| Dalian
has been known by several names - Dalny, Lueshun,
and Port Arthur. In the late 19th century the western
powers were busy carving up pieces of China for
themselves. The Russians acquired this area as a
concession in 1898 and set about constructing the
port of their dreams and an alternative to the only
partially-ice-free port of Vladivostok. The Japanese
navy attacked Port Arthur in February 1904, crippling
and blockading the Russian fleet. Soon the port
passed into Japanese hands and the Japanese completed
the port facilities in 1930. In 1945, the Soviet
Union came back to Dalian for more than 10 years.
Today the city has the largest harbor in the
northeast and is also one of the most prosperous
cities in China. Crisscrossed by old colorful
trams, the city exhibits some wonderful architecture
and has refreshing acres of grass and lawns, beaches
and parks.
Unlike many of China's cities, Dalian, as anything
more than a fishing village, is quite young when
focusing the history. Its development into the
city we have today dates from the colonial period.
This is where we shall begin, with Treaty Ports
and Colonialism. After 1949, and the ascendancy
of the Chinese Communist Party, attitudes in China
toward development and urbanization changed (reverted?).
This brings us to the next section: Coastal Cities,
Dalian, and Mao. After Mao's death, policy again
changed. One of these changes was the creation
of the Economic and Technical Development Zones,
including that in Dalian, in 1984.
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