Xinghai Square

Covering an area of 1,100,000 square meters, Xinghai Square was built to mark the Hong Kong’s return to China in 1997. It originally was a discarded saltern on the coast south to the center of Dalian. Xinghai Square has become the largest city square in Asia.

The central square covers an area of 45,000 square meters and gains the name because the star-shaped area. In Chinese, Xinghai means the Sea of Stars. The gigantic star-shaped square has an inner circle and an outer circle, which are 199.9 meters and 239.9 in diameters respectively. It represents Dalian's 100th anniversary in 1999 and its 500th in 2399. Nine dings surround the square carved with “Long live the great unity of Chinese Nation”. There is a Chinese idiom says about nine dings “a word which carries weight”. So the nine dings placing in the square implies that Chinese people will always unite as one.

White marble ornamental column

There is a national largest white marble ornamental column standing at the center of the square, with a height of 19.97 meters and a diameter of 1.997 meters. Eight dragons on the base of the pillar and one dragon is carved on the body part, symbolizing every parts of China. The white marble ornamental column implies that all Chinese people are the descendants of the dragon.

Xinghai Conference and Exhibition Center

In order to build Dalian as a center of information, trading and communication, Xinghai Conference and Exhibition Center was built in 1996. Covering a total area of 86,000 square meters and a construction area of 94,000 square meters, the conference and exhibition center takes four storeys on the earth and one floor underground. With world top-class equipment and design, Xinghai Conference and Exhibition Center is the place holding Dalian International Fashion Festival, fireworks and crackers festival, trade fairs and other large activities.

Dalian Shell Museum

Located in the south part of Xinghai Square, Dalian Shell Museum covers an area of 2,500 square meters. More than 5,000 shells from all over the word are on display in the museum, making it the museum that has the largest number of shell items in the world. Dalian Shell Museum presents visitors various shells from different parts of the world in gorgeous colors.