of dishes. Heather guided us to a popular dumpling restaurant and a fantastically spicy hotpot venue, and we experienced many tasty discoveries simply by following our noses as we wandered the downtown streets. The usual rules regarding street food in Asia apply: if the venue looks popular and busy with locals, the food is probably good; but if it's eerily quiet and/or the menu has a large amount of English and Japanese on it, be wary!

1. 大清花饺子 / Dà Qīng Hūa Jiǎozi / Qing Dynasty Dumplings: There's a wide variety of dumplings (饺子 jiǎozi) on offer here. We ordered servings of lamb, beef and seafood boiled dumplings, and all had the hallmark soft skins and juicy fillings of expertly made dumplings. As an added bonus, our meal came with a free appetizer of dofu nǎo.
2. 周記米线 / Zhōu Jì Mǐ Xiàn / Weekly Rice Noodles: This restaurant's specialty, "Over the Bridge Noodles" (过桥米线 guòqiáo mǐxiàn), hails from the Yunnan region in China but is popular in Dalian. The hot chicken broth, chock full of meat, mushrooms, bean sprouts, quail eggs, rice noodles and a host of other tasty things gave us a blissful food coma. If you are staying in Dalian for a while, there is a loyalty tally board at the front -- eat 5 bowls of noodles and get the 6th bowl free. We found the small noodle shop -- tucked between Labour Park and the Foreign Languages Institute -- via a tip from Wikitravel.
3. 皇城老妈 (港湾广场店) / Huáng Chéng Lǎo Mā (Gǎngwān Guǎngchǎng Diàn) / Imperial Mother Gangwan Square Location: For some spicy hotpot, Heather asked around and heard good things about this Sichuan style restaurant. The location is a bit fancy-pants, with multiple floors overlooking the big lit-up boat sculpture on Gangwan Square. We ordered a half-and-half hotpot, with one side filled with mind-blowingly spicy red peppers and the other side a soothing mild milky broth. Into the burbling soup went a variety of meats, veggies, tofu and fishcake. Out of the soup came the savory boiled treats, perfect when ladled atop a bowl of rice. Though we started out wondering if we could handle the heat, the hot peppers numbed our tongues and we soon found ourselves addicted to the adrenaline-inducing spices. For dessert, try their humongous red bean ice; it's really really huge. They'll break it into separate dishes for you, so hurry and snap a picture of the towering dessert so your friends back home will believe you -- I was too late on the draw, so you'll just have to take my word for it.
4. Barbeque: I don't know the official name of this street (友好路 / Yǒuhǎo Lù, maybe?) but every evening from around 6:00 pm until midnight, about 1 block west of our hotel (the Express by Holiday Inn), a row of outdoor charcoal grills and tables sprouted up like magic. Just about anything that could be skewered on a stick and grilled was on offer here. We sidled up, pointed to the meats that we wanted, and sat down to await the BBQ goodness. Especially recommended: lamb, chicken, green onions wrapped with tofu skin and toasted mantou. Not skewered but also mind-blowingly delicious and incredibly juicy when grilled: sea urchins and crabs. Also on offer but not tried by us: hotpots and hearty looking soups.
5. Wrap: At night, there's a short one-block-long string of food stalls directly across from the Zhongshan Hotel. We had a delicious savory wrap sandwich filled with ham, egg, lettuce, scallions and hot sauce, at a popular stall where the crepes were kneaded and grilled on the spot for a steady line of customers. Other stalls in the same market offered the usual suspects: scallion pancakes and lamb skewers.
6. Tánghúlu (糖葫芦): You can find a lot of snacks on sticks in China, and not all of them are salty. Tánghúlu consist of long bamboo skewers of fruits and nuts coated in hardened sugar, and they're an absolutely delicious indulgence. The one we sampled at a stall along Tian Jin Street were not too sweet and consisted of what tasted like tangy crab apples interspersed with walnuts.
7. Dāo xīao mìan (刀削麵): A bowl of pork and knife shaved noodles at a small neighborhood restaurant near the Dalian Polytechnic University, served in a stone bowl. So verrry good! I could have this every day.
8. Cold rice noodle salad: I don't know what it's called, but I really liked this dish that we enjoyed at a market near the airport and the Dalian Polytechnic University. To prepare a serving, the vendor chopped up the fresh broad rice noodles (河粉) with some minced cucumbers, green onions and parsley, and mixed them all up with some sauces. Served cold, it was a savory, slightly spicy, refreshing salad.

Enjoy your trip to Dalian!