
Map showing Dandong province in Liaoning prefecture
'Dandong' () is a city in the
Liaoning province,
China. It is on the border between China and
North Korea, marked by the
Yalu River. Also at this point, the river flows into
Korea Bay. The size of the administrative city is 14,910 square kilometers; the urban city is 563
square kilometers in size and has 643,000 inhabitants. The administrative city covers around 2.4 million inhabitants as of
2001.
'Tan-Tung' and 'Andong City, China' is associated with Dandong.
Landmarks
The city is across the river from
Sinŭiju, North Korea. The two cities are connected by the
Sino-Korea Friendship Bridge (中朝友谊桥)(also called the China-Korea Friendship Bridge). Another major landmark is
Hushan Great Wall (虎山长城), which marks the eastern end of the start of the
Ming Dynasty's extension to the
Great Wall. Other interesting tourist spots include: a museum dedicated to the "War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea" (also known as the
Korean War) and Jingjiang mountain(锦江山) that is now the city's biggest park, but used to be a Chinese army lookout.
History
Maps and artifacts suggest that the area has been settled since the
Zhou Dynasty. The area became known as 'Andong' (安東), county in
1876. Andong, which stands for pacifying the east, was so named to reflect the power projection that China had over Korea at the time. It was occupied by Japan after the start of the
first Sino-Japanese War in
1894. During the
Manchukuo era it was the capital of
Andong Province, one of the fourteen provinces established by Manchukuo. It adopted its present name on
January 20,
1965, to avoid connotation of its previous name, which was considered imperialistic by some.
Administrative divisions
Dandong is divided into 3 districts, 2 towns and one autonomous county :
Zhenxing District(振兴区 ; Zhènxīng Qū)
Yuanbao District (元宝区 ; Yuánbǎo Qū)
Zhen'an District(振安区 ; Zhèn'ān Qū)
Fengcheng City (凤城市 ; Fèngchéng Shì)
Donggang City (东港市 ; Dōnggǎng Shì)
Kuandian Manchu Autonomous County (宽甸满族自治县 ; Kuāndiàn Mǎnzú Zìzhìxiàn)
Sister cities
Dandong is a
Sister City with the following cities:
★
Doncaster,
United Kingdom - (
1988)
★
Wilmington,
North Carolina,
USA - (
1986)
In popular culture
Dandong is featured in the video game as the headquarters of the Chinese faction in the northern province of
North Korea, though technically it is situated in China.
External links
★
Government website (Chinese)