Dalian/Zhongshan



Zhongshan District (中山区; Zhōngshānqū), at the eastern edge of Dalian, encompasses the main business and commercial centre of Dalian and many of the most scenic parts of the southern coastline. As a result visitors to the city tend to spend most of their time here, a fact reflected in the wide range of hotels and restaurants found in the district. The downside of this popularity is that hotels, restaurants and shops tend to be more expensive than in other parts of the city. That being said for those who can afford it, or take advantage of the few lower budget options available, Zhongshan District makes for an excellent base for exploring Dalian.



Get in
Central Zhongshan District is very well served when it comes to transportation connections, with both the central train station and passenger ferry terminal lying within its borders. For those arriving by plane, the airport express shuttle and public buses #701 and #702 all stop at the central train station. The main light-rail train station is located in the district, just north of the train station. Tram #201 has several stops in the district.



Get around
Most of the attractions in central Zhongshan District lie within comfortable walking distance of each other. Alternatively, tram 201 takes in much of the central area, and traveling past pretty parks and colonial houses in a 1930s tram car is one of Dalian's more unique experiences. Further afield the Tiger Beach area can be reached via bus 2, departing next to Zhongshan Hotel in Qingniwaqiao, or bus 30, which departs from Zhongshan Square. To get to Donghai Beach take bus 13 from Dalian Railway Station.

Traditional Chinese opera venues
For those interested in traditional musical performances, Dalian offers a couple of optionsː

Budget
Food courts and sidewalk vendors offer the cheapest fare (and the resulting quality shows, often times re-using ingredients or using artificial ingredients). When walking around shopping malls, most of the food courts are underground levels. Foreign fast food chains can be found but the city lacks the variety found in larger cities.

Over the bridge noodles (过桥米线; guòqiáo mǐxiàn) is a dish native to Yunnan province in where raw ingredients (typically a variety of meats, vegetables and quail eggs) are dropped along with rice noodles into a large bowl of boiling hot chicken stock at the table. A thin layer of oil on the top of the soup allows the ingredients to cook inside the soup (the name derives from a legend that a scholar's wife found that any food she took to her husband on the other side of a large bridge went cold before she reached him, so she invented a way of keeping it hot). A dish from the southwest may seem a strange thing to seek out in the Northeast, but guòqiáo mǐxiàn are incredibly popular, with restaurants all over town serving it. Probably the best is located on a side road off the eastern edge of Labour Park, near the Peking Opera House (head east along the road parallel to and south of the street the opera house is on until you find a small restaurant with a couple of seats out the front with a board running along the wall which acts as the restaurant's loyalty scheme, 6th bowl is free). The combination of ingredients are listed on the wall. Busy from 1PM-2PM on weekdays during the school year. ¥6-10.



Splurge
The most expensive restaurants in the city tend to offer seafood or Japanese cuisine. Meals vary in price, but expect to pay ¥200 or more for meals at the high quality establishments.