| Historic Photographic Comparison | |||||||||||||||||||
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In its short history of 100 years, Dalian has had many names (Dalny, Dairen, Luda). These names often reflected the period of rule by a foreign power, and those influences left behind on the city. Many American cities in the 1950s were guilty of a post-war drive to modernize, as old historic hand crafted homes gave way to futuristic looking mass produced concrete strip malls. Likewise, as today's Dalian rushes headlong to modernize (like so many other Chinese cities), it is erasing its unique past. This is in the name of progress, but also to heal old wounds that wish to be forgotten. Fortunately, some key places of significance still remain to give witness to Dalian's legacy. A photographic comparison of these locations is presented here, showing how landmarks looked from 1908 to 1938 with their current condition. The present day pictures are borrowed from the private collection of SongLi and used with permission. These vintage picture postcards are used as reference materials, taken from the correspondence collection of Lin Baixue, as noted in the book "Blue Sky Red Tears." At that time, the Japanese colonial city was known as Dairen. Many locations, previously built by the Russians, also remain. |
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| Historic Location Mapping | |||||||||||||||||||
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| The roadway structure of Dalian remains the basic framework that defined the city since its foundation one hundred years ago. While most of the original city buildings have been replaced over decades of modernization, many of the colonial landmark sites yet remain. This digital map was compiled exclusively by SongLi from extensive research over several years, and remains an ongoing historical preservation project. Original Japanese maps and picture postcards have been translated and matched with current Chinese maps, satellite images, and SongLi's own personal photography. The combination of visual historical records and modern geographical references is the first of its kind created for Dalian. Its presentation in Japanese, Mandarin, and English is the most extensive interactive historical study made for public use. While much of this data is public record, this collection and its images remain the exclusive creative property of SongLi and may not be copied without permission. |
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| Historic E-Book | |||||||||||||||||||
| A flash-based brochure of Dalian: Then And Now with samples from this collection is also available for viewing. | |||||||||||||||||||
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