As a child growing up in the south, my impression of northern cities mainly came from film and television works until I had the fortune to visit Dalian.
This distant northern city actually boasts a vast, azure sea and inherently carries a romantic and artistic vibe in its bones. The entire city is permeated with a slow and melodious rhythm.
The city streets are scattered with numerous European-style buildings, often making me feel as if I were in a foreign land.
Seagulls hover in the sky throughout the four seasons, and the boardwalk leading to the sea is filled with a romantic atmosphere everywhere.
Don’t just know about Dalian’s snow; Dalian’s summer belongs to the sea.
The summer vacation in July and August is the highlight of Dalian, with an average temperature of 22-25 degrees Celsius every year!Dalian is worth visiting in winter and summer, and worth visiting again and again.
PS: To avoid affecting the viewing experience due to excessive length, the travel, food, and accommodation tips are placed at the end! 👀
Day1: Lingjiaowan ➡️ Fisherman’s Wharf ➡️ Fujiazhuang ➡️ Xinghaiwan Bridge ➡️ Yinshatan (watch the sunset)
Lingjiaowan:
Located on the opposite shore of Fisherman’s Wharf 📍
The undulating colorful rooftops of European-style buildings unfold in a line along the azure sea 🌊, with a background of rolling mountains, as if in a foreign country .
Travel tips:
- 👉 Navigate to 【Lingjiaowan Parking Lot】
- 👉 It’s best to have a telephoto lens. Walk to the beach 🏖 or zoom in to 3x or 6x to capture the houses 🏠
- 👉 If your phone can’t capture a good effect, there are many photography vendors nearby. They produce photos quickly, solving it in ten minutes, and charge 20 yuan for 3 photos.
Fisherman’s Wharf
It is a century-old fishing port. What’s remarkable is that after so many years of cultural tourism development, it has still been preserved intact, leaving a trace of fishing village memory in Dalian.
On one side is the hustle and bustle of fishing and net drying, and on the other side are colorful European-style buildings. The two are both conflicting and blending, forming an inexplicable harmony.
There are also some seafood barbecue stalls near the wharf. Follow the smell of barbecue and you can find them.
On the shore is a colorful small town integrating commerce and leisure, with many cafes and homestays, which are also worth visiting and taking photos.
Fujiazhuang Park
It is one of the most popular bathing beaches in Dalian, with complete bathing services and facilities.
The seawater here is blue-green, crystal clear, and truly jelly-like !
From the shore to the deep sea, the color of the seawater changes in layers, from yellow-green, green, blue-green, azure, to dark blue, which is very beautiful~
Cross-sea Bridge
The cross-sea bridge is the longest cross-sea bridge in Northeast China and China’s first sea-anchored suspension cross-sea bridge.
On one side is the sea, and on the other side faces the land. Only by personally experiencing it on the bridge can you discover its magnificence and architectural beauty.
Travel tips:
- 👉 The best viewing point is not on the bridge. You can navigate to 【South Gate of Forest Zoo】, and there is a bus dispatch room opposite.
- Walk 50 meters along the pedestrian boardwalk next to the dispatch room to reach the best shooting spot.
Yinshatan Park
After photographing the cross-sea bridge, walk along the wooden boardwalk for a few minutes to reach Yinshatan.
When the weather is good, it’s blue and green, very beautiful!
Most importantly‼️ come to Yinshatan to chase a sunset!
The sea, seagulls, and the setting sun, witnessing the horizon changing from blue to orange-red with your own eyes, every frame is worthy of being a wallpaper.
Travel tips:
- You can take photos on the small path leading to the sea, which has a feeling of a small Kamakura~
- Navigate to 【North Gate of Yinshatan】, get off the car and you’ll find this popular downhill road, which is super photogenic~
Day 2: Lianhua Mountain ➡️ Bangchui Island ➡️ Chenxi Beach ➡️ Donggang (watch the sunset) ➡️ Venice Water City
Lianhua Mountain Observation Deck
- 🎫Ticket: One-way ticket price 60r/person
- 🚗Transportation: Take a taxi to the South No.2 Gate of the Forest Zoo or take a bus to the South Gate of the Forest Zoo and navigate to the South No.2 Gate.
