Xinghai Square (), is a

city square A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true geometric square, used for community gatherings. ...

Dalian Dalian () is a major sub-provincial port city in Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, and is Liaoning's second largest city (after the provincial capital Shenyang) and the third-most populous city of Northeast China. Located on ...

Liaoning Liaoning () is a coastal province in Northeast China that is the smallest, southernmost, and most populous province in the region. With its capital at Shenyang, it is located on the northern shore of the Yellow Sea, and is the northernmo ...

Province,

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

. It is located to the north of Xinghai Bay. It covers a total area of , created entirely through

land reclamation Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamat ...

, making it the largest city square in the world. Its name literally means "the Sea of Stars".

Location

Xinghai Square is located in the central part of the southern coast of

Shahekou District Shahekou District () is one of the seven districts of Dalian, Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, forming part of the urban core. It is located in the western portion of the city. Its area is and its permanent population is 693,140, ma ...

. The square is located about 1 km from Baiyun Mountain in the east, 1 km from Xinghai Park in the west, 1 km from Xinghai Bay Bridge in the south, and 4.5 km from the city center ( Qingniwa CBD) in the north. The main road passing through the square is Zhongshan Road.

History

* On July 16, 1993, to commemorate the

handover of Hong Kong Sovereignty of Hong Kong was transferred from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China (PRC) at midnight on 1 July 1997. This event ended 156 years of British rule in the former colony. Hong Kong was established as a special admin ...

, the Xinghai Bay Renovation Project started. The Dalian Municipal Government used construction waste to carry out

projects and planned the construction of Xinghai Square. * On June 30, 1997, the Xinghai Square project was completed and the square was opened to the public for free.

Design

Overall layout

The landscape of Xinghai Square is divided into four parts: Xinghai Square, Musical Fountain, Centennial City Sculpture and Central Lawn. There are three circular roads in the middle of Xinghai Square, dividing the landscape into three levels. There are two parallel roads running through the square on the long axis of the square, and there are two X-shaped roads intersecting it and dividing it into six Parts.

Design philosophy

Xinghai Square encloses a circle in the oval road network. The inner circle has a diameter of 199.9 meters, which symbolizes the 100th anniversary of Dalian in 1999. The outer circle has a diameter of 239.9 meters, which means that Dalian's 500th anniversary of establishment in 2399. The center of the square draws on the design concept of the circular mound altar of the

Temple of Heaven The Temple of Heaven () is a complex of imperial religious buildings situated in the southeastern part of central Beijing. The complex was visited by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for a ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...

. It is paved with 999 pieces of

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of t ...

red marble and the marbles are carved with patterns of the

Heavenly Stems The ten Heavenly Stems or Celestial Stems () are a Chinese system of ordinals that first appear during the Shang dynasty, c. 1250 BC, as the names of the ten days of the week. They were also used in Shang-period ritual as names for dead family mem ...

and

Earthly Branches The twelve Earthly Branches or Terrestrial Branches are a Chinese ordering system used throughout East Asia in various contexts, including its ancient dating system, astrological traditions, zodiac and ordinals. Origin This system was built ...

, the

Solar Terms A solar term is any of twenty-four periods in traditional Chinese lunisolar calendars that matches a particular astronomical event or signifies some natural phenomenon. The points are spaced 15° apart along the ecliptic and are used by lunisola ...

, and the

Chinese Zodiac The Chinese zodiac is a traditional classification scheme based on the lunar calendar that assigns an animal and its reputed attributes to each year in a repeating twelve-year cycle. Originating from China, the zodiac and its variations remain ...

. In addition, there are nine tripods with different patterns, and each tripod has a large character carved on. The nine characters carved on the nine tripods consist of a sentence “中华民族大团结万岁” (English: "Long live the great unity of the Chinese nation" which shows the unity of

Chinese people The Chinese people or simply Chinese, are people or ethnic groups identified with China, usually through ethnicity, nationality, citizenship, or other affiliation. Chinese people are known as Zhongguoren () or as Huaren () by speakers of sta ...

Design parameter

The diameter of the north–south direction is 1010 meters and the diameter of the north-east direction is 630 meters. The total area of the square is 1.76 million square meters. The lawn covers an area of 850,000 square meters, which accounts for 77.3% of the total area of the square.

