The Tram & Eastern Dalian
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Port
Dalian, China
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Activity Level
Moderate
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Excursion Type
All
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Wheelchair Accessible
No
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Starting At
$59
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Minimum Age
Information Not Currently Available
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Duration
Approximately 3½ Hours
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Meals Included
Meals not included
Start your tour with a leisurely walk through Dalian’s Russian Culture Street. As the first avenue of the city of Dalian, Russian Culture Street was constructed 100 years ago by Russian architects and has been restored by the city government to its original splendor. The buildings bordering the 470 yard-long street are built in Russian and European style.
The highlight today is a tram tour through eastern Dalian. Tramways or streetcars were common throughout the industrialized world in the late 19th and early 20th centuries but they disappeared from most cities in the mid-20th century. After the Russo-Japanese War, in order to solidify Japanese occupation in the South Manchuria, the Japanese Railways Bureau initiated the first tramline with 30 wooden trams in Dalian in 1909. The tram runs from downtown to the Port of Dalian—about a mile. In the old days, trams were classified by different colors for different nationalities. The white trams, which are more upscale, were for the Japanese; while the red ones were for local Chinese residents. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China the new Chinese government opened all trams, white and red, to the general public without any classification or discrimination. In 1950s, with the development of Chinese automobile industry, the Chinese government removed most of the tramways in Dalian. Only one tramway with three trams was preserved and is operating for sightseeing in the Old Town area.
Your next stop will be at Star & Sea Square. This large square was built in 1997 to commemorate the return of Hong Kong to China. The square offers views of the massive Dalian International Convention Center and the nearby sea.