My Trip into an Abandoned Defunct Chinese Bomb Shelter

No one had been here in decades. It seemed about to collapse.

This city has a series of old wartime tunnels and underground shelters built here since the Russian and Japanese occupation before and during "The War".

I live in Dalian China. Over the 4 years I have been here. I have lived in several parts of this large city of 7 million people. Dalian continues to be one of China’s most strategic naval ports since the Japanese began developing the city back in the 19030’s.
(for personal safety reason I will not disclose it exact location)

Dalian is only a mere 350KM from Pyong Yang in North Korea.

Dalian was hard hit by the Japanese invasion and many of the locals suffered tragically. But that is for another post maybe.

Dalian is one of China’s most heavily fortified cities for the above stated reasons. Many of their naval ships including the Liongning, their aircraft carrier, have been seen in port for resupplying and repairs. I often see conveys of troops heading to the seaport.

With that comes a rumored web of underground bunkers and tunnels that can whisk you to pretty much anywhere in the city. Tunnels built from the residential neighborhoods on high hill tops overlooking the cities beauty that could take Japanese generals to the docks safely.

Tunnels throughout downtown districts that allow soldiers and VIPs to travel undetected to any location. Or so it’s told. Most of these tunnels, if they exist, are hidden or closed off. Some however are well known and have become businesses and storage places.

Dalian is a hilly city. Everywhere hills. Almost every level spot was once a hill. So the city is setup with pockets of buildings and communities. On many hills still grow trees and brush. Very few people hike up into the hills. The trails are partially over grown but do get some use.

Near my home is one of these hills. So my adventurist spirit took me and a friend on a hike up the hill. We found a path dog walkers would use. We came to a level clearing that the runs of a long lost cement structure. A shack was still standing and appeared to have been used in the past few years but now it was musty and damp, garbage pilling up inside.

We noticed in the rock face behind us was a large area that had been cut out of the rock wall. It went in about 15 meters and then a metal gate and steal garage door. The path was heavily overgrown. Maybe some feral cats had been going into the small hole I saw at the bottom of the entrance.

Above in cement were large Chinese characters we couldn’t read. We are not stupid we can imagine it says something like “stay the F#k Out!!.” Or maybe just a sign telling people what was there. It was clearly and entrance in the side of small mountain really out of place. We heard the story’s, we knew the tales of lost tunnels and buried Nazi treasure. Just kidding about the Nazi treasure.

The poorly built barricade meant to keep people out was literally falling apart. The metal bars, once up close, were old plastic piping simply leaning against the steel door.

We returned a few days later with flashlights, rope, water and snacks.

With a little effort we made a space big enough for us to slide in under on our bellies. We were officially in the tunnel. It was dark but with the little light coming in from under the gate we were assured the way out.

We turned on our lights and headed down the tunnel. A slight slope downwards and several bends later and we could no longer see the comforting light from the door. At least 50 meters of rock above us as the entrance was half way up the hill and the tunnel went down.

It was quite difficult for me to gauge the distance without viewpoints for reference. We were out of GPS and phones were of no use by this point other than to take pictures. I guess about 50-80 meters in.

We came to another garage door which went into another part of the tunnel. It was new and modern and really out of place considering how we got in. We wondered what could be on the other side. It must be in use because this side was dusty and old. We could still continue forward further down the tunnel.

There was an open space about 20 square meters with piles of rubbish like pieces of cement and stone in it. Further down the tunnel were some pretty steep steps which had long been crumbling and deteriorating. We went down anyways.

We were beginning to realize if anything happened to us no one would ever find us. The tunnel was old but it didn’t seem to be collapsing too much.

At the bottom of the steps was a large area on the right with several spaces carved out of the stone. Almost like in the event of its use this area would be a common area. This where people or supplies would be gathered.

The tunnel continued on even deeper. After another 20 meters we came to a Styrofoam wall blocking the rest of the way. Getting past this wall would be incredibly easy but what was it doing there. It looked as if it had already been torn down and re built. Why is it there? Again it seemed out of place.

By this time we are well deep underground and the dust was becoming unbearable. The dust was so thick we could see large flakes floating in the beam of our lights. This was the end of the line for us. We turned back.

As we passed by the modern garage door on the way out we could clearly hear noises from the other side. Like working or and some voices. This spooked us. Like seriously.

Here we are 200 meter down an abandoned bomb shelter and we can hear people on the other side of the out of place gate. So we got real quiet and rushed out. For fear of the door opening. What if it opened and Doctor Evils Layer was in there and they are looking at us with that “WTF are you doing here” look.

Once we were out of range of that gate we slowed down. My friend was ahead of me as I stopped to take some pictures of the message on the wall.

(pic updated to include translation)

As I realized I was alone and he was probably already on his belly squeezing his way out I started to think about monsters coming up the tunnel. I felt as if should something happen it would be hopeless. I imagined that as I approached the gate and got down to crawl out they or it would grab my foot and drag me back.

(click image for credit)

It was too rough and dark to run, I walked powerfully. I could see the light coming from the hole at the entrance. It was faint but I could feel the fresh air, however slight it was, coming in. My friend was there waiting at the gate inside of course.

As I approach he gets out and I follow. The beast chasing me in my mind never grabbed my foot at the last second. The sun hit me and the fresh air was welcoming. We put everything back as we found it. Boy scouts rule of leave it the way you found it in full effect.

For about a week I coughed up dust. I will never go back in. Not that one anyways.

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