Lianhua Mountain is the highest peak in Dalian. Sitting in the cable car, you can see the sea on one side and the mountains on the other.
You can overlook the entire cross-sea bridge and the endless coastline👏
Travel tips: The south gate of the cable car is the Dalian Forest Zoo. If you are taking children to the zoo, you can buy a package ticket for the cable car and the zoo, which is more cost-effective.
Bangchui Island
🎫Ticket: 30
It is a national 4A-level tourist attraction, with mountains, sea, islands, and beaches as the main landscapes.
It is surrounded by mountains on three sides and borders the sea on one side, with a group of mountains surrounding it on the north side.
Ocean Rhythm Chenxi Beach
🎫Ticket: Free
A little-known emerald-colored 🧊 beach, with cliffs and reefs, forming a vast and magnificent mountain and sea landscape.
Half mountain, half sea, it is another kind of Dalian romance.
Tips:
Energy-saving route: Take a taxi directly to Sunrise Square. Upon arrival at Sunrise Square, you can see the sign 🪧 for Chenxi Beach. Follow the plank road entrance and walk down about 400 meters to reach it!
Donggang
🎫Ticket: Free
You can ride a bicycle by the sea, or take a boat out to sea to feed the seagulls and have close contact with them.
Be sure to go to the yacht marina in the evening to capture the sunset!
Watch the round and plump sun set in the distance by the shore, and see the orange golden light spread across the entire lake surface.
There is also a free music fountain light show!
Tips: After watching the sunset in Donggang, you can go to Venice Water City before it gets completely dark, so you can capture both the daytime architecture of Venice and the water city lit up at dusk.
Venice Water City
🎫Ticket: Free
Speaking of romance in Dalian, besides the seaside, Venice Water City definitely has a place!
Built with 8 billion yuan, the European-style “Oriental Water City” is like walking in Venice, Italy.
Day 3: Arrange everything in Lüshunkou District
Lüshun
“One Lüshunkou, half of modern Chinese history.”
Lüshun is a very important page in Dalian’s history.
Every stone and every piece of land here are engraved with the painful and tremendous changes in modern Chinese history.
Apart from its heavy history, Lüshun also has a vast sea and is a place worth arranging a separate day to see the sea and humanity (Lüshun’s cultural attractions are very concentrated).
Transportation guide: If you are not self-driving, you can take Metro Line 12 from Dalian city to Lüshun Metro Station (about 40 minutes) to go from Dalian city to Lüshun. After getting off, you can directly take a taxi or ride a shared electric vehicle near the metro to visit the urban area.
Specific route: Russo-Japanese Prison Site Museum ➡️ Lüshun Museum ➡️ Lüshun Railway Station ➡️ Baiyu Mountain ➡️ Haiying Street ➡️ Peace Park (watch the sunset)
Russo-Japanese Prison Site Museum
- 🎫Ticket: None
- 🕑: 09:00-16:30 (closed on Mondays) April 1 to October 31
As a witness to history, this prison, which began construction in the early 20th century, was originally built by Tsarist Russia and expanded by Japan in 1907.
The prison mainly held anti-Japanese activists and participants from Manchuria and Korea at that time.
The prison has basically retained its original appearance from a hundred years ago, including the search room, cells, dark cells, guard rest room, and execution ground…
There are guided tours every half hour, and the site is a profound educational site, constantly reminding us to always remember history and never forget national humiliation.
Remember to make a reservation on the official account one day in advance!
Lüshun Museum
- 🎫Ticket: None
- 🕑: 09:00-16:30 (closed on Mondays) April 1 to October 31
It is the earliest established museum in Northeast China and one of the first batch of national first-grade museums.
