I’d like to profile a few of the smaller places I’ve been in China, places that you’ve probably not heard about. Today, I want to start with a small city in the north-eastern province of Liaoning, called Dandong. I traveled to Dandong during my first trip to China, in the winter of 2007, and I returned the following winter with my family when they came from Canada to visit.
Dandong is a pretty small city by Chinese standards, but it does have a few notable aspects that make it worth visiting. Likely what attracts most travelers here is its proximity to North Korea; it is situated directly across the Yalu River from the city of Sinŭiju, in Kim Jong-Il’s hermit kingdom. Korean food is plentiful here, as is Korean-Chinese culture, and many of the Korean-Chinese who live here have family across the river in North Korea.
On the Chinese bank of the Yalu you can buy a variety of North Korean novelties, such as currency, or pay one or two RMB to peer across the river through a telescope for a few minutes (there’s nothing really to see except a run-down ferris wheel.) Though, if that isn’t close enough for you, you can pay a bit more and hop in a speedboat which will take you on a 10 minute ride across the river and back.
The closest I got to North Korea.
The city saw some of the destruction of the Korean War, and there is a museum here commemorating it (from the Chinese Communist perspective, of course.) It’s called the Museum to Commemorate U.S. Aggression, but despite the name, it is worth visiting to see some of the war-time artifacts that have been preserved.
Some American army badges and medals, taken from prisoners of war.
During the war, the United States (“accidentally”) bombed the bridge spreading the Yalu between the two countries. The Chinese side was rebuilt, however the North Koreans didn’t bother, resulting in a bridge to nowhere that is now a tourist site. The newer Chinese-Korean Friendship Bridge was built beside it, though, which probably doesn’t see a whole lot of traffic.
The bridge to nowhere.
The river does freeze, but it’s pretty well guarded, and few would dare to walk across in either direction. A friend visited Dandong in 2008 and claims (an armed) North Korean soldier walked across to talk to him and his Chinese friends at a more isolated spot, and asked for food or money. I think they obliged him.
In addition to the Korean kitsch, there is some Chinese history here. The Ming Dynasty began its extension of the Great Wall from Dandong, and part of it has been restored for tourists.
The Great Wall at Tiger Mountain.
I took my family here in December of 2008, and it was icy and steep. It is located a few kilometers out of town on Tiger Mountain, so you need to take a small bus to get there (Chinese buses are always fun… more on that later.) It just dropped people off, though, and I never was able to find out if it came back at any time. Fortunately, a passing car was willing to stop for us and take us back to the city. A very small car, which somehow my parents, sister and myself crammed into, much to their amusement.
It’s worth checking out, if only for a day or two. Plenty of places to go hiking, great Korean food, and a view that is unique.
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