Qingniwaqiao

Qingniwaqiao is the downtown area of Dalian, Liaoning, China, located front of the Dalian Railway Station. The area gives its name to a subdistrict in Zhongshan District, Qingniwaqiao Subdistrict.



History
Qingniwaqiao was originally a small fishing village in the 19th century whose name means the "bridge over the blue mud swamp". It was near here where the Russians chose to build their commercial town, as they leased in 1898 the naval port of Lushun and its surrounding area, which they called Dalny. This later became the core of the city of Dalian.

Geography
Qingniwaqiao is a rectangular area, demarked on the northern side by Changjiang Road, on the southern side by Wuhui Road , on the eastern side by Jiefang Road and on the western side by Youhao Street. In its center runs from east to west Zhongshan Road which is the main street of Dalian.

Dalian's central business district (CBD, ), extends from the east side of Qinagniwaqiao, along Zhongshan and Renmin Roads, via Friendship Square and Zhongshan Square, towards the Port of Dalian. It sometimes includes Hope Square and Dalian Mori Building on Qingniwaqiao's west side, along Zhongshan Road.

Economy
Qingniwaqiao is Dalian's commercial center. Dashang Group, the largest retailer in Northeast China has its flagship store here.
 * Dashang Group
 * Dashang Department Store
 * MYKAL Department Store
 * New Mart Supermarket
 * Dashang Men's Store, on Jiefang Road
 * Dashang Women's Store, on Zhongshan Road (formerly, Mitsukoshi Department Store
 * Suning Appliance
 * GOME Electrical Appliances
 * Jiuguang Department Store
 * Parkland
 * Pacific Department Store (in, Taiwan)

Restaurants and coffee shops from overseas:
 * Pizza Hut
 * McDonald's
 * KFC
 * Starbucks
 * Amici

Victory Plaza
Invested by a Taiwan company, there is a 3-storey underground shopping area under Victory Plaza, sandwiched between Changjiang and Zhongshan Roads. It is one of Dalian-ites' favorite pastimes to do (window) shopping or play bowling here, especially in winter.

Banks

 * Branches of all major Chinese Nationwide banks
 * Bank of Dalian headquarters

Banks in CBD

 * Standard Chartered Bank
 * Citibank
 * Bank of East Asia
 * Tokyo-Mitsubishi Bank
 * Mizuho Bank

Hotels

 * Swissôtel
 * Ramada Hotel
 * Zhongshan Hotel
 * Bohai Hotel
 * Kempinski Hotel

Hotels in CBD

 * InterContinental Hotel
 * New World Hotel
 * Shangri-La Hotel
 * Furama Hotel

Transportation
Qingniwaqiao is also the public transportation hub of Dalian City.

Intra-city transportation

 * Metro, bus, trolley bus and tramway

Inter-city transportation

 * Long distance bus
 * Railway (Dalian Railway Station)