When Alex Bowman arrived in Dalian about 3 years ago, he joined CNET blogger Rick Martin, Chris Amico and a few other Internet-savvy westerners in working to fill the information gap they faced.

Founding DalianDalian, they aimed to help and share news, tips and information about city life for recently arrived expatriates.

The site has developed into a lively community and now they have now decided to offer the platform for free to similar-minded expats living in any city that does not currently have a good city site. (The platform works with any language).

An English-language city magazine was launched in Dalian about 10 months ago, but Bowman does not view them as a competitor. The problem with the magazine is that it operates under an advertising license and faces China’s normal censorship regime.

This runs in contrast to the forums on DalianDalian, where people can say what they really think or find useful.

Anyone need free help setting up a city portal in a second or third-tier city in China (or elsewhere)?

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