Current Time in Lianshan, China

Lianshan is the central urban district of Huludao, a coastal city in the west of Liaoning Province in north-eastern China. It lies on the northern shore of the Bohai Sea, on the narrow corridor of land between the sea and the Yan Mountains that has served for centuries as the main route between the North China Plain and Manchuria. The name means linked mountains, and low forested ridges rise directly behind the built-up area, while beaches and fishing harbours line the coast a short distance away.

Several hundred thousand people live in the district, which functions as the administrative, commercial and residential heart of a city of well over two million. Its importance is industrial. Lianshan and its neighbouring districts host large petrochemical refineries, one of China's major zinc smelting complexes and significant shipbuilding yards, and the wider Huludao area is also known nationally for producing an extraordinary share of the country's swimwear.

This narrow coastal corridor has been strategically vital throughout Chinese history. Armies moving in either direction had to pass through it, and fortifications were built here from the Ming dynasty onwards. The nearby walled town of Xingcheng, formerly called Ningyuan, was the scene of a celebrated battle in 1626 when Ming forces using imported cannon repelled the Manchu leader Nurhaci. Modern Huludao developed in the twentieth century around a planned deep-water port, industrial investment during the period of Japanese occupation, and postwar Chinese state industry, with Lianshan emerging as the district where administration and housing were concentrated.

The most rewarding sights lie just outside the district. Xingcheng preserves one of the best-kept Ming city walls in China, with four gates, a drum tower, a Confucian temple and streets of old houses inside, and it also has a long sandy beach and hot springs. At Jiumenkou, the Great Wall crosses a river on a series of arches, the only place where the wall is built as a bridge, and it is inscribed as part of the World Heritage listing. Longwan beach in Huludao itself is popular in summer, and the coastal road offers wide views of the Bohai Sea.

Life in Lianshan follows the rhythms of north-eastern China. Winters are cold and dry, summers warm and humid, and the local table features seafood from the bay, dumplings, wheat noodles and grilled skewers eaten outdoors on summer nights. The regional dialect and the comic performances known as errenzhuan give the area a reputation for humour, and the beach season brings visitors from Shenyang and Beijing.

Transport is excellent for a city of this size. The Beijing to Harbin railway and a high-speed line both pass through, putting Beijing within three hours and Shenyang within one, and expressways run parallel to the coast. Local buses and taxis serve the district, and several technical and vocational colleges train workers for the petrochemical and shipbuilding industries.

Lianshan offers industrial China alongside Ming fortresses and quiet Bohai beaches, a combination that repays a short detour.