Dalian, China

[Miss Jolly]

I have read about the vans waiting to take passengers on tours. Our family has done this in places like Aruba and Gibralter and found it to be an excellent experience. I would like to know more details re Dalian please such as cost and time involved and places to go. Thank you.:)

[Sandy R]

I think I can help here. My info is from 2006 and we were on the Sapphire Princess...we docked at a container port about 20-30 minutes from the city center. We walked off the ship maybe 30 minutes after we docked and made our way out to the street (from the gangway to the street was about one long block). There were 4 or 5 vans waiting. Guides from each van came up to the 6 of us and asked if we wanted a tour. We chose the guide that spoke the best English... not great but at least we could understand her. I had done research on the internet, so we told her what we wanted to see: Russian Street, Bin Hai Road, Zhongshan Square, Xinghai Square in Liaodong Province (a must see... a whole new modern area that will knock your socks off), Tiger Beach and Beida Bridge. The tour was about 4-5 hours. We opted for a late lunch on the ship because we weren't sure where the guide might take us. I can't remember the cost but it wasn't more than $20-25 pp & she took our US$$.

[edpacecar]

Haven’t been there but sailing next fall Sept. 23 – Oct. 26 on the Veendam that will stop there. I have just started to research.

 

http://www.12dalian.com/

 

http://www.dalian.world-guides.com/dalian_attractions.html

 

http://www.chinatour.com/maps/dalian_map.jpg

CLICK ON PICTURES

 

http://www.princess.com/images/learn/ports/pdf/portguides/dalian.pdf

[anchorage1977]

Dalian was a fun city for our first Chinese port. As you walk off the pier, you can walk downtown if you choose... but be so very careful of the traffic. Crosswalks, signals and pedestrians in the road mean NOTHING to the Chinese. Be alert!

 

One place for lunch I'd highly recommend is the cafe (buffet) in the Shangri La Hotel. It was wonderful food for about $20 USD. Here's the link:

 

http://www.shangri-la.com/en/property/dalian/shangrila/dining/restaurant/icafe

 

Another fun experience we had was going into a tea store here. We were there for about a half hour trying various teas, being shown how to make Chinese tea properly and none of it was a heavy sales pitch. We walked out with some nice tea cups, a tea pot and 100g of our new favorite green tea for around $30. The choices were amazing.

 

ATMs were everywhere, the city is pretty modern and clean and I think you'll enjoy your time with or without a guide.