Dalian is considered as an ideal place for vacationers
4 min readDalian is located in the southern tip of Liaodong Peninsular and the terminal of Shenda（Shenyang-Dalian）Railway.Its main industries include ship-building，machinery，chemicals，oil refinery，textiles，and food processing.Dalian Port is a deepwater one，and is one of the important foreign trade ports of China.The city is blessed with a beautiful environment，favourable location and strong industrial base.Its advantage as a port city has been the most attractive feature for overseas investors.Dalian tries to upgrade its port and build itself into a regional and international shipping centre.
Dalian is one of the most pleasant and prosperous cities in China.With only 100 years or so of history，it spent more than half a century under colonial rule，first under the Russians and then under the Japanese，who ruled the city for 40 years.
Today’s Dalian，surrounded on three sides by the Bohai Seaand Yellow Sea，incorporates the major seaport town at the southwestern tip of the Liaodong peninsula（previously known as Port Arthur）and Dalian port on Korea Bay.The city is free of ice all year round and features an important naval base，which guards the entrance to the gulf of Bohai，and the main commercial port for industrialized northeast China.
Dalian is connected by pipeline to the productive Daqing oil field and since the petroleum-exporting point in the country.It can accommodate supertankers and also boasts the largest shipbuilding yards in the country.
History
As early as 6000 years ago，our ancestors first exploited Dalian region.In Qin and Han period（221BC-220AD），Dalian region was under the jurisdiction of Liaodongcounty.In the early period of Tang Dynasty（618-907），Dalian region was under the jurisdiction of Andong Prefecture in Jili state，and in Liao Dynasty（916-1125），it was under the jurisdiction of Dong Jing Tong Liaoyang county.Dalian was named Sanshan in the period of Weijin（220-420），San Shanpu in Tang Dynasty（618-907），Sanshan Seaport in Ming Dynasty（1368-1644）and Qing Niwakou in Qing Dynasty（1644-1911）.In the 1880’s，Qing government constructed loading bridges and fortifications with built-in cannons，and set up mine camps in the northern coast of Dalian gulf，making it become a small town.After the invasion and occupation of Russia，the city was called Qing Niwa and was renamed Dalian in 1899.During the lst and 2nd Opium War，Dalian was invaded and harassed by the British army.As the mainbattlefield of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 and Japanese-Russian War，Dalian suffered great calamity in these two wars in modern history.Consequently，Dalian became Russian and Japanese colony for nearly half a century，meanwhile under the Japanese colonial rule for 40 years.The unconditional surrender of Japan on Augustof 1945 marks the liberation of Dalian in the anti-fascist war，thus ends 40 years’ colonial rule over the city.On September of the same year，the Preparatory Committee of Dalian Workers’Union was founded.On October，the northeast bureau of the Communist Party of China appointed Mr.Hanguan secretary of the CPC Dalian Committee，and the CPC Dalian Committee and Dalian municipal government were founded.On July of 1946，the CPC Dalian Committee was reorganized into the CPC Lida committee.From 1949 to 1956，the socialist transformation was almost finished.From 1957 to 1966，the all-around socialist construction started.From 1966 to 1976，Dalian experienced the Cultural Revolution.After 1976，Dalian entered the new period of socialist modernization construction.In 1984，Dalian was approved by the State Council to be the coastal open-up city and was designated as the city with separate economic plan in 1985，enjoying provincial level decision-making authority.
Geographic Situation
On the east coast of Eurasia and the southern tip of Liaodong peninsular in northeast China，Dalian stretches from 120°58’to 123°31’east longitude and 38°43’to 40°10’north latitude，with the Yellow Sea on the east，Bohai Sea on the west，facing the Shandong peninsular across the sea on the south and backed up by the vast Northeast Plain on the north.Dalian is the marine gateway of northeast China，North China，East China and the whole world.It is also an important port，and a trade，industry and tourism city.Dalian covers an area of 12574 square kilometers，among which 2415 square kilometers of area is the old city.This area abounds with mountains and hills，while plains and lowlands are rarely seen.The terrain，high and broad on the north，low and narrow on the south，tilts to the Yellow Sea on the southeast and the Bohai Sea on the northwest from the center.The region which faces the Yellow Sea is long and gentle.The Qianshan Mountain range of Chang Baishan Mountain system passes through the whole region from north to south.Mountain regions and long eroded foothills are widely dispersed within the region.Plains and lowlands are only interspersed near the confluence and in some valleys.