It has a rich collection, and the entire museum’s style and architecture are very stylish and historical.
There is also a 🌪️ mummy exhibition hall on the 3rd floor of the main building (the museum’s treasure), where a pair of mummies lie peacefully.
Unearthed from Turpan, Xinjiang, they are more than 1,300 years old and are identified as a noble couple from the Han Dynasty during the heyday of the Tang Dynasty’s Gaochang period.
You will pass by the Sino-Soviet Friendship Memorial Tower, which you can visit along the way.
Lüshun Railway Station
One of the top ten most beautiful railway stations in China, the Russian-style building with its green dome and yellow exterior walls is exceptionally colorful and unique in style.
Although it is no longer in use, the entire Russian-style building exterior is also quite photogenic.
Naval Port Park
🎫Ticket: 30 during the day, free after 17:30
One of the important bases of the Chinese Navy and one of the five major naval ports in the world.
You can appreciate warships and feed seagulls.
It’s not big inside, and you can finish visiting in about 15 minutes.
You can also see ships outside, along with the “Hundred-Year Naval Port Lüshunkou” sign.
Personally, I feel this place is not worth spending money on tickets, but for military enthusiasts, it’s worth going inside to take a look.
Note that this is a restricted area, so don’t take photos 📸 outside.
Baiyu Mountain
🎫Ticket: 40 yuan, free after 17:00
You can overlook the full view of Lüshun from 360 degrees, with the blue sea, Lüshun Naval Port, and Tiger’s Tail all in one view. It only takes 20 minutes to climb to the top of the mountain.
Tahe Bay Station
It can’t be considered a scenic spot, but when you arrive at this station, you can see the sea. The combination of the sea and railway tracks 🚄 makes for very Japanese comic-like photos.
If you come by metro, there’s no need to deliberately take a separate trip. When you arrive at this station, you can get off first to take photos, then take the next train.
Lüshun Haiying Street Citywalk
Route: Haiying Street (you can search for 📍 the intersection of Haiying Street and Bingang Road) → World Peace Park
Walk slowly along Haiying Street, a street that looks very much like those in Japanese dramas.
Take a leisurely stroll 🚶, feel the sea breeze blowing gently, watch the fishing boats moored on the shore, and see the seagulls circling in the sky.
Then walk to Peace Park and wait for a sunset, watching a sunset under the Ferris wheel or taking the Ferris wheel to view the sunset and sea from afar.
About Transportation
- 🚄 High-speed rail/train: Dalian Station is close to the city center, while Dalian North Station is farther from the city center. It is recommended to choose Dalian Station.
- ✈️ Airplane: Dalian Zhoushuizi Airport is right in the city, very convenient to take the metro.
- 🕙 Travel duration: 4-5 days
Food Recommendations
Xiding
📍 Donggang, the store in Xinghai Square is difficult to queue, ☑️ the sea urchin dumplings are truly fresh and delicious as claimed
Jiangxianghe
Recommended dishes
- Ancient-style abalone / Dalian sea urchin
- Sea intestine rice / Scrambled eggs with spicy crab
Pinhailou
It is recommended to go to the store at Fisherman’s Wharf 🌊
Guangcai Restaurant
This store is near Xinghai Square. The signature sea urchin tofu, chive boxes, and seafood pot are all praiseworthy
Recommended dishes: Stir-fried whelk slices with napacabbage, sea intestine rice
Accommodation Recommendations
- ① Zhongshan Square / Youhao Square / (Old District City Walk)
- ② Xinghai Square (convenient for sea views)
Dalian has over 2,200 kilometers of coastline and 538 islands. This time, I only focused on introducing some attractions in Dalian’s city center and Lüshunkou District, as they are relatively more visitor-friendly.
Next time, I will introduce other more beautiful and vast areas. I also discovered that Dalian is actually very suitable for bringing children! There are so many facilities and programs available for children to play. If you’re interested, I can make a separate post.
