The Port of Dalian is located at the southern end of the Liaodong Peninsula on the Yellow Sea in southern Liaoning Province in northeastern China. About 470 kilometers southeast of Beijing and 80 nautical miles north-northeast, across the Yellow Sea, from the Port of Yantai, the Port of Dalian has an ice-free natural deep-water harbor. It occupies an important strategic position at the entrance to the Gulf of Chihli, commanding maritime access to the Port Tianjin. In 2002, almost 2.2 million people lived in the Port of Dalian.

A busy industrial center, the Port of Dalian is the biggest shipping center in China, and it supports a large fishing fleet. In addition to its port, Dalian is an important rail terminus with direct access to the nation's highway network and a major international airport with regular flights to Japan and Korea. The Port of Dalian is home to ship builders and locomotive manufacturers, and it has a thriving manufacturing sector that produces machines, chemicals, electronics, textiles, and petroleum products. High technology, finance, and services are also growing in importance to the local economy.

In the 2nd Century BC, Lushun (today's Port of Dalian) was an important entry port for southern Manchuria. Settled by Chinese colonists of the Han Dynasty in the late 2nd Century BC, the fortified Port of Dalian was also important for military campaigns by the Tang Dynasty in the 7th Century AD and for the Ming Dynasty in the 15th and 16th Centuries.

The Manchus captured the Port of Dalian in 1633, and it was the headquarters for coastal defense under the Manchu Qing Dynasty from 1644 until the early 20th Century. In the late 19th Century, it was selected as the base for China's first modern navy and re-fortified.

During the Sino-Japanese War in the mid-1890s, the Port of Dalian was captured by the Japanese and leased to Japan under the Treaty of Shimonoseki. However, Western powers intervened, and the Port of Dalian was returned to China. Russia needed an ice-free Pacific port, and in 1897, they occupied the Liaodong Peninsula after Germany took the southern side of Shandong Peninsula.

In 1898, Russia obtained a lease for the Liaodong Peninsula and permission to build a railroad to connect with the Chinese Eastern Railway and the Trans-Siberian Railroad. The Russians focused on strengthening the naval base as the headquarters for their Pacific fleet at Lushun (known in the West as Port Arthur).

In 1899, Russia set up the free Port Arthur (later the Port of Dalian) with capacity to handle 5.2 million tons of cargo per year. They dredged the harbor and built wharves, piers, and breakwaters and laid out a large city in the Western style. In 1902, the Port Authority was established under the mayor. By 1903, the Port of Dalian contained three terminals and warehouses.

The Port of Dalian was an important target of the Japanese during the 1904-05 Russo-Japanese War. The Japanese army occupied the Port of Dalian in 1904, forcing the Russians to withdraw. The 1905 Treaty of Portsmouth formally transferred the Liaodong Peninsula to Japan. It became Japan's military and administrative headquarters for the region, and the Japanese strengthened the naval base, using it for operations in Manchuria and northern China.

The Japanese completed the development of the city and port that the Russians had begun. They renamed the port Dairen and developed a modern city with an impressive modern port. It was soon the second busiest port in China with trade volume exceeded only by Shanghai. In 1912, the volume of Port of Dalian's foreign trade made it the biggest trading port in China's northeast.

The Japanese made Darien an important industrial center with a busy chemical industry and a growing cotton-textile production industry. Already a headquarters for the South Manchurian Railway, the Japanese added large railway workshops that supplied locomotives, rolling stock, and equipment for rail lines throughout the region and in Korea.

During the 1930s, the completion of the Dairen Machinery Company in the Port of Dalian established the machine-building industry, and the ship-building industry grew. In 1934, cargo volumes moving through the Port of Dalian reached ten million tons, including 7.7 million tons of exports. In 1939, the Japanese completed the Port of Dalian's Terminal Four. By 1941, the Port of Dalian was producing eight-thousand ton ocean-going vessels.

