Binhai National Geopark is located on the coast of Jinshitan in the outskirts of Dalian. The rocks here have been sculpted by nature into a myriad of natural artworks, with some resembling a monkey observing the sea, others like an eagle spreading its wings, and some strikingly similar to Beethoven’s face. Most of these giant rocks stand along the coast and serve as ideal photography spots.
The formation of these peculiar rocks along the coast originates from rock sedimentation and a multitude of ancient fossils dating back 600 to 900 million years. The core scenic areas of the Geopark that have been developed mainly include three major scenic clusters: Dinosaur Park, Nanxiu Garden, and Aotan Garden. Most visitors will tour these three clusters, which take over three hours to explore on foot. If time permits and physical strength is sufficient, visitors can also explore the Rose Garden cluster, Jinshi Garden cluster, and the Geopark Museum. In the Rose Garden cluster, one can see rocks with unique textures that resemble clusters of blooming roses. In the Dinosaur Park cluster, there is the ‘Beethoven Head’ rock, and one can climb onto the ‘Dinosaur Sea Exploration’ giant rock to overlook the sea. In the Nanxiu Garden cluster, one can see形象 rocks such as ‘Eagle Spreading Wings’ and ‘Hedgehog Foraging’. The Aotan Garden cluster has the treasure of the beach—the Turtle Back Rock. The Jinshi Garden cluster is slightly different from the coastal giant rocks, featuring a stone forest landscape with uniquely shaped isolated residual hills, natural bridges, and other karst landform scenes. Additionally, one can view various small peculiar rocks in the Geopark Museum. Opening hours are from 08:30 to 16:00 all year round. Preferential policies: Children: under 6 years old (inclusive) or under 1.3 meters in height (inclusive), accompanied by an adult, with each adult allowed to carry no more than 2 free children; free. Minors aged 6 to 18 (inclusive), with valid documents, half price. Elderly: aged 70 and above (inclusive), with valid documents, free; aged 60 to 69 (inclusive), with valid documents, half price. Military personnel: military personnel, retired military officers, with valid documents, free. Three categories of dependents: surviving relatives of martyrs, surviving relatives of military personnel who died in the line of duty, surviving relatives of deceased military personnel, with valid documents, free. Firefighters: active, retired, disabled firefighters, and fire rescue academy students, with valid documents, free. Police officers: with police ID, free. Disabled persons: with disability certificate, blind (second degree of vision disability and above, including the second degree), double lower limb disabled persons, moderately intellectually disabled persons (third degree and above, including the third degree), accompanied by one free caregiver, free. Tour guides: with national tour guide certificate, free. Students: full-time undergraduate students and below, with valid documents, half price.
