Dandong previously known as
Andong and
Antung, is a city in
Liaoning' is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the northeast of the country. Its one-character abbreviation is "辽" , a name taken from the Liao River that flows through the province. "Níng" means "peace"...
Province, Northeast China. It lies on the border between China and
North KoreaThe Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
, which is marked by the
Yalu RiverThe Yalu River or the Amnok River is a river on the border between North Korea and the People's Republic of China....
, and is the largest border city in China. Also, to the southwest of the city, the river flows into
Korea BayThe Korea Bay is a northern extension of the Yellow Sea, between Liaoning Province of China and North P'yŏngan Province of North Korea.It is separated from the Bohai Sea by the Liaodong Peninsula, with Dalian at its southernmost point...
. The city has therefore had a dynamic history because of its strategic location for the northeast's rich natural resources and because of its convenient access to the ocean.
Dandong is designated a major export production center in Liaoning province. Dandong is a port city connected by rail with
ShenyangShenyang , or Mukden , is the capital and largest city of Liaoning Province in Northeast China. Currently holding sub-provincial administrative status, the city was once known as Shengjing or Fengtianfu...
and
SinuijuSinŭiju is a city in North Korea, neighboring with Dandong City, China via international border and is the capital of North P'yŏngan Province...
in North Korea.
The Hushan (Tiger Mountain) Great Wall, the far Eastern end of the
Great Wall of ChinaThe Great Wall of China is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in northern China, built originally to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire against intrusions by various nomadic groups...
, is located here.
The size of the administrative city (prefecture) is 14981.4 square kilometres (5,784.4 sq mi); as of 2005, the urban area is 563 square kilometres (217.4 sq mi) in size and has 780,414 inhabitants. The administrative city covers around 2.4 million inhabitants as of 2009.
History
Maps and artifacts suggest that the area has been settled since the Zhou Dynasty. The area became known as
Andong County (安東縣) in 1876. "安東" means "pacifying the east", reflecting 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
ManchukuoManchukuo or Manshū-koku was a puppet state in Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia, governed under a form of constitutional monarchy. The region was the historical homeland of the Manchus, who founded the Qing Empire in China...
era it was the capital of
Andong ProvinceAndong, also known as Antung , was a former province in Northeast China, located in what was once part of Liaoning and Jilin provinces...
, one of the fourteen provinces established by Manchukuo. Then, in 1907, it was opened as a treaty port. It adopted its present name on January 20, 1965, which means “red east,” to avoid connotation of its previous name, which was considered imperialistic by some. Recently, the city has been gaining influence in this region of China because of its market with North Korea and the government’s future plans to develop the city into a special “Border Economic Cooperation Zone” for export and import, in order to expand the country’s ability to conduct trade.
Geography
Dandong is located on the western border of North Korea and the northwest (right) shore of the Yalu River, facing Sinuiju to the southeast. It is situated in the southeast corner of the
Liaodong Peninsula, near the mouth of the Yalu River, which empties into the Korea Bay, which is part of the
Yellow SeaThe Yellow Sea is the name given to the northern part of the East China Sea, which is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. It is located between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula. Its name comes from the sand particles from Gobi Desert sand storms that turn the surface of the water golden...
. There is 120 kilometres (74.6 mi) of coastline, and islands include Dalu Island (大鹿岛) and Xiaomai Island (小麦岛).
Dandong Prefecture ranges in latitude from 39° 43' to 41° 09' N and in longitude from 123° 22' to 125° 41' E, and at its greatest spans 196 kilometres (121.8 mi) from east to west and 160 kilometres (99.4 mi) from south to north. Bordering prefectures are
DalianDalian is a major city and seaport in the south of Liaoning province, Northeast China. It faces Shandong to the south, the Yellow Sea to the east and the Bohai Sea to the west and south. Holding sub-provincial administrative status, Dalian is the southernmost city of Northeast China and China's...
(SW), Anshan (W),
LiaoyangLiaoyang is a city in China, Liaoning province, located in the middle of the Liaodong Peninsula. The city is situated on the T'ai-tzu River and forms with Anshan a built up area of 2,057,200 inhabitants in 2010....
(NW), and
BenxiBenxi is a prefecture-level city located in the east of Liaoning province in Northeast China, south-southeast of Shenyang. Its population is 1,709,538 at the 2010 census whom 959,610 in the built up area It was founded as a metallurgical center in 1915...
(N).
Climate
The area is home to long winters, and humid, somewhat hot summers, belonging to the
humid continental climateA humid continental climate is a climatic region typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot summers and cold winters....
regime (
KöppenThe Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by Crimea German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen himself, notably in 1918 and 1936...
Dwa). Winter usually begins in late November and continues until the end of March (about 4 months), with the most severe cold only lasting for around three weeks in December, January or February. The coldest month, January, averages −7.4 °C. Spring, though a period of quick warming, is delayed by one month compared to more inland parts of the province, and is somewhat dry until May. The heat of summer is somewhat moderated by the proximity to the ocean; the city's warmest month, August, averages 23.4 °C (74.1 °F), while inland Shenyang averages 24.7 °C (76.5 °F). Precipitation is generous, too, further exemplifying the maritime influence.
