Experience the best of Dalian

Dalian was built from the 1890s as a port by the Russians, who called it Dalny, and then developed by the Japanese from 1905, and both left their mark in a European-style centre of round plazas and grand bank buildings. Zhongshan Square, ringed by colonial-era banks, still marks the centre, and Xinghai Square, one of the largest city squares in the world, runs down to the sea.

Binhai Road follows the cliffs and coves of the southern coast, past parks, rock gardens and sandy beaches such as Bangchuidao and, further north-east, Jinshitan. At the end of the peninsula Lüshun, once the Russian naval base of Port Arthur, has fortresses and museums from the Russo-Japanese War of 1904 to 1905, and the Changshan islands offer ferries and fishing villages in the Yellow Sea.

Seafood is the heart of the cooking: scallops, abalone, sea cucumber, clams and prawns, served steamed, grilled or in dumplings. Sea breezes keep the summers cooler than inland north China and the winters milder than elsewhere in the north-east, so that the city is at its best between late spring and early autumn.