Located in the southern tip of the Liaodong Peninsula, facing Gulf of BoHai Sea, Dalian is one of China's major foreign trading ports, fishing bases and shipyards. It is also a major industrial city of northeast China, churning out products such as chemicals, glass wear, textiles and diesel engines.
Dalian was opened to foreign commerce in 1901 and occupied by the Japanese troops during the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905).
With pleasant weather, nice architecture, beautiful parks and excellent beaches, Dalian is a famous summer resort. Top tourist attracts include Laohutan Park, Black Reef, and Bangchui Island.
Geographical Information
Location: located between 38°43' - 40°10' north latitude and 120° 58' - 123° east longitude, and in the southernmost point of Liaodong Peninsula; with the Yellow Sea to its east and the Bohai Sea to its west.
Neighboring Areas: Jilin and Hebei provinces; Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region
Physical Features: situated in the south part of Liaodong Hilly Region surrounded by sea on three sides; one of the three largest hilly regions in China; the terrain sloping down from northeast to southwest

Population: 5.4 million
Urban Population: 2.59 million
Area: 12,578 sq km

Nationalities: Han

History: In early Tang dynasty, called "Lion Mouth" for its inaccessibility; in 1371, settled by troops sent by Zhu Yuanzhang - the emperor of Ming dynasty at Port of Lushun from Shandong; renamed "Qingni Wa" since Ming and Qing dynasties

Climatic Features: located in the warm temperate zone of the North Hemisphere with a warm temperate continental monsoon climate ; no extreme coldness in winter or utterly hot in summer; 4 four distinc seasons

Average Temperature: 8.4? - 10.5? with the highest of 35? and the lowest of - 24?

Rainfall: annual precipitation of 600 mm to 790 mm

Products: grain, flax, corn, ripe, broomcorn, soybean, cotton, peanut, tobacco leaf

Specialties: haw, apple, yellow peach, grape and cherry, prawns, abalones, and sea cucumbers

Natural Resources
Climate Dalian lies in the warm temperate zone of the North Hemisphere, and so enjoys a warm temperate continental monsoon climate with maritime climatic features. It has no extremely cold weather in winter, no utterly hot days in summer, but still with four distinctive seasons. The total annual sunshine in the region is 2,500-2,800 hours, and the average temperature of the year is 8.4? -10.5?, with an annual average rainfall ranging from 600 mm to 790 mm;
Land Dalian covers a total area of 1.34 million hectares, in which 444,000 hectares are arable land, 366,700 hectares are forests, 93,000 hectares are orchards and garden land, and another 59,000 hectares are barren land suitable for agriculture or forestry. The soil in the region is mainly brown earth, which covers an area of 907,000 hectares, counting for 81.47% of the land area of Dalian.
The Charm of Sea square
Sea and Islands Dalian claims spacious sea surface of over 30,000 square kilometers and the coastline stretches 1,906 kilometer. The area is blessed with numerous bays and islands, the number of which amounts to as much as 30, with a total area of over 100,000 hectares. Most important among them are the Dalian Bay, the Dayaowan Bay, the Pulandian Bay, the Jinzhou Bay, and the Fuzhouwan Bay. Sheltered The Charm of Sea Square from wind and waves from outer seas, they never freeze nor silt all year round. There are as many as 705 islands of different sizes, covering a total area of 30,000 hectares. The largest among them are the Changshan Island, Guanglu Island, and the River Deer Island. Islands closest to the continent include the Changxing Island, the Xizhong Island and the Fengming Island.
Mineral Resources Over 40 different kinds of mineral resources, which are scattered in over 500 sites, have already been verified in the entire Dalian region. Mineral resources mainly fall into three categories: metal, non-metal and building material, the latter two are rich in reserve. The reserve of diamond ranks the first in the country, and the quality of diamond here is among the top in the world. Besides there are rich reserves for non-metal mines including limestone, silica, marble, asbestos and granite.
Natural Scenery Dalian is a place where you can find natural scenes of stunning beauty, amiable climate, stylish architecture, comfortable beaches and summer tourist resorts. The gardens and circuses everywhere are good decorations of the city. Along the southern coast, a road like a jade ribbon runs among the mountains and along the sea, threading through the scenic spots of Bangchui Island, Tiger Beach, Fujia Village, Baiyunshan Park, and Xinghai Park. To the southwest of the city, there are worldly famous Lushunkou.
Cutural Square
Taiyanggou (Sun Valley), Baiyu Mount (White Jade Mount) and natural wonders such as the Snake Island and the Sea Cat Island. To the north of the city, there is the Golden Pebble Beach Holiday Resort, where one can see typical sea-corroded landscape and landform of coastal cast, and the Almighty's master piece--the unique "turtle-shell rocks." In Dalian there is also the Bingyu Valley's scenery attractions in the north of the Zhuanghe city, which boasts soothing clear rivers and green mountains.
Infrastructure
Harbors The construction of the Dalian harbor started in 1899, and is now the third largest in China, and the largest export harbor of the country. There are 65 berths specially for crude oil, oil products, coal, steel, timber, grain, containers and general cargo. Among them, 35 are berths for ships above 10,000 dead weight tons. The annual handl ing capacity of the Dalian harbor is over 80 million dead weight tons and it has established shipping relationship with over 150 countries and territories worldwide. The Dayaowan Bay Harbor now under construction is going to be the largest international deep water transit port with 100 deep water berths to be built for a designed handling capability of 80 million tons. Now in the first phase of construction, 4 container berths and 2 generally purposed berths are already in use, and the remaining berths are under construction.

