Dalian is located on a peninsula that juts into the Yellow Sea between the Korean peninsula and mainland China. It is China's northernmost ice-free port, which makes it a very strategic location. Of course, this is also why Japan invaded China through Dalian in the past, and why post World War 2 the Russians also held onto Dalian until the 1950s. Although tragic, these occupations give Dalian an interesting mix of Chinese, Japanese, and Russian architecture. In today's world Dalian is still a crossroads of these nations - but this time in terms of business and trade rather than conquest. In addition, Dalian is a huge import/export terminal for oil in China. And of course being a port city, it's not complete without a maritime university, which of course is where C and I will be teaching.
Dalian's place in the world can be seen here courtesy of Wikipedia:
Dalian is also known for its fashion festivals and as a regional hub for foreign banks. It's also becoming known as a major provider of software services in Southeast Asia as many different tech companies setup shop there. Probably having the Dalian University of Technology (one of the most presitigious schools in China) and the Neusoft Institute does not hurt in this regard.
To learn even more about Dalian, check out the Runsky news site. It reads like a Communist Party advertisement for Dalian but there's definitely some good information to be had.
So why Dalian? Let's review our criteria for a city in China.
1) The city must be in North/Northeast China so that the Mandarin Chinese spoken there has less of an accent. In case you weren't aware, there are many different dialects of Chinese in use in China. The Communist party has designated putonghua, or Mandarin as the official language which is taught in schools and used in government and business. Gao Shu and I wish we could learn it all but since we need to stick to one language, so Mandarin seems like the sensible choice. Point 1 rules out Shanghai and other southern cities.
2) The city must not be heavily polluted. The sad reality is that China has a very poor environmental record and many cities in China are covered in smog daily. Although we will travel through polluted areas, we preferred not to live in one. Dalian is blessed with strong ocean winds that carry the pollution away from the city. In addition it is the site of less heavy industry than some other cities in the Northeast (such as Beijing and Shenyang).
3) The city must be of a reasonable size (relative to China) and have a reasonable number of services available. Since we're so new to this China thing, just being anywhere in China is going to be challenge enough. To help us with the transition we wanted to live somewhere we can buy what we need (as we can't bring it all) and maybe see another Westerner or two once in a blue moon. Good thing they've got Walmart!
4) The city must not be unbearably cold. This rules out cities in Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces - aka Chinese Siberia.
The only downside to Dalian I've read about so far is that it is missing some of the other ancient charms of China (e.g. the Great Wall, the Forbidden City). To me this is minor however as we primarily want to experience the people, the culture, and the language. Travel to tourist destinations will be easy enough during time off.
