FIND CHINA introduces Dalian

Dalian is the governing sub-provincial city in the eastern Liaoning Province of Northeast China. Dalian is a very popular destination among Chinese tourists and foreign visitors, especially from Japan, Korea and Russia. Its mild climate and multiple beaches as well as its importance in the modern history of China make it an especially nice place to visit.

Some of the most famous beaches are Xinghai beach, Tiger beach, Fujiazhuang beach and Jinshitan beach. Dalian has a modern international airport, Dalian Zhoushuizi International Airport, with direct flights to the most major cities in China, and to selected cities within Japan, South Korea and Germany.

The city's location means that train trips to most Chinese cities outside China's northeastern region require changing trains in Shanghai or Beijing. Most of the direct city-to-city express trains are overnight trips. The new Harbin-Dalian High-Speed Passenger Railway will connect these two cities in 4.5 hours.

In addition to local and express bus service to Beijing and other areas in the northeast, Dalian is connected by passenger ship service to neighbouring coastal cities, such as Tianjin and Yantai, as well as Incheon, South Korea.

Dalian is rich in fruit and seafood and the local cuisine reflects this.

As a world-renowned summer resort, Dalian is at its most attractive between April and October. Falling within the temperate zone, it is the warmest place in Dongbei (the north-eastern part of China). Unfortunately in summer, since it is a port city, it is sometimes plagued by monsoon. Generally speaking, Dalian has four distinct seasons, with no freezing winter or sweltering summer. The annual average temperature stays somewhere around 10 degrees C. August is the hottest month, when the daily temperature is infrequently below 24 degrees C., with extremes as high as 35. January is the coldest month, when it averages minus 4.9 degrees C., with extremes as low as minus 24. The annual precipitation varies greatly from one year to another, an average between 550 to 950 millimetres. As a port city, about 60 to 70 per cent of the precipitation comes down in summer, mostly during rainstorm activity. In contrast, spring and summer witness relatively long spells of drought. It is fairly windy in this city; powerful Yellow Sea draughts hit the jutting peninsular with refreshing fury.

The perennial current from the ocean helps moisten the air, making pollution levels more endurable than some of China's other heavily industrial cities.