Landmarks

Surrounding buildings

Around the square are high-end apartments, restaurants, banks, luxury

sports car A sports car is a car designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1900s and are currently produced by ...

dealers and an amusement park. Located on the opposite side of the sculpture complex is the Xinghai CBD, which houses among other things Dalian Xinghai Convention & Exhibitions Center, Dalian World Expo Center and the headquarters of

Dalian Commodity Exchange The Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) () is a Chinese futures exchange based in Dalian, Liaoning province, China. It is a non-profit, self-regulating and membership legal entity established on February 28, 1993. Dalian Commodity Exchange trades in ...

Huabiao

huabiao Huabiao () is a type of ceremonial column used in traditional Chinese architecture. ''Huabiao'' are traditionally erected in pairs in front of palaces and tombs. The prominence of their placement have made them one of the emblems of traditional ...

was once located at the center of the square. It was first built in 1997 to commemorate the handover of Hong Kong. It was the tallest huabiao in China, and became one of the landmarks and symbols of Dalian. It stood at a height of 19.97 meters, and had a diameter of 1.997 metres. It was demolished secretly on August 5, 2016, at midnight, which was believed to be out of political reasons related to the downfall of Chinese politician

Bo Xilai Bo Xilai (; born 3 July 1949) is a Chinese former politician who was convicted on bribery and embezzlement charges. He came to prominence through his tenures as Mayor of Dalian and then the governor of Liaoning. From 2004 to November 2007, ...

, who oversaw the construction of Xinghai Square and the central huabiao during his tenure as the mayor of Dalian. Local media remained in silence about this, and reports by mainland media were soon deleted.

Musical fountain

On November 26, 2017, Xinghai Square opened a new musical fountain at the center of the square as a replacement of the demolished huabiao. It is known as the largest musical fountain in

Northeast China Northeast China or Northeastern China () is a geographical region of China, which is often referred to as "Manchuria" or "Inner Manchuria" by surrounding countries and the West. It usually corresponds specifically to the three provinces east of ...

. The Xinghai Square musical fountain is the third musical fountain in downtown Dalian, the other two are in Donggang and Renmin Square. Shell museum in Xinghai Square

Dalian Shell Museum

Dalian Shell Museum was officially opened on Xinghai Square in 2015. The shape of the building is a lying shell. There are more than 10,000 kinds and more than 50,000 pieces of exhibits in the museum. Dalian Shell Museum is the one with the largest exhibition area and the most variety on display in the world so far.

Sculpture Landscape

Xinghai Square has various kinds of sculptures, such as the Centennial City Sculpture, the sculpture of 1000 footprints, and modern movement sculptures. The Centennial City Sculpture, along with the sculpture of 1000 footprints leading up to it, was built in 1999 to commemorate the centenary of the founding of the city (1899-1999).

Centennial City Sculpture

The Centennial City Sculpture is located from the center of the square to the south. It is an opened-book shaped stone sculpture, with relief and line curving at either end which show both traditional Chinese culture and modern Chinese progress. The book is faced to the sea, signifying Dalian turning a new page after the Centenary anniversary. 1000 footprints sculpture in Xinghai Square

1000 footprints sculpture in Xinghai Square

The sculpture of 1000 footprints

Leading up to the Centennial City Sculpture is a ground-level copper sculpture of 1000 footprints, which were stepped by 1000 Dalianese people of different ages. From the north to the south, footprints were ordered by age from the oldest to the youngest. The footprint in the first line belongs to Dalianese people who were born in 1899 when Dalian as a city was established, and the one in the last line belongs to Dalianese people who were born in 1999. The 1000 footprints shows Dalian's century-long history created by its industrious citizens. Mordern movement sculpture

Modern movement sculptures

Around the outskirt of the square, there are thirty groups of modern movement sculptures, constructed for the

2008 Olympic Games The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

. The sculptures are made with white stainless steel mesh, and are hollow. The sculptures vividly shows athletes‘ strong muscles and beautiful movement. The thirty groups of sculptures represent thirty kinds of sports:

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

american football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players p ...

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice ...

balance beam The balance beam is a rectangular artistic gymnastics apparatus and an event performed using the apparatus. Both the apparatus and the event are sometimes simply referred to as "beam". The English abbreviation for the event in gymnastics scoring i ...

rhythmic gymnastics Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which gymnasts perform on a floor with an apparatus: hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon. The sport combines elements of gymnastics, dance and calisthenics; gymnasts must be strong, flexible, agile, dexterous and coord ...

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

cycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from ...

judo is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo") ...

shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missiles ...

windsurfing Windsurfing is a wind propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the aerospace and surf culture of California. Windsurfing ga ...

, canoe and kayak diving,

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a ...

