Book sculpture
Facing the sea.
Nyx Ning — CC BY-SA 3.0 · chp13579753 — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Yingxi120 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Yingxi120 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · 陳炬燵 — Public domain · JesseW900 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Liuxingy — CC BY-SA 4.0 · 红烧腰果 — CC BY 4.0
Dalian's grandest square, spreading over about 110 hectares on Xinghai Bay in the south of the city, built entirely on land reclaimed from the sea; it is often described as one of the largest city squares in the world, its name means «Sea of Stars», and it opened to the public free on 30 June 1997. It was laid out in symbolic circles: the inner circle is 199.9 metres across for the city's centenary in 1999 and the outer one 239.9 metres for its five-hundredth year in 2399, while its red-marble centre draws on the Altar of Heaven in Beijing. At its southern edge stands the Centennial Sculpture, a huge book open towards the sea, with a path of thousands of bronze footprints leading to it; the square is the starting point of the famous Binhai coastal road, and the long Xinghai Bay sea bridge can be seen from it. The square is free and always open, per visitor guides. The evening, when the towers and the bridge light up over the bay, is the loveliest time, and the sea breeze keeps it pleasant even on summer days.
Facing the sea.
Lit at night.
Starts here.
Shahekou District, on Xinghai Bay, south Dalian
Yes, the square is free and always open, and the evening, when the towers and the bridge light up over the bay, is the best time, per visitor guides.