From our hotel in Lianhe Road in the Shahekou district of Dalian, Xinghai Square didn’t look that far away on Google Maps. Wisely, we decided against footing it to the Square, as the taxi ride took a surprisingly long time to get there. Located south-west of Dalian CBD, Xinghai Square is a very large city ‘square’ (in fact it is circular in shape) comprising large lawns and hedged gardens, dotted with modern sculptural pieces depicting rowing, sailboarding, gymnastics and other outdoor activities.

Although a pleasant place to aimlessly wander round at any time of day (barring inclement weather), the best optics are had at night. The lights on the phalanx of modern high-rise, residential monoliths surrounding the largely parkland square provide an illuminating backdrop to it. At the water’s edge there’s a high rectangular concrete platform which is sharply raised at both ends to resemble a ski jump or perhaps an enormous skatepark. Many visitors amuse themselves by climbing the steep high ends by themselves or in tandem with their friends to catch the ocean views to the south – looking out over Xinghai Bay to the spectacularly long and modern sea bridge (Xinghaiwan Bridge) and beyond, to the Yellow Sea. Most, having carefully treaded and scrambled their way to the top of the ‘skatepark’, take the opportunity for the obligatory 25 to 30 selfies!

After nightfall most interest is concentrated on two parts of Xinghai Square. One, alongside the ‘skatepark’, is the brightly-lit amusement park and auxiliary restaurants, a collection of largely stock-standard rides and entertainments, a sort of Dalian answer to Brighton Pier (without the pier!). The other, which draws the bulk of nocturnal visitors to Xinghai Square, is the vast circular fountain and its colourful displays of vertical water propulsion which draws hundreds to witness the vivid spectacle and video-record the event on their phones. Providing audio for the spectacular waterworks show is a accompanying musical soundtrack, with a mixed bag of numbers ranging from melodic Classical Chinese pieces to international pop like Simon and Garfunkel.

But the biggest spectacle of the night was the mass exit at the immediate conclusion of the vivid colour water show. People who moments before had been quietly watching the performance were all instantly and determinedly making for the exit gates at a fast rate of knots – as if they had suddenly remembered another engagement they had! The exiting crowds scattered in such numbers that the handful of police on duty had difficulty in keeping them off the roadway. Waves and waves of them streamed out of the precinct on to Huizhan Road and into taxis and cars.

Footnote: at 110 hectares 星海广场 (Xīnghâi guângchâng) is the largest urban square in Asia. The name ‘Xinghai’ literally means “the Sea of Stars”