The 1945 Yalta Conference assumed that the Port of Dalian and the Liaodong territory would be returned to Russia after World War II. That year, China and the Soviet Union agreed to share the Port of Dalian for 30 years with the Soviet Union responsible for defending the port. Soviet occupation of the Liaodong Peninsula resulted in less damage to the Port of Dalian than to many other cities in Manchuria. In 1954, stevedores from the Port of Dalian attended China's National People's Congress.

In 1972, the first container ships arrived at the Port of Dalian, establishing Mainland China's first ocean-going container routes. In 1973, cargo volumes reached 21.5 million tons. Foreign trade in the Port of Dalian exceeded domestic trade for the first time in 1975. In 1976, China's first 100 thousand ton deep-water wharf was opened in the Port of Dalian. The old Port of Dalian underwent a complete renovation in 1978. In 1981, the several communities were merged, and the city of Dalian became the Zhongshan District.

Dalian Port Corporation was created in 1982, and the Port of Dalian won the coveted Hong Kong Annual National Quality Management Award in 1984. That year, the Port of Dalian hit a new record volume of 40 million tons of cargo. Also in 1984, the Port of Dalian was made one of China's few open cities in 1984, inviting foreign investment and creating further development.

In 1985, the Port of Dalian established friendship relations with the Port of Hong Kong, the Port of Kitakyushu in Japan, the Port of Houston in the United States, and the Port of Vancouver in Canada. The Port of Dalian's Grocery Terminal, with capacity for 960 thousand tons of cargo, was completed. The Port of Dalian won the National Business Management Excellence Award in 1989. The same year, open access container liner routes were established with the United States and Canada. Cargo throughput topped 50 million tons in 1989.

In 1992, the Port of Dalian opened new passenger and roll-on/roll-off berths, bringing passenger capacity to 1.25 million and capacity for vehicles to 100 thousand. By 1994, the Port of Dalian was handling cargo volumes over 60 million tons. The last Russian forced left the Port of Dalian in 1995, and the Chinese immediately made it an important naval base.

The 1990s brought new development, new goals, and new recognition to the Port of Dalian. In 1996, the Assembly established the goal of making the Port of Dalian a multi-purpose, all-round modern international port and provided the labor and materials needed to implement the program. Construction began for the "343 initiative."

By 1997, the Port of Dalian's cargo throughput reached over 70 million tons. In 1999, the Port of Dalian's Container Terminal Company Limited received the award in Hong Kong, recognizing it as Asia's best container terminal operators. Later that year, China's shipping magazine recognized the container port's outstanding operating efficiency, and the Port of Dalian was recognized by "Maritime Asia" for its outstanding container terminals. Cargo throughput in the Port of Dalian exceeded 85 million tons in 1999.

In 2000, the Port of Dalian's workers were recognized as "National Model Workers," and the Port of Dalian cargo throughput topped 90 million tons. Ten new berths were constructed, including five container berths with annual capacity for 1.5 million TEUs of containerized cargo, four bulk berths with annual capacity for 4.9 million tons of cargo, and a grain berth with annual capacity for 4.5 million tons. In 2006, China's National Tourism Administration named the Port of Dalian a "national industrial tourism demonstration site."

Dalian Port Corporation (PDA) Limited is the port authority for the Port of Dalian (Chinese). PDA was established in 2005 and listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong in 2006. With 43 investee companies and two branches, the PDA is involved in four major businesses: the oil/liquefied chemicals terminal and related logistics, the container terminal and related logistics, the automobile terminal and related logistics, and value-added services for the Port of Dalian.

In 2008, the Port of Dalian handled 185 million tons of cargo, including 4.5 million TEUs of containerized cargo. The Port of Dalian contains six major cargo-handling centers: the oil and liquid chemical distribution center, the container trans-shipment center, the food transit center, the professional roll-off vehicle and tourist center, the groceries and coal transshipment center, and the distribution center for mines in the region.

