Color-splashed coastal path with red and white lighthouse and sea ice

Civil engineers in this icy East Asian port decided that this stark seaside park needed not only a guiding lighthouse but a smattering of warm color. Urban design is a big job in Dalian, a peninsular city in Northeast China known for its eclectic architecture and varied history. The British, Russians, and Japanese have all occupied Dalian in the last 200 years, and a hodgepodge of historical design styles can still be found amid the sleek modern cityscape. Perhaps most eye-catching is a neo-romantic hilltop castle—actually a luxury hotel built in 2002.