Xinghai Square

Xinghai Square (simplified Chinese: 星海广场; traditional Chinese: 星海廣場; pinyin: Xīnghǎi Guǎngchǎng), is a city square in Dalian, Liaoning Province, China. It is located to the north of Xinghai Bay. It covers a total area of 110 ha (270 acres),^[1] making it the largest city square in the world. Its name literally means "the Sea of Stars".

History

Xinghai Square was built at the centennial of the City of Dalian in 1998. The sculptures of 1000 footprints and an opened book facing the sea commemorates the vicissitudes of the city's history. Across the Xinghai Bay, the Xinghai Bay Bridge could be seen.^[2]

Around the square are high-end apartments, restaurants, banks, luxury sports car dealers and an amusement park. The Xinghai Bay beach, the Castle Hotel, Dalian Modern History Museum and Dalian Shell Museum are also nearby. 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.^[3]

For 10 days in late-July early-August, Xinghai Square holds the annual International Beer Festival.

A huabiao (19.97 meters high) was once located at the center of the square.^[4] It was first built in 1997 to commemorate China's resuming sovereignty over Hong Kong. It was the tallest Huabiao in China, and it became one of the landmarks and symbols of Dalian. It was demolished secretly on August 5th, 2016 at midnight. It was believed to be out of some political reasons. Local media remained silence about this, and covering reports by mainland media were soon deleted.^[5]

In 2017-11-26, Xinghai Square opened its new musical fountain at the center of the square, it known as the largest musical fountain in Northeast of China. Xinghai Square musical fountain is the third musical fountain in Dalian, the other two are in Donggang and Renmin Square.^[6]