Travel Guide Dalian 大连

Dalian was known under many different names: It was the Dairen of the Japanese, the Darini of the Russians, the Port Arthur of the Westerners, or Lüda the name of the former Chinese naval base Lüshun, located just a few dozen kilometers south).From the second half of the nineteenth century, the Chinese established a small naval base on the tip of the Liaoning peninsula. Following the opium wars, it was quickly coveted by the western powers, which began to share the Chinese Empire and fight for the best pieces.Japan occupied Dalian and its peninsula after the Sino-Japanese war of 1894. But, four years later, the Russians are succeeding in repelling them for a concession. Indeed, since Vladivostok was only partially free of ice during the winter, the Russians badly needed a maritime outlet: they began the construction of the port and extended the railway line of Irkutsk to Dalian.But peace was short-lived. The city returned to the Japanese in 1905. They continued the work of the port which was completely finished until 1930. Today, without the infrastructure left by the Japanese, Dalian would not be the «Hong Kong of the North» as we sometimes call it. After the Second World War, following the defeat of Nazi Germany and Japan, the city was placed in Soviet custody, which returned it to the Chinese only in 1955, ten years later.As part of a region that Mao called the «North-East Rhur», Dalian is now one of the bastions of Chinese industry with chemical factories, textile factories, fish canneries fed by a large fishing fleet. Much of the crude oil exported by China also passes through this port to deep waters, one of the largest in the North-East provinces.The city todayAt the time of economic reforms and opening, Dalian was the first of the 14 port cities designated SEW (special economic zone) and opened to foreign investors. As a result of its spectacular development, the city of Dalian now seems to bring together two cities: the old town of concessions and the administrative center around the Place du Peuple (Renmin Guangchang 李いس ╩), and the seaside city around the Place des Etoiles de mer (Xinghai Guangchang 海海路).