The Joy of Six: Dalianpo

This month, we’ve checked out all the stops on Line 6 to tell you about the gems that you shouldn’t wait to discover in our station-by-station Going Underground special.

SELLING POINT
The distance from Qingnianlu to Dalianpo is 4km – the longest distance between any of the Line 6 stations. No, it’s not the end of the line but it feels like the frontier.

FORESEE
The white-tile facades that symbolized prosperity 20 years ago are marked for demolition … making way for the latest version of modernity. Have no doubt, however, that this area is set to boom. Walk about 500m south, and you’ll see a massive multistory Jingkelong supermarket to your left. At the end of the block is a warehouse-like Tiankelong. They know what’s coming. When the first-time homeowners move into their shiny high-rises, these gargantuan general stores will be ready to serve them.

LEARN
Beijing International Studies University (BISU) and the Communication University will snap you back to the present. The former consists mostly of sleepy student dorms; the latter is a well-funded campus – you can tell by the corporate ads, modernist sculptures, hip asymmetrical buildings and the Media Museum. The juxtaposition of these two schools also guarantees that if you need to ask a passerby for directions, chances are high that they’ll speak English … or at least enunciate beautifully.

EAT
If you prefer your breaded, cheesy deep-fried foods in the Japanese style,look for Katoya’s outpost here, just east of the BISU gate. Their cheese tonkatsu will forever change the way you view pork cutlets. And cheese.

DRINK
To find Aisi Bar, locate the alleyway between the two universities and then burrow deeper until you find the post office. Next to it stands Aisi, where students have been drowning their sorrows since 1995. We daresay that makes it one of the oldest saloons in town.

This article originally appeared on page 18 in the February issue of the Beijinger.

Photo: Lova