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What are your opinions on Dalian's viability as a tourist destination, for Western (non Russian - as many of them already come) tourists.

Benefits:
Decent Weather
Clean (for China)
Good Hotels, Reasonably Priced

Drawbacks:
Lack of history/culture
Lack of nightlife
Lack of restaurants offering a variety of food
Expensive shops (compared to HK, for example)

Will it ever take off?

It will take time; yes, Dalian has the potential - clean air, lots of sea front , summers that are not extreme,and young people.

However, I sit in front of my restaurant and watch a local farmer slaughter a pig twice a week. The beach at Jinshitan is full of plastic, paper, etc, and a trail of men walk to the shore and relieve themselves of too many bottles of their favourite refreshment rather than pay the 1 RMB to use the facilties.

Dalian is only a few steps away from an agrarian society - it will take years to bring up the standard to Macao or Hong Kong or Taiwan.

Yes Penfold, I'm afraid that as a tourist destination for most westerners Dalian is not going to be top of any list. Those of us who live here in the main know that it has a little something special which is hard to put a finger on, but the habits of many people, some of which the first reply touched upon, are very alien to even travel seasoned westerners, although I've seen a few bad things happen amongst them! Even if you were to target the package holiday/ beer and chips brigade who go to Malaga etc where would they go and would Dalian really want them anyway? Other American or European tourists would hate the packed and rubbish strewn beaches and the gobbing,and the cheating as opposed to bartering or good-natured haggling in for example some Middle East countries, and as you say where is the history, you have Black Mountain and Bin yu Go ( sorry for spelling ) and Lushun but then it's a full stop. Shopping is fine but there is a saturation point. Restaurants are so-so and good ones close at 9.30 - 10.00 pm, and even with the excellent chinese ones, can you really make a night of it, I don't think so! Nightclubs, forget it, most of them are overpriced and have a sense of menace in the air with a lot of undesirables loitering around, all of which you can get in many countries but normally 2 metre bouncers are a good deterrent. So to sum up, unless you have family or friends here, I don't think the average punter is going to spend their well earned sponduly coming unless they believe the hype about the " Hong Kong of the North " or " Pearl of the North " ps - don't I go on ?

Paragraphs are your friends, people!

I'd have to say that within China, Dalian is one of the last places you'd want to visit, but one of the best places to live. I think most people can agree with this.

Why do "we" live here? Here's a list to start us off...

- the bus system. Buses are ample, and we can get anywhere we want to in about 30 minutes, tops.

- size. Thanks in part to the bus system, Dalian is easy to get around in, despite the six million+ population.

- cleanliness. Dalian is the the cleanest place in China.

- people. Rarely does a taxi driver or a restauranteur try to rip you off.

Add to the list!


However, I would never recommend Dalian to a tourist because...

- beaches. Dalian has the worst beaches on Earth. I don't understand why the municipality promotes its beaches so much. They are brutal. What's a beach with no sand?

- history. Or lack thereof. One of China's strongest attraction points is it's history, and there's not much here.


That's about it. Dalian can be expensive when it comes to shopping and hotels, but it's still cheap to a westerner.

The weather isn't that great. Tourists who cared that much about the weather would go down south.

I could see Dalian being an alright place for backpackers to pass through, but not "hardcore" travellers.

Paragraphs do not matter when you have verbal diaorrhoea and have to get rid of it quickly.
I apologise teacher.

I have an uncle living there and most of my family has been over to visit as tourists and absolutley loved it. but then they havent seen anywhere else in China to compare Dalian to I guess.

Im coming over in a few weeks for a month or so this thread is worrying me haha

Is there anywhere nearby (within reasonavble land travel distances) I should check out when Im there to make the most of my trip?