A welcoming haven for expats

With tree-clad coast, an amenable city government and clean air, Dalian stands out from most cities in China

On a factory floor in Dalian, Liaoning province, amid the cacophony of industry and the shouting of employees, Ladon Ghalili shows off the inner workings of the manufacturing operation she and her husband Foad have built over the past 25 years. Workers, some of whom have known her for more than a decade, greet her in the local dialect. She answers them in kind, fluently.

The Ghalilis, who came to China in 1989, not long after the nation began to open up, started their first business in Dalian using savings they'd scraped together. They now own and run several companies that collectively turn over about $20 million per year and employ around 100 people locally.