Dalian
Shopping
There are an increasing number of western style shops opening up in Dalian. However, in these shops this means the prices are definitely more expensive. Overall, Dalian's shopping is good but you really need to know where to look if you have something specific in mind. If you are willing to spend the time and energy you can find some great bargains and surprises. You can get pretty much whatever you want when shopping for clothes here. When it comes to female fashion, sometimes the abundance of bows, flowers and sequences on an item of clothing gets a bit too much if you are just looking for the smart but casual European look. However, you just need to learn what fashion is in which department store. The usual like Mango, Jack & Jones and Calvin Kline are at the rescue, even if a little more expensive. In general clothes here are inexpensive,
but quality varies. Clothes are a lot more colorful and designs are very varied. The 'best buys' I have found here are winter coats, summer dresses, a wide range of jewelry, shoes and bags, and of course a variety of long johns for the Winter!!!!
One of the most difficult items to find here are jeans to fit the western women, with the styles here being way too narrow, even if the waist fits and the length is good. In winter there is no shortage of jumpers in various shades and designs but the patters can be way out there! Underwear can pose a problem too when trying to find the larger sizes because they are just not being available in many stores. The myth about not being able to find a pair of shoes to fit the European male foot is not totally true. It is possible, but not as easy as one would hope. As for leather trousers or jackets, mostly the quality is not great and looks a little fake. You can go to the proper leather stores but be prepared to pay handsomely. Its definitely hit or miss with buying a nice ladies work suit here. Male suits ‘off the peg’ are much better and the fit is good.
The alternative to anything you can't find in Dalian is "get it made". Tailors here are quite good overall but you can find exceptional service when you know where to look. The best place for quality and for price in Dalian is 27 Square. The suits made here are excellent for both male and female. The range of material is magnificent. The tailors at this location make anything ranging from winter coats, traditional Chinese dresses, excellent suits, shirts, and leather goods. Here they make covers for furniture if you don’t like you lime green sofa! 27 Square looks like nothing from the outside but when you walk inside, a large warehouse opens up with two floors of the most beautiful and varied material you can buy. Each tailor has magazines and pattern books at the ready for their customer. It’s a 'must see' in Dalian and the word spreads quickly to foreigners about this place.
So overall, shopping here is improving and is definitely one of the good points for any foreigner here.
There are so many shopping areas but here are just a few:
Tianjin Street area
Victory Plaza - a five story underground mall
Qingniwaqiao
Xi'an Road
Tianbai Department Store
Dalian Department Store ("Dashang" in Chinese)
Friendship ("Youyi" in Chinese) S
Parkson, the New World and the Pacific; another Taiwan-based Hanshin has also opened its joint venture here. Russian Street is also a shopping street with well known to the resident teachers and foreigners called Bei Tuan Jie Street. Good bargaining can be done here.
If you want an Italian style furniture suite you can get it or a custom-made bed, no problem! Anything you want, any range of quality for whatever the budget allows. Cheaper doesn't necessarily mean lower quality. There is one area well known in Dalian near 51 Square, which has warehouses of furniture. Unlike some places, you can take your time choosing, the sellers are not too pushy and they are prepared to bargain. For a foreigner, to go here, expect to be followed by on average 10 guys who work for these warehouses. They are waiting in the hope that you make a purchase and then they will try to charge you 5 times the going rate for packing up your purchase and taking you and it to your home in their transport. Make sure what they are charging you includes carrying it from the transport up to your apartment!! On the other hand you can go to regular department stores and take your pick from their range. But it’s more fun to go to the warehouses! B&Q is soon to open in Dalian, which should offer even more variety.
Places to shop for European food is also on the increase. With many Japanese residents here Japanese ingredients are in abundance. Famous supermarket groups like Walmart, Metro and Carrefour, MyCal have also setup their branches. Metro is the by far the best for good value and a great range in wines, cheeses, meat and Western food in general. For fruit and vegetables, the best choice for quality and price is the markets. Some are not as exposed and harder to find but the quality and price is much better than some of the supermarkets. As Dalian is a port city, the supply of fish and seafood is excellent. Food in the shops here is incredibly cheap, and watch out for people skipping the queue at the check-out and analyzing the foreigner's food in your shopping trolley. Another point to make is that most apartments you rent here are not equipped with the traditional oven. Most foreigners buy a small electric over for about 250rmb, which admittedly cooks bread, chickens, or roasts really, really well.
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.
Healthcare
Health care in Dalian is really good. There are certain hospitals dental, ER and general that cater more for the foreigner in Dalian. It’s just a matter of finding out, which one is near you. Only certain places have doctors that have a good command of English. There are many Chinese medicine practitioners here and one major Chinese Medicine hospital. This hospital is favored by foreigners for it professionalism and its less chaotic feel. Most people admit that it is much cheaper in the long run as they will cure your ailment and they know what they are doing there.
Most hospitals won't like dealing with medical insurance cards and paperwork if you produce them. Sometimes its better to pay cash as the services are really cheap and it’s just a much less hassle free approach if it’s only a minor injury. At any hospital or clinic, you register at the front desk and pay a fee of 5 rmb normally.
