Clean, modern and rich DALIAN is a large, sprawling city on the Yellow Sea. It's one of China's most cosmopolitan cities, partly because it has changed hands so often; as the only ice-free port in the region it was eagerly sought by the foreign powers who held sway over China in the nineteenth century. The Japanese gained the city in 1895, only to lose it a few years later to the Russians, who saw it as an alternative to ice-bound Vladivostok. In 1905, after decisively defeating the Russian navy, the Japanese wrested it back and remained in control for long enough to complete the construction of the port facilities. After World War II, the Soviet Union occupied the city for ten years, finally withdrawing when Sino-Soviet relations improved. Today Dalian is busier than ever, the funnel for Dongbei's enormous natural and mineral wealth and an industrial producer in its own right, specializing in petrochemicals and shipbuilding. The city is booming as fast as any in China and, though the foreign devils are still here, they're now invited: Dalian has been designated a Special Economic Zone, one of China's "open door" cities with regulations designed to attract overseas investment.

Still, Dalian manages to be a leisurely place, popular with tourists who come here for the scenic spots and beaches outside the city, to recover their health in sanatoriums and to stuff themselves on seafood. The city is also known for soccer , which explains the large sculptures of footballs you'll see around - Dalian's team, Wanda, has been the champion of the Chinese league for four of the last five years. The city holds two festivals : the Locust Flower Festival in spring is the time to visit the city's parks, and the International Fashion Festival around September 10 sees fashion models parading in the streets. Dalian's brand-new scenic drive, Binhai Lu , hugs the cliffs of the Yellow Sea, winding 40km past the villas of Party bigwigs as well as Wanda's stars. The city also boasts a large aquarium , a new zoo and easy connections to the town of Lushun .

Tourists looking for relics from Dalian's colonial past will be disappointed; unlike other treaty ports such as Shanghai, Dalian is looking firmly forward to the future. Plans for a history museum have been tabled, a topic that your taxi driver will be sure to comment on once he's finished heralding the soccer team.