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the M ...

fencing Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, ...

racewalking Racewalking, or race walking, is a long-distance discipline within the sport of athletics. Although a foot race, it is different from running in that one foot must appear to be in contact with the ground at all times. Race judges carefully asse ...

javelin A javelin is a light spear designed primarily to be thrown, historically as a ranged weapon, but today predominantly for sport. The javelin is almost always thrown by hand, unlike the sling, bow, and crossbow, which launch projectiles with the ...

figure skating Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are me ...

speed skating Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skati ...

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee ( ...

, diving, discus,

long-distance running Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely aerobic in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength. Within endurance running comes two d ...

hurdling Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today, ...

, and equestrianism.

Water Landscape

Xinghai Square's water landscape is distributed in the central star-shaped square, the Centennial City Sculpture and along the road in the middle of the square. The water landscape is consist of

musical fountain A musical fountain, also known as a fairy fountain, prismatic fountain or dancing fountain, is a type of choreographed fountain that creates aesthetic designs as a form of entertainment. The displays are commonly synchronised to music and also ...

and flowing water.

Musical fountain

The fountain has a diameter of 140 meters and a maximum spray height of 88 meters. It adopts 8 patented technologies and presents a shocking performance of "sound, light, electricity, and fire".

Flowing water

The surrounding flowing water is arranged in a circular pattern. There are nine groups of musical fountains. The water landscape of the center has a total of fifty small colorful musical fountains.

Famous Events

Dalian International Walking Conference

Since the first Dalian International Walking Conference was successfully held in 2003, the third weekend in May has become a major festival for hiking enthusiasts and citizens in

to go hiking. In 2008, the International Marching League organized more than 600 Dutch hiking enthusiasts to Dalian to participate in the Sino-Dutch Friendship Hiking Conference. Dutch hikers and Dalian hikers walked together on Xinghai Square and Binhai Road.

China International Beer Festival

In the midsummer of 1999, the first China International Beer Festival was held in the Olympic Sports Center in

. In 2002, it moved to

, and opened a new chapter in Xinghai Square.

Service Facilities

Xinghai Square provides citizens and visitors many services and facilities: * Benches *

Toilet A toilet is a piece of sanitary hardware that collects human urine and feces, and sometimes toilet paper, usually for disposal. Flush toilets use water, while dry or non-flush toilets do not. They can be designed for a sitting position popu ...

s * Kiosks *

Vending machine A vending machine is an automated machine that provides items such as snacks, beverages, cigarettes, and lottery tickets to consumers after cash, a credit card, or other forms of payment are inserted into the machine or otherwise made. The ...

s *

Amusement rides Amusement rides, sometimes called carnival rides, are mechanical devices or structures that move people especially kids to create fun and enjoyment. Rides are often perceived by many as being scary or more dangerous than they actually are. This ...

* Obstacle facilities * Shared charging point

Transportations

Bus

Metro

Xinghai Square station on Line 1 connects to the square, and it has three exits: A1, A2, and C.

Gallery

File:Xinghai square middle.JPG, Xinghai Square File:漢白玉華表星海広場075963.jpg,

Huabiao Huabiao () is a type of ceremonial column used in traditional Chinese architecture. ''Huabiao'' are traditionally erected in pairs in front of palaces and tombs. The prominence of their placement have made them one of the emblems of traditional ...

in the center of square (now the location of musical fountain) File:星海广场位于中国大连075973.jpg, Sculpture complex of 1000 footprints and an opened book File:星海広場075986.jpg, Xinghai Square at night File:Xinghai Square east.JPG, Xinghai Square amusement park with the Castle Hotel in the background File:Xinghai Square west.JPG, Grand Hyatt Dalian (left) and apartments at Xinghai Square File:Giant stride旋转秋千076015.jpg, Xinghai Square Amusement Park File:星海広場075989.jpg, Outskirts of Xinghai Square File:Xinghai Bay Bridge in Xinghai Square, Dalian.jpg, Xinghai Bay Bridge File:Amusement rides.jpg, Amusement rides in Xinghai Square

References

External links

Introduction to Xinghai Square
{{coord, 38, 52, 52, N, 121, 34, 58, E, display=t, type:landmark Dalian Squares in Dalian

Location

History

Design

Overall layout

Design philosophy

Design parameter

Landmarks

Surrounding buildings

Huabiao

Musical fountain

Dalian Shell Museum

Sculpture Landscape

Centennial City Sculpture

The sculpture of 1000 footprints

Modern movement sculptures

Water Landscape

Musical fountain

Flowing water

Famous Events

Dalian International Walking Conference

China International Beer Festival

Service Facilities

Transportations

Bus

Metro

Gallery

See also

References

External links