|
Located at the southern tip of Liaoning Peninsula, Dalian is one of the most important seaports as well as industrial, trading, tourist and information cities in China. Dalian covers an area of 12,500 square kilometers with a population of 5.4 million.
Dalian was an important port as early as the 6th century AD. It was occupied (1858) by the British and was fortified as a naval base by the Chinese in the 1880s. It was attacked and briefly held by the Japanese in 1895; subsequently it was granted, with adjacent parts of the peninsula, to Russia as part of the Liaodong lease. While under Russian control (1898-1905), Dalian was renamed Port Arthur. It was valued by the Russians for its year-round access to the Pacific Ocean and was extensively refortified for naval use. Dalian was transformed during the same period from a minor fishing port into a modern commercial port and was given the Russian name Dalny.
The Treaty of Portsmouth, which ended the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905), transferred the Liaodong territory to the Japanese, who renamed it Kwangtung. Dalian, renamed Ryojun, became an important Japanese naval base and was (1905-1937) the administrative center of the territory. Dalian, given the Japanese name Dairen, was enlarged and modernized. It replaced Dalian as the capital of Kwangtung in 1937 and developed rapidly in the 1930s and early 1940s as the main port for Japanese-controlled Manchuria.
Following the defeat of Japan in World War II, both ports were placed under joint Soviet-Chinese control in 1945. They were returned to full Chinese sovereignty in 1955. Dalian again became a Chinese naval base, and Dalian became a center of heavy industry in the late 1950s and 1960s; during the 1970s Dalian was developed as China's leading petroleum port..
Dalian has a pleasant climate with the clearly demarcated seasons, cool summers, and warm winters. Dalian abounds with natural resources. The annual average temperature stays somewhere around 10 degrees C.. August is the hottest month, when the daily temperature is infrequently below 24 degrees C., with extremes as high as 35. January is the coldest month, when it averages minus 4.9 degrees C., with extremes as low as minus 24.
The annual precipitation varies greatly from one year to another, but generally between 550 to 950 millimeters fall. As a port city, about 60 to 70 per cent of the precipitation comes down in summer, mostly during rainstorm activity. In contrast, spring and summer witness relatively long spells of drought.
Dalian attractions include beaches, parks, gardens and a zoo.
|
