Local transportation
Not many people ride bicycles in Dalian because of the hilly roads. Dalian is also one of the many cities in China where there are few motorcycles, because motorcycle riding on most roads is banned by law. The city has a comprehensive bus system and an efficient metro system. As of November 2015, the Dalian Metro consists of the underground Line 1, Line 2, and the overground Line R2 and Line 3. New lines and expansion of the metro system are under way. The Dalian Tram system is the second oldest in China. Most of the public transportation in the city can be accessed using the Mingzhu IC Card.
Domestic and international
In 2005 Dalian expanded the international airport, Dalian Zhoushuizi International Airport, with direct flights to the most major cities in China, and to some cities in Japan, South Korea and Russia. In 2014, the airport was the 20th busiest airport in China with 13,551,223 passengers. The airport is the hub of Dalian Airlines.
The city's location means that train trips to most Chinese cities outside China's northeastern region require changing trains in Beijing or Shanghai. With the high-speed rail system, trips from Dalian to Shenyang can be completed in 1.5 hours, to Changchun 2.5 hours and to Harbin 3.5 hours. The city has two railway stations, namely Dalian Railway Station and Dalian North Railway Station (IATA: DBL)[citation needed], that latter being part of the Harbin–Dalian High-Speed Railway.
In addition to local and express bus service to Beijing and other areas in the northeast, Dalian is connected by passenger ship service to neighbouring coastal cities, including Tianjin, Yantai, Weihai, Penglai and Dongying, as well as Incheon, South Korea.