Dalian

Dalian, also known as Bincheng, and was called as Dalini or Qingniwa in the ancient times. Dalian is in the South of the Liaodong Peninsula, opposite to the Shandong Peninsula. It is at the coast of Huang Bohai, and in the hinterland of Dongbei. It is an important harbor for the Eastern China economic, trading, tourism, and industrial fields.

(Source: Internet)

Dalian has an excellent environment for living, the winter is not freezing cold and the summer is not sweltering hot. It is also known as “the Window of Dongbei, the Pearl of the North and the Capital of Romance.” It is the largest port city in China and the showcase of Dongbei’s opening up. The city’s has been awarded many titles including “International Garden City, China’s Best Tourism City, National Model City for Environmental Protection” and so on.

Dalian is the resident host city for the World Economic Forum (WEF), and owns the largest agricultural futures exchange in China, and the second largest soybean futures market in the world (Dalian Commodities Exchange). In the June of 2014, the China’s tenth national new district — Dalian Jinpu District was officially established.

History and Culture

Since the Xia Dynasty, Dalian was an area with a vast territory that was sparsely populated. However, it had intensive connections with the Shandong Peninsula and had been influenced significantly by it during its transition into the Bronze Age. During the Shang Dynasty, the third Wangxiang moved his resident from Liaodong to Shangqiu. Due to homesickness, he travelled a lot between the two areas and created the route between Penglai and Dalia, which lead the connection between Dalian and the Northern coastline of Shandong became more established.

During the Spring and Autumn period, Dalian’s bronze culture thrived. So far, the number of discovered ruins is almost a hundred and typical remains include the curving qingtong dagger. In 685 BC, Duke Huan of Qi was enthroned. He developed Liaodong area and encouraged massive migration to the Liaodong region. In 567 BC, Qi defeated Lai and gained the territory in the eastern coastline of Shandong Peninsula. Lai lost the war and retreated to the Liaodong Peninsula leading to a significant population growth in Dalian. The government built villages and managed those areas with officials. The massive migrations integrated the culture of Shandong and Liaodong and improved the productivity development level. The commercial and handicraft industries were developed as well.

Dalian has a long history. 6000 years ago, mankind had discovered and developed the area, and since 1899 the area was called Dalian. During the First and Second Opium War, the British army invaded Dalian. The area was also a main battlefield for the First Sino-Japanese War and Russo-Japanese War. Dalian suffered badly from robberies and became a Japanese and Russian colony for almost half century.

In the August of 1899, Tsar developed Qingniwa (Dalian) as a free port and named it Dalini. But the Chinese still called it Qingniwa. In the August of 1945, the Japanese government announced an unconditional surrender and Dalian was freed from the Anti-Fascist War.

Natural Environment

Dalian is the gateway of Beijing and Tianjin, its West close to Yingkou city, its South lies off the Shandong Peninsula. Dalian covers a total area of 12,574 square kilometers; the old district area is 2415 square kilometers. Most of territory is mountains and hills, others are lowlands. The general terrain is high in the north and low in the south, wide in the north and narrow in the south.

Climate

Dalian lies in the northern warm temperate region and has the northern warm temperate regional continental monsoon climate with maritime characteristics. It is the warmest place of the Dongbei area with distinctive seasons. Fortunately, winters are not freezing cold and summers are not scorching hot. The average temperature is 10.5℃, with a record high of 37.8℃ and a record low of -19.13℃. Annual precipitation is 550-950 mm. August is the hottest with an average temperature of 24℃. January is the coldest with an average temperature of -5℃. About 60-70% rain is concentrated in summer with frequent rain storm.

Holiday

The same as China’s legal holidays

New Year’s Day January1st - January 3

Spring Festival New Year’s Eve to the sixth day of the lunar January

Tomb-sweeping Day April 2 - April 4

Labor Day April 30 - May 2

Dragon Boat Festival June 9 - June 11

Mid-autumn Festival September 15 - September 17

National Day October 1st - October 7