The Port of Dalian is accessed through four major channels. The Fairway is 180 meters wide and 9 meters deep. The Newport Fairway Oil Terminal is access through a natural waterway that is 300 meters wide and 17.5 meters deep. The Dayaowan Channel is a natural waterway that is 210 meters wide and 10.7 meters deep. The Dalian Bay Waterway Ferry channel is a natural waterway that is 100 meters wide and 9.5 meters deep. The Port of Dalian is protected by nine breakwaters with a total length of seven thousand meters. Tidal variations range from a low of .66 meters to a high of 4.6 meters.

The Port of Dalian is the most important and busiest container center in Northeast China and the second biggest container port in the country. Over 90% of Northeast China's foreign container trade moves through the Port of Dalian. The Dalian Container Terminal Company Limited is a joint venture between the Dalian Port Group and a Singapore foreign trade joint venture container terminal company. The pier is equipped with the world's most advanced operating system, giving the terminal capacity to handle 230 million containers.

Dalian Harbor Container Terminal Company Limited (DPCM) operates six container berths with capacity for 300 million containers. The DPCM has been recognized for implementing the best scientific and technological innovations in a Chinese container terminal. The Dalian International Container Terminals Limited (DICT) is a Sino-foreign joint venture that handles, transports, stores, warehouses, and moves containers. Supporting mostly domestic trade containers, the Dalian Dagang China Shipping Container Terminal Company Limited (DDCT.CS) is a joint venture between DPCM, the China Shipping Group, the Dalian Port Group, and PSA investment company.

The Port of Dalian is also the biggest port in Northeast China for storage of oil and liquid chemicals with a modern 300-thousand-ton berth for crude oil with capacity for 57 million tons that can accommodate the largest oil tankers.

The Port of Dalian's ore distribution center serves northern China. It is equipped with a 300-thousand-ton capacity ore terminal and China's largest and most modern ore wharf with alongside depth of an amazing 23 meters. The terminal has storage capacity for six million tons of ore cargoes.

The Port of Dalian is the most competitive food transit center in Northeast China, with 80-thousand-ton bulk grain berths and hundreds of bulk grain silos with capacity to store 800 thousand tons.

The Port of Dalian is the main roll-on/roll-off passenger car distribution center for Northeast Asia, moving over 600 million vehicles per year, with capacity for 760 thousand vehicles per year.

The City of Dalian is well known for its beautiful green squares. The town boasts about 70 squares full of blooming flowers and beautifully manicured grounds. The Port of Dalian's international colonial history has blessed it with fantastic architecture from the Russians who designed the city based on the Paris model and the Japanese who copied Tokyo as they developed the city. Visitors will find buildings reflecting Western Greek, Roman, and Renaissance styles. For more information on the many things to see and do in the Port of Dalian, visit the city's tourism website.

The Port of Dalian has a humid continental climate characterized by humid summers and dry cold windy winters. Temperatures range from an average low of -6 °C (21 °F) in January to an average high of 27 °C (81 °F) in July and August.

The Forest Zoo in the Xigang District of the Port of Dalian is one of the city's most popular attractions with international visitors. Set in the hills to the south of the city center, the zoo contains wide range of animals in relatively large modern enclosures (for China). Visitors especially enjoy seeing the great and red pandas.

The Port of Dalian Laodong Park rests atop Daheishan Mountain, and visitors can walk up or ride a seat-lift to reach its peak. On clear days, the mountaintop and the Reach Sightseeing Tower offer spectacular panoramic views of the city and the sea. The ride to the mountain's base is on the thrilling "First Land Sled." In the winter, Daheishan Mountain is a popular skiing and ice-skating site. Visitors should be aware that the local operators sometimes overcharge for services, and the local police can help.

The Port of Dalian is home to several beaches along the southern and eastern sides of the peninsula. The largest are Xinghai, Fjuiazhuang, and Bangchuidao Beaches. Xinghai Beach is almost always crowded, and Bangchuidao Beach (in a luxury resort) is expensive and hard to reach. Fujiazhuang Beach is probably the most desirable for people seeking a relaxing swim or seaside leisure.

Travelers who want to visit the Port of Dalian by sea can find a list of scheduled cruises on the Cruise Compete website.