Dalian borders the prefectural cities of Yingkou and Anshan to the north and Dandong to the northeast, and also shares maritime boundaries with Qinhuangdao and Huludao across the Liaodong Bay to west and northwest, Yantai and Weihai on the Shandong peninsula across the Bohai Strait to the south, and North Korea across the Korea Bay to the east.

Dalian was previously known as "Dalniy"[7] (Russian: Дальний; Dal'nii), "Dairen" (Japanese: 大連), and "Lüda" or "Luta" (Chinese: 旅大; pinyin: Lǚdà).

[12] Dalian is one of the top 40 science cities in the world by scientific research as tracked by the Nature Index, ranking 37th globally in 2023.

In 1981, the Chinese State Council again renamed the city from Lüda back to Dalian (大連; 大连; Dàlián), effective 5 March 1981.

[14] In the Qin and Han periods (221 BC – AD 220), the Chinese state expanded its territories into northern Korea through the Dalian region, then under the jurisdiction of Liaodong county.

Although China heavily fortified the area, in which it allowed trade with foreigners, in the First Sino-Japanese War Japan swiftly overcame those defenses[citation needed] on 21 November 1894 in the Battle of Lüshunkou, committing the Port Arthur massacre afterwards.

[19] Russia heavily fortified both Dalniy (Qingniwaqiao of Zhongshan District) and the Port Arthur naval base (Lüshunkou) before and after the Boxer Rebellion of 1899–1901.

During the insurrection, missionaries and converts were killed by rebels in the peninsula, although the massive massacres of ethnic Chinese Christians including Metrophanes, Chi Sung occurred at Harbin.

[21] The Treaty of Portsmouth (signed 5 September 1905) ceded Port Arthur to Japan, which set up the Kwantung Leased Territory or Guandongzhou (關東州), on roughly the southern half (Jinzhou District and south) of present-day Dalian.

In 1937, as the Second Sino-Japanese War began, Japan enlarged and modernized the trade zone as two cities: the northern Dairen (Dalian) and the southern Ryojun (Lüshun or Port Arthur).

With the unconditional surrender of Japan in August–September 1945, Dairen passed to the Soviets, whose Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation had liberated the city on 22 August 1945.

The Soviets and Chinese Communists cooperated to develop the city, relatively undamaged during the war,[14] especially its industrial infrastructure and the port.

The Soviet government rented the port and in 1945 the first Chinese Communist mayor of the new Lüda Administrative Office (旅大行政公署) was appointed.

Since 2007 Dalian has hosted the Annual Meeting of the New Champions ("Summer Davos"), organized by the World Economic Forum, in alternating years with Tianjin.

One of the most heavily developed industrial areas of China, Dalian municipal area today consists of Dalian proper and the smaller Lüshunkou (formerly Lüshun city, known in Western and Russian historic references as Port Arthur), about forty nautical miles (74 kilometers; 46 miles) farther along the Liaodong Peninsula.

Dalian is located on Korea Bay north of the Yellow Sea and roughly in the middle of the Liaodong peninsula at its narrowest neck or isthmus.

Dalian has a monsoon-influenced humid continental climate (Köppen Dwa), characterized by warm wet summers due to the East Asian monsoon, and cold, windy, dry winters that reflect the influence of the vast Siberian anticyclone.

There are the Commerce, Foreign Economy & Trade, Health, Information Industry, Police, Religion, Science & Technology, Transportation and other city-level bureaus, which work closely with the corresponding agencies at the district level.

[32] According to a nationwide appraisal by the National Bureau of Statistics, Dalian ranks eighth among Chinese cities in terms of overall strength.

[34] Dalian was originally an agriculture and aquaculture-based area, which, after the opening of the ferry between Yantai and Lüshun during the early 20th century, began to be populated by the farmers and fishers of Shandong, across the Yellow Sea during the Chuang Guandong era.

[39] Dalian has been given many benefits by the Chinese government, including the title of "open-city" (1984), which allows it to receive considerable foreign investment (see Special Economic Zone).

[79] Concerns have been raised over mounting traffic due to "bad urban design" and that the growing rate of car ownership is affecting air quality.

[86] Dalian dialect is mostly distinguishable from Standard Mandarin based on a low-falling Yinping 阴平 (31) and rich tone sandhi, and it is often referred to as being "oyster flavored" (海蛎子味) by the locals.

A protein-rich starch paste coagulated from an extract of potatoes is cut into pieces and fried on a pan to create a crisp cover.

[90] Other popular local specialties include seafood noodles, roast full prawns, salt baked conches, lantern-shaped steamed abalone, and so on.

Several of China's greatest players, including Sun Jihai, Hao Haidong and Li Ming, made their names with Dalian Shide.

[98] As part of the 2013 National Games of China in Liaoning in 2013, Dalian was a host city for 12 events, including synchronized swimming, field hockey, gymnastics, sailing and canoeing.

It is said that the first cherry trees were planted by Japanese soldiers stationed in Lüshun during World War II, in order to ease their homesickness.

Every June, the China International Software & Information Service Fair is held in Dalian World Expo Center.

5The claimed province of Taiwan no longer have any internal division announced by Ministry of Civil Affairs of PRC, due to lack of actual jurisdiction.