LIAOYANG

'Liaoyang' () is a city in China, Liaoning province, located in the middle of the heavily polluted Liaodong Peninsula. The city is situated on the T'ai-tzu River with a current population of 1,810,000.
It is approximately one hour south of Shenyang by car. Liaoyang is home to Liaoning University's College of Foreign Studies and a number of vocational colleges. Liaoyang suffers from air pollution in its metropolitan and industrial park areas. There is very limited 'night life' in karaoke bars and clubs with lavish neon lights to attract customers near the downtown area. There are a number of nice restaurants and a few offer menus in English. The city hosts a limited number of professional basketball and volleyball games in a modern sports facility. The inhabitants of the city are not use to visitors from the outside. While friendly, their spontaneous exclamations of surprise can be amusing or upsetting. Locals often ask visitors to permit them to practice their English. Students begin studying English in the third grade.

Contents

History

Tourism

Sister Cities

External links

History

Liaoyang is one of the oldest continuously-inhabited cities in northeast China. The city has a number of sites of historical interest. Among these is the White Pagoda (baita), which dates back to the Yuan dynasty. The Liaoyang White Pagoda sits in White Pagoda Park. Liaoyang was once the capitol of Manchuria. The Emperor moved the capitol to Shenyang in 1625. Locals prefer to call the region 'Dong Bei' rather than Manchuria. It was the site of the Battle of Liaoyang (August 24-September 4, 1904), which was one of the major battles of the Russo-Japanese War.

Tourism

Although the lack of greenspace throughout the city is noticeable, there are a few historical sites to be visited. The LiaoYang museum, which was built in 1921, was open to public since 1984 contains many antiques. The temple surrounding BaiTa (White Pagoda) destroyed during WWII was recreated which became one of LiaoYang's main tourism attraction in the recent years. Memorial sites, old cities are all one of the many tourist sites in LiaoYang. In the downtown area there resides the busiest shopping malls. The shopping area consists of total 5 malls and walking-only streets full of Chinese brand name stores. Within the malls, you can find unique stores and cheap goods. On the streets, there are many interesting a delicious regional snacks. Also in the shopping area is a Korean BBQ street full of Korean BBQ restaurants. Moving further, you'll find many more different types of Chinese restaurants. Chief among points of interest are: Huo Jia Jiaozi, a traditional dumpling restaurant, and Ming Du Sangna, a place for the wealthy elite to meet for a bath.
''Famous people from Liaoyang''

★ Xueqin Cao" (曹雪芹): he was known by "hong lou meng"(红楼梦).

Sister Cities

★ Los Gatos, California, United States

External links

★ The Liaoyang Government website

★ Brief description of Liaoyang White Pagoda and a few pictures

★ Information about infrastructure, service facilities and tourism

★ Article about Liaoyang at the Encyclopaedia Britannica, with much about the history