The coast around Jinshi Tan, 50km northeast of the city, has been turned into a domestic tourism mecca with a number of theme parks and rock formations commanding inflated entrance fees. The long pebbly beach itself is free and quite pretty, set in a wide bay with distant headlands. For those who prefer their water chlorinated, there's a beautiful new public swimming pool (¥5, open 6am to 8pm) beside the sand.
To get here take the light rail, known by the locals as Line 3 (轻轨三号线, Qīngguǐ Sānhàoxiàn), from the depot on the east side of Victory Sq, behind the Dalian Train Station (¥8, 50 minutes) to its terminus 'Jin Shi Tan'. The ticket machine is in Chinese only, but just select the most expensive ticket, then the number of tickets and insert your money.
From the beach station it’s a 10-minute walk to the beach, or catch a hop-on/hop-off tourist shuttle bus (¥20), which winds round the coast first before dropping you off at the beach. Tickets for the shuttle bus are available from the visitor centre (open 8.30am to 5pm), to the right of the train station as you exit, which sometimes has English-speaking staff if you need help.