Dalian impression - wedding shops and fashion

Wedding service is a big business in Mainland China. My friend is traveling in Dalian, China’s famous summer resort and port city. He told me “here, the whole street is lined with wedding shops, showing case beautiful bridal gowns.” He got the impression that “the dreams of girls here all seem to converge on one thing, i.e. marry a guy who has money, can provide a comfortable home and a nice car.”

Dalian is China’s city of fashion, my friend also said. The people here look very fashionable, even more than people in Shanghai or Beijing. Well, that may be true. There is the annual Dalian International Fashion Festival in September, a major and influential fashion event attracting even the world’s famous designers.

Arguably, Dalian is also China’s cleanest city. I think it has something to do with its Japanese colonial history. Japanese influence is strongly felt even today, with many Japanese tourists and Japanese language schools in the city. Dalian is also Japanese favorite destination for learning mandarin.

“I was on the square, and no people came up to talk to me. I think the locals are like Japanese - they don’t talk to you before they know you,” my friend observed.