I limped into Dalian with my suitcase.

Fortunately, the ferry from Yantai had provided a free bus to Dalian Station. This removed one stage of the evening’s transport arrangements, leaving me to reach the hotel and discover the best bed I had slept in for quite a while.

There were more colonies to inspect. They could wait until morning.

Dalian had been developed around the ambitions of two empires. Russia wanted a port connected to its great railway system across Asia. Japan inherited the Russian position after the war and built upon it with considerable confidence. Both left architecture which suggested that they expected to remain.

My ankle imposed a more modest timetable.

The following day I did not walk far, but I reached Russian Street. A few amazing buildings survived. Unfortunately, the street around them had been turned into a sad theme park.

There is a difference between preserving an old quarter and converting it into an attraction. The buildings may remain while the atmosphere which made them worth visiting disappears.

Hotel 1896 did the best job. Elsewhere, I found myself trying to separate the surviving Russian city from the presentation laid over it. The architecture deserved better than its surroundings.

The civic centre was more impressive. Grand Japanese-era bank buildings stood with the confidence of institutions which had not expected to become historical curiosities. Art Deco was part of the architectural language, but the more striking quality was permanence.

These were not the buildings of men planning to pack up the following season. They had established a city and built as though its future belonged to them.

History had other arrangements.

I had noodles near the hotel and returned to the excellent bed. The first day’s inspection had been limited, but Dalian had already justified the crossing.

The next morning I was up early for Port Arthur.

Lüshun deserves its own post. The forts, harbour, Japanese monuments and Russian railway remains made it far more than a day trip from Dalian. I returned exhausted, had evening noodles again and went back to bed.

The colonies were proving easier to inspect than to walk through.

On the final day I went to Nanshan, where the Japanese quarter presented much the same problem as Russian Street. Another sad theme park, with most of the restaurants closed down. Whatever the intended effect, a street of closed restaurants does not convey much life.

The better discoveries were off the main streets. Beautiful Japanese Art Deco remained, away from the part which had been arranged for visitors. As in Shanghai, the surviving city became more interesting once I stepped away from its designated presentation.

I also found a lovely Chinese park and sat in the sun.

For a while, there was nothing to inspect. Just a place to sit, some sunshine and an ankle which appreciated the interruption.

Then I went to Venice.

I had not expected to include it in a single day’s exploration of Dalian, but the city had supplied a kitschy version of Italy alongside its Russian and Japanese remains.

Venice was at least straightforward about being an imitation. It had not lost an earlier life in the process of becoming a tourist attraction. The attraction was the whole point.

Japan, China and Venice in a day. Quite an itinerary for a man who had arrived limping.

Back at the hotel, I collected my luggage and successfully left behind my power bank, pen and Hugo Boss T-shirt.

Never mind.

The next stage was an overnight train north to Harbin, following the old imperial railway corridor. For the Russians, it had been a connection into the Trans-Siberian system. For the Japanese, it became the route of the Asia Express.

It depended which empire we were talking about. Tonight, China was providing the sleeper.

Then Dalian supplied one final discovery.

After settling into my carriage, I looked out and spotted the old Russian railway station, tucked away in the far corner of the modern station complex.

There it was.

After the tourist streets, the closed restaurants and the imported Venice, an original piece of the Russian city had appeared beside the railway which explained why it had been built.

I had spent part of the day walking through imitation.

Dalian ended with an original.