DALIAN, CHINA: Dalian Shopping

Dalian Municipal Bureau of Tourism:

OVERVIEW: 

Right in town there're four major shopping centres: Tianjin Street, Victory Plaza, Qingniwaqiao, and Xi'an Road. Tianbai Department Store, Dalian Department Store ("Dashang" in Chinese), and the Friendship ("Youyi" in Chinese) Shopping Centre are three local commercial giants. New forces come mainly from some well-known pan-Asia department store chains such as the Parkson, the New World and the Pacific; another Taiwan-based Hanshin has also opened its joint venture here.

SHOPPING TIPS:

Shopping Hours：Shops are open daily from 9am to about 9pm.

Price and Bargains：Generally speaking, bargaining is discouraged in department stores, while at smaller stores bargaining is a must.

Credit Cards：Major international credit cards such as Master Card, Visa, JCB and American Express are accepted in large stores.

CHINA NATIONAL TOURISM ADMINISTRATION:

Dalian (0411)

• Department Store – 160 Tianjin St., Tel. 2808808
• Zhongxing Commercial Mansion – 42 Youhao St., Tel. 3680611
• New Friendship Store – 62 Renmin Rd., Tel. 2816170

LONELY PLANET:

• New-Mart Shopping Mall  in Youhao Ji

It seems as if a new mall opens in shopping-crazed Dàlián nearly every week. Qingni Jie, south of Victory Sq, is a pedestrian plaza lined with upscale department stores, including the New-Mart Shopping Mall.

FROMMER’S:

Dalian is a petite female shopper's paradise, with a range of Japanese, Korean, and western fashions.

Qingniwa Jie, south of Shengli Guangchang (open 9am-9pm), is a materialistic mecca of malls, hotels, fast-food outlets, boutiques, and elaborate window displays unlike anything in China outside Shanghai. The prices are very reasonable and the spectacle of so many well-dressed Chinese people in one place is a strange, pleasant shock.

If the labyrinth of underground shops, called the Dixia Shangchang, is too overwhelming,

try the Japanese department stores Itokin (Yidujin).

Russian Street (Eluosi Fengqing Jie) lacks any real Russian people, but is full of stalls with the country's goods, including chocolates, whiskey flasks, vodka, and dolls.