Eye clinics in Dalian are very good and the price of eye tests, glasses, frames and contact lens are excellent value. However for some reason daily disposable lens are really expensive, more than in Ireland! In most places they will give you a free eye test and good service.
Dining Out
Finding good Western restaurants in Dalian is still 
something that has to be improved upon. All the 5 star hotels mostly do an "all you can eat" for 150 - 200 rmb. There are cafes scattered all over the city but some of the food quality is not great. You will learn from friends where the good ones are located. A few hotels and shopping mall diners do an all you can eat meat buffet for around 40-50rmb consisting of all meats from chicken wings to tongue. This is very good value,
and good for big groups of friends on an evening out. The beer served is sometimes a home brew and pretty ok to drink.
There are some fabulous Chinese restaurants with all types of tastes. But the most popular food with foreigners here is Korean food and the more pricey Japanese restaurants. You also have the usual KFC, McDonalds and Pizza Hut. Dalian has one good Spanish restaurant, called Tapas and one good Italian restaurant, called Cafe Igossa. Both are very popular, busy and have a high standard of service. For those who favor Indian food,
In Dalian, along the street side you will see so many BBQ restaurants offering 3 rmb beers. In the summer it’s very popular and you can sit outside and enjoy the evenings. These places are very popular with students and locals alike. The food here ranges from squid on a stick, chicken hearts, tofu or a choice of any meat skewers cooked with a few spices.
Coffee Shops
Ming Tien Coffee 1F Wenyuan Building Zhigong St. Zhongshan Dist
Plaza Story (6-men-Party) South of the Zhongshan Park
UCC Coffee Shop 6 Sanba Square
Ru Yi Xuan 1F Senmao Building Xi Ke 16-6 Baojian St. Xigang Dist Opposite the Pacific Department Store (east side)
Manabe Coffee Rm. 308 Pacific Dept. Store
Hirayama Coffee House 47 Gao''erji Rd. Xigang Dist
U.B.C. Cafe 59 Gao Er Ji St. Xigang Dist
U.B.C. Cafe Near the Development Zone Hospital
Ming Tien Coffee East of Development Zone Administrative Committee
Restaurants
The restaurants all listed below are all 'tried and tested' and definitely places to check out in Dalian.
Cafe Igosso Italian Restaurant - 45 Nanshan Rd. Zhongshan Dist
Tapas Spanish Restaurant - Tower A, Building 1, 19 Tuanjie St
I-55 Coffee, 67 Gao Er Ji Rd, XiGang District
Marcio De Rios Brazillian BBQ Restaurant, 1F MingshiYaYuan, 95 LianHe Rd, Shahekou District
All's Well Cafe, 51 Lu, near Olympica Square.
The Swiss, Shangri La and Hilton hotels - 'All You Can Eat' buffets
Most Japanese restaurants are located near Zhong Shan Sq
Nightlife
While Dalian is lacking in a decent nightclub all is not lost.
There is an increasing amount of foreigners in Dalian of various nationalities. During the academic year a lot of Russian and African students go to the local universities and this influence determines the music played at some of the places where the ex-pats go. In summer with the increase of tourists there is a definite change in the social life. In the bigger cities you have magazines and English literature to inform you about events and bar openings but that is definitely not the case here. It takes a while to find out where to go and on what night. For a city of 6 million people the choice is not as good as you would expect it to be but it is getting better.
Very few times will you be charged an admission fee for a nightclub or pub. Alcohol prices vary. In some nightclubs you will pay the same as back home in Euro. However in most of the bars typically a Chinese beer brand is about 5-10 rmb, while other imported beers can be 15-25. Normally a pint of Guinness can vary from 30-50rmb depending. Spirits vary as well from 20-35 rmb and the measures are smaller. The nightclubs listed below are the only ones to be recommended.
Nightclubs
JD Bar - Qlympica Square
Spark - Gao Er Ji Lu
Banana 1 - Furama (Fulihua) Hotel
Banana 2 - Hope Square
Number 1 - Near Dashang shopping center, city centre
Babyface - Near Zhong Shan Sq
Bars
The Meeting Place - Renmin Lu
The Flying Bar - Renmin Lu
Bauhauss, near Sanba Sq
Red Star, near Sanba Sq
Noah's Ark Bar - Wusi Rd. south to the Renmin Square
JD Bar - Qlympica Square
The Tin Whistle Irish Bar - behind Shangri La Hotel
PoPos - Yan'an Lu
Old Banyan Music Bar
Fashions Bar - 8F Swissotel
F.A.T.S. - 1F Shangri-La Hotel
Flying Scotsman - B1F Hilton Dalian
Hans Pub - 268 Jiefang Rd. Zhongshan Dist
Norway Woods - To the west of Furama Hotel
Xianjilin(soccer fans'' favor) - 57 Yan''an Rd, Zhongshan Dist
Baroque - 6 Wuwu Rd. Zhongshan Dist
Hua Man Du Jazz Bar - 6 Wuwu Rd. Zhongshan Dist
Qianyi Cool Bar - 45 Paris Spring Emporium
Charming Bar - 25 Shengli St. to the north of Shengli Bridge
Jurassic Bar - 1F 21th Century Hotel