How to get to Dalian

Q: What would be the easiest way to get to the city of Dalian in China in early August? Can you recommend a Western-style hotel there. - Arnold Roebuck A: SAA now flies from Johannesburg to Beijing three times a week and Dalian is a 50-minute flight from there, so this is your best choice. There are plenty of connecting flights on China Southern and China Air. An alternative is to fly through Hong Kong on SAA or Cathay Pacific and then connect to Dalian on China Air, but you won't have the wide choice of connecting flights and you may be in for a long wait at Hong Kong Airport. Dalian has a population of more tha six million people, so it has a wide range of international hotels. I checked on the discount site www.booking.com and your options include the Hilton Dalian (from R1307 per double room), the Hotel Ibis Sanba (R422), Holiday Inn Dalian Software Park Apartments (R369) and the five-star Shangri-la (R1668).