It seems like everyone tells you that Dalian is the "Pearl of the North" and the "Romantic City".
But no one tells you that when the sea breeze blows through the centuries-old European-style buildings on your face, you will have an urge to cry.
It was February 24, 2026. I stood there and suddenly understood.
Don't do anything flashy, let's talk about how to preserve your soul in this city.
Xinghai Square, is it really just a square?
Most guides will let you go during the day, feed the seagulls, take a photo, and be done with it.
wrong.
You need to go at night, preferably after ten o'clock at night. By that time, all the tour group buses have left, and the square dancing adults have also dispersed.
That night, there were only a few people in the square, and the lights on the sea-crossing bridge were still bright, but the light was not noisy and noisy, but spread quietly on the sea, swaying swayingly. I bought a bag of seagull food that was not sold out, and then sat down on the steps.
Not a single seagull came.
But at that moment, I felt that the whole Dalian belonged to me. Lonely? No, it's freedom.
Jinshitan, can you please stop calling it "wonderful craftsmanship"?
I know that the cracked rocks in the geopark are 600 million years old. As for the dinosaur exploration statue, it may not look like it, but that’s it.
But I want to say that you must step on the sand of Golden Pebble Beach with bare feet .
In the afternoon of that day, the sun burned the gravel so much that my feet felt hot. I walked step by step towards the sea. The water was so cold that I couldn't help but shiver.
Next to me, there was a local man who was catching the sea. He shouted to me in Dalian dialect that smelled like oysters: "Boy, is it cool?" "It's cool!" "Wake up!"
Yes, sober.
On weekdays, we live too numbly. This kind of coldness that can penetrate into our bones is needed. It can be used to remind ourselves that we still exist, as if we are still alive.
Dalian’s fireworks are not in internet celebrity stores
Of course you have to eat seaweed buns and seafood hot pot.
But you must go to a small shop that is hidden in a residential area and even the paint on the signboard is peeling off.
I went to look for Xiaotian, the tour guide recommended by a friend from the Culture and Tourism Bureau. I will tell you in detail later, and he led us into an old street area, but I can’t remember the name of this old street at all.
The seaweed buns served by the landlady had thin skin, and when you bite into them, you can smell the delicious seaweed flavor that goes straight to the Tianling Gai. The old man at the table next to him was eating a plate of stew, drinking some wine, and chatting with the boss about his son's search for a partner.
At that moment, neither Xinghai Square nor Venice Water City was as tangible as this mouthful of "freshness" with the smell of fireworks.
Wait, you ask that tour guide Oda?
Yes, I almost forgot to say that.
Before setting off on the trip, I was actually quite resistant to finding a tour guide. I always felt that I would be led along by others, and I had to be careful about shopping. However, this girl named Xiaotian was really an accident.
She was forced to give it to me by a friend from the Dalian Culture and Tourism Bureau, and she even said, "You only need to let her take care of it for one day. If you are not satisfied, feel free to scold me."
As a result, she took us for a day? No, she took it for 4 whole days.
There is a "sense of contradiction" about her.
As an extremely professional tour guide, she knows exactly what each stone on Jinshitan has to say, and which period of Lushunkou's history is the most disturbing. However, she is extremely "unprofessional". When she passes by the salted fish cake stall that she often went to when she was a child, she will jump up with excitement and insist on inviting us to taste it. She also says, "Try it, this is my Dalian!".
I said I wanted something different, but instead of taking me to a high-end restaurant, she led me into a market that was about to be demolished and ate a bowl of steaming stew. The stew was fried until it was charred on the outside and tender on the inside. It was topped with garlic sauce and soy sauce. It was so fragrant that I almost swallowed my tongue.
How much did this trip cost?
This is the most magical thing.
For four full days, this small team led by Xiaotian and I was actually the only one, and each person only spent an average of more than 800 yuan.
You may find it hard to believe that you are living in a four-diamond hotel, which is so spacious and clean, creating a comfortable experience. You are enjoying seafood dishes, dumpling feasts, iron pot stews and other food planned and arranged by her. Every meal will not be repeated.
After doing some calculations, if I messed up randomly and without any rules, it would only cost me the ticket fees for Tiger Beach and Golden Pebble Beach during the peak season, plus the money spent on taxis for the round trip, plus the risk of being defrauded when buying seafood. In this way, even 1,500 would not be able to cover all expenses.
This kind of "saving" is not something you pick out, but a sense of solidity that you don't need to think about when the locals guide you.
The scenic spots in Dalian are so far away that I want to cry
You must listen to advice on this point.
The scenic spots in Dalian are very scattered. The city center belongs to the city, and Jinshitan is a completely different area. There are still dozens of kilometers between them.
If I were to play by myself, I would most likely be like me on the first day, spending an entire afternoon on the bus and subway, looking at the sea view out the window in vain.
The route arranged by Xiaoda was much smoother.
Day 1: Arrive at destination and arrange accommodation. That night, she sent a message telling her not to go to the so-called famous Internet celebrity night market, but to go downstairs and turn left. The grilled squid sold by the old lady was far more delicious than any other food.
The next day, I headed north all the way to Dandong and took a look at the broken bridge of the Yalu River. I stood at the border between China and North Korea and looked at the broken bridge. The wind was so strong that it made my heart feel heavy. At night, I enjoyed Korean-style food in Andong Old Street. The heavy feeling of history mixed with the smell of fireworks in front of me was particularly unreal.
On the third day, after returning to Dalian, we rushed directly to Jinshitan. I took a few photos in the man-made Internet celebrity place called "Shengtang Lanshan", which was not interesting. But when I arrived at the Shili Golden Coast, I started to rush to the sea, pick up shells, and even tread water. The joy was extremely primitive. What we had in the evening was the big seafood dish, which was a big bowl with everything in it.
On the 4th day, I went to Lushunkou. There is a military port trestle, a Victory Tower, and a Russian-style pocket train station, which are so beautiful that they seem to be unreal. Looking down from the top of Baiyu Mountain, the entire Lushun Pass comes into view, and you can imagine everything that has happened here in the past. In the afternoon, we returned to the city, walked across the sea-crossing bridge, and finally ended the trip at the Centennial City Sculpture in Xinghai Square.
Some fragmentary, but important words
Don’t worry about which month to go. People have said that September to October is the most suitable time to go, because the seafood is extremely plump and rich at that stage. But I went in February, when the number of people was relatively small, and the sea breeze was particularly biting, but I could taste a different and unique taste.
You must take the 201 tram with its old wooden carriages that make a clanking sound, as if it could go straight back to the Republic of China.
Focusing on Xiaotian, she is not a role like a tour guide in the conventional sense, but more like a friend you have in Dalian. On the day she was about to leave, she accompanied me to the airport and said that when she comes again next time, she will take me to her grandma’s house to taste sea urchin dumplings, claiming that the dumplings there taste a hundred times better than those outside.
You see, this is Dalian.
It is not just a city, it is a kind of contradiction, which allows you to feel the hot life in the cold sea breeze.
Go and find the girl named Xiaotian, she will help you open up another side of this city.
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