Airport The Dalian International Airport at Zhoushuizi in the northwestern part of the city can accommodate large aircraft such as Being 747. Forty-nine air routes have been established connecting Dalian in the air with 47 cities in China and around the world.

Railway Railway from Dalian joins the rail network of Northeast China and North China. The Changchun-Dalian railway line is the main trunk in the railway system of the region. It branches out to the east and west coasts along Lushun, Jinzhuang, Nangan, Tianwu, and Bailao Lines, connecting themselves with marine transportation. The total length of these railway lines is 1,383.7 km, and the Dalian part of the Changchun-Dalian line is 162 km, with 43 stations for freight and passenger transportation.
Hope Square
The Dalian Jinzhou central marshalling yard which is now under construction will further improve the capacity of Dalian's railway transportation. The electrification of the railway line from Dalian to Harbin currently being planned will usher in a new era of bullet trains and fast main tracks.

Road The total length of roads and highways in Dalian is now 4,091 km, of which 4,089 km are above grade 4, crossing 1,710 bridges. The highway density is 32.5km/100km2.137km throughout Dalian region. There are 62 public bus lines operating in the city, with a total length of 625.3km.. On average, 18.8 standard buses are available for every 10.000 people, and the daily passenger flow volume is 2.973 million.
Turism
Bangchuidao Scenic Area kilometers (3 miles) east of downtown Dalian, Bangchuidao Scenic Area consists of Bangchuidao Island and Bangchuidao Guesthouse. The islet is situated 600 meters (about 2000 feet) away from the smooth seashore. Since the ginseng shaped island looks like a Bangchui - a wooden baton used by ancient Chinese as a washing tool, it was named Bangchuidao by the local people. Covering only 0.3 square kilometers, the tiny islet features steep cliffs, craggy stones, blossoming flowers and singing birds. Its lido and sunrise win the small islet a fine fame.

Jinshitan Scenic Area Jinshitan (Golden Stone Beach) Scenic Area is a national scenic park, which lies at the south tip of Liaodong Peninsula and borders Yellow Sea, 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the downtown and adjacent to Dalian economic and technological development zone. The park, having a number of natural wonders, covers 62 square kilometers (24 square miles) land space and 58 square kilometers (22 square miles) maritime space.
At the east part of the peninsula, along the 8 kilometers (5 miles) long coast, splendid rocks formations constitute a natural museum of marine-erosion rocks, goes and rauks, which formed from Sinian to Cambrian. Those vivid rock formations are of great scientific value and appreciation value. Visitors may enjoy these natural splendors on sightseeing buses shuttling along the coast. Most of them are free except those having undergone human reconstruction.