Cruises R Fun! - Reviews of Cruise Lines, Cruise Ships, Destinations, Ports And More!
Dalian was first brought to international attention ass a result of Japan's victory in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-95. Having decisively routed the poorly armed and led troops of the Qing dynasty, Japan demanded economic concessions in Korea, cession of Taiwan, a substantial indemnity and occupation of the Liaodong peninsula, most specifically Lu-Da, of which Dalian was the prize.
Recognizing that Japanese occupation would confound peace efforts in the Far East, six days after the treaty's signature, Imperial Russia, supported by France and Germany, force the Japanese to relinquish possession of the peninsula.
Less than three years following Russia's rebuff of Japan's attempt to possess Dalian and the Liaodong peninsula, the Czar's ministers signed a 25-year lease with the Qing government, granting it not only Dalian but the entire peninsula. It also provided them with the rights to construct a railway from Harbin in central Manchuria to Dalian, thus connecting the port by rail to the Trans Siberian Railroad and European Russia.
The age of industrialization was finally arriving in China and of Manchuria. Minerals, timber, water and many other natural resources became a prize in Europe's scramble for concessions. Consequently, the region became dominated by foreign powers interested in developing rail traffic to better exploit their territorial and economic gains.
The Russians immediately began developing Dalian into the great commercial link between the interior of Manchuria and the outside world. Many Russian buildings remain in Dalian today. In 1904, Imperial Japan, remembering its earlier humiliation at the hands of Czarist Russia, struck back in a bold and decisive manner. Two days after breaking off negotiations meant to resolve existing disputes, Japanese torpedo boats attacked and destroyed Russia's Pacific Fleet at anchor in Dalian's military base, port Arthur. The Russo-Japanese War lasted little over a year, with Japan achieving all its earlier aims, including the occupation of Dalian.
The development of Dalian as a port and railway terminus continued under Japanese control from 1904 to 19465. The port served as a jump-off point for Japan's invasion of Manchuria in 1931. At the conclusion of World War II, Russian troops again occupied Dalian under terms agreed upon at the Yalta Conference of 1945. The last Russian soldiers left in 1953.
Since that time, Dalian has distinguished itself as China's largest port and link to the natural resources of the country's northeast. Among some of the sights visitors can see today are the city's former Stalin Square, the local Glassware Factory and the Farmers Market.
We arrived in Dalian in the morning .. it was cloudy but we could see that the sun was there somewhere