Dalian is a petite female shopper's paradise, with a range of Japanese, Korean, and western fashions. Qingniwa Jie, south of Shengli Guangchang (open 9am-9pm), is a materialistic mecca of malls, hotels, fast-food outlets, boutiques, and elaborate window displays unlike anything in China outside Shanghai. The prices are very reasonable and the spectacle of so many well-dressed Chinese people in one place is a strange, pleasant shock. If the labyrinth of underground shops, called the Dixia Shangchang, is too overwhelming, try the Japanese department stores Itokin (Yidujin). Russian Street (Eluosi Fengqing Jie) lacks any real Russian people, but is full of stalls with the country's goods, including chocolates, whiskey flasks, vodka, and dolls.
