Where to Stay in Dandong, Liaoning

What is Dandong known for?

On the Yalu river at the edge of China in Liaoning, it grew as a river port and border town, and it keeps the broken bridge left from the Korean War, the museum of that war, the view across the water to North Korea, and the easternmost end of the Great Wall in the hills nearby. The wide Yalu runs to the sea. Green hills rise behind.

What are the main landmarks in Dandong?

The Broken Bridge is the pride of Dandong. The half-ruined bridge over the Yalu, cut short by the bombs of the Korean War, reaches out toward North Korea, the emblem of the city, downtown. A wall ends on a hill.

The easternmost Ming Great Wall climbs Tiger Mountain nearby, while the war museum, the river boats, and the view of North Korea mark the country around Dandong.

What is the history of Dandong?

Dandong grew on the border river. On the Yalu, where China borders Korea, the town rose as a port for the trade in timber and goods crossing the river. War came to the bridge.

In the Korean War the Chinese armies crossed the Yalu at Dandong, and American planes bombed the bridges, leaving one half-standing over the water. The border made the modern city. Dandong grew as the great crossing between China and North Korea, its bridge and boats busy with trade, and travelers came to look across at the closed land beyond.

The wall ended in the hills. Just east of the town the Ming Great Wall reached its farthest end at Tiger Mountain, above the river, and Dandong grew as the largest border city of China, keeping its bridge, its river, and its wall. The broken bridge still stands over the Yalu.

Dandong keeps its border city on the river.

Where is Dandong?

Dandong lies in the east of Liaoning in northeast China, on the Yalu river by the sea. The city sits on the north bank of the Yalu where it runs into the Yellow Sea, facing the North Korean city of Sinuiju across the water, with green hills behind and the river marking the border. The Yalu runs wide and slow.

Green hills wall the town.

What is the climate of Dandong?

Dandong has a mild, monsoon coastal climate. Warm wet summers and cold dry winters cross the border, with sea rains in the summer and snow and frost in the winter. The summer brings the rains.

Winter freezes the river.

How do you get to Dandong?

Dandong lies on the Yalu river in northeast China, at the North Korean border. Fast trains run to it from Shenyang and Beijing, and the great bridge crosses to North Korea. Boats ply the Yalu.

Shenyang lies northwest up the line.