For the city proper, the annual mean temperature is 8.94 °C (48.1 °F), and the total precipitation is 926 millimetres (36 in), but within the prefecture, annual means can be as low as 6.8 °C (44.2 °F), while precipitation ranges from 881.3 to 1087.5 mm (34.7 to 42.8 in).
Administrative divisions
Dandong is divided into 3 districts, 2 towns and one autonomous county:
| Map |
| |
| # |
Name |
Hanzi |
Hanyu Pinyin |
Population (2003 est.) |
Area (km²) |
Density (/km²) |
| 1 |
Zhenxing District Zhenxing District is a district of the city of Dandong, Liaoning, People's Republic of China.-Administrative Divisions:There are 9 subdistricts and 1 town in the district.Subdistricts:...
|
振兴区 |
Zhènxīng Qū |
380,000 |
80 |
4,750 |
| 2 |
Yuanbao District Yuanbao District is a district of the city of Dandong, Liaoning, People's Republic of China.-Administrative Divisions:There are 6 subdistricts and 1 town in the district.Subdistricts:...
|
元宝区 |
Yuánbǎo Qū |
180,000 |
81 |
2,222 |
| 3 |
Zhen'an District -Administrative Divisions:There are 4 subdistricts and 5 towns in the district.Subdistricts:*Yalu River Subdistrict , Zhenzhu Subdistrict , Taiping Bay Subdistrict , Jinkuang Subdistrict Towns:...
|
振安区 |
Zhèn'ān Qū |
190,000 |
669 |
284 |
| 4 |
Fengcheng City Fengcheng is a city in the southeast of Liaoning Province in Northeast China. Administratively, it is a county-level city under the administration of Dandong, which lies southeast of the city.-Administrative Divisions:...
|
凤城市 |
Fèngchéng Shì |
580,000 |
5,518 |
105 |
| 5 |
Donggang City Donggang is a city in the southeast of Liaoning Province in Northeast China. Situated on the coast of the Yellow Sea at the mouth of the Yalu River, it is located near the maritime border with North Korea...
|
东港市 |
Dōnggǎng Shì |
640,000 |
2,496 |
256 |
| 6 |
Kuandian Manchu
Autonomous County |
宽甸满族自治县 |
Kuāndiàn Mǎnzú
Zìzhìxiàn |
440,000 |
6,186 |
71 |
Demographics
In the latest official census of 2000, Dandong’s total resident population (which includes the districts of Zhenxing, Yuanbao, and Zhen’an) was 780,414 people, while Dandong proper had a total population of 2.4 million. In 2005, the resident population was approximated to be 751,914 with a floating population of 176,926, for a total of 928,840. However, the non-agricultural (urban) population is said to consist of only 79.52% of the resident population (597,930). It is unclear what the floating population consists of or where they live, but it is suspected that most of the migrant population is people from the country-side looking for work, local and foreign businessmen, and students. In 2000, there were 244,430 family households (with a pop. of 741,882) and 4,955 collective households (with a pop. of 38,532). The demographic ratio of men to women was 99.52 males to every 100 females. Also, 81.61% of the population was above 15 years of age; thus, 18.39% of the population was under 15 in the year 2000.
The ethnic
HanHan Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and are the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92% of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98% of the population of the Republic of China , 78% of the population of Singapore, and about 20% of the...
people make up approximately 87.6% of the city’s population. The
ManchuThe Manchu people or Man are an ethnic minority of China who originated in Manchuria . During their rise in the 17th century, with the help of the Ming dynasty rebels , they came to power in China and founded the Qing Dynasty, which ruled China until the Xinhai Revolution of 1911, which...
s are the second most populous ethnic group and officially make up 9.6% of the population. The Manchu minority group has become so acculturated into the Han majority that there remains little or no distinction between the two, although a number of Manchu words have remained in the local lexicon. The
HuiThe Hui people are an ethnic group in China, defined as Chinese speaking people descended from foreign Muslims. They are typically distinguished by their practice of Islam, however some also practice other religions, and many are direct descendants of Silk Road travelers.In modern People's...
make up the next most populous minority at 1.5%. Although not recognised by the city's official census figures, there is a thriving Korean minority group estimated at 20-30,000 ethnic Koreans which would place them as the second largest minority in the city (at around 2.16%+ of the total estimated pop. for 2004). A number of signs and advertisements are in both Mandarin and Korean and there are many Korean restaurants and shops as well as some Korean churches, schools and other cultural institutions.
Economy
The total GDP of the city of Dandong is 9.52 Billion yuan in year 2009 (ranked 40th out of the 58 cities and counties in Liaoning province). The GDP per capita of the city of Dandong is 12414 Yuan in 2009 (ranked 52nd out of all 58 cities and counties in Liaoning province).
China handles roughly 40% of North Korea’s worldwide export trade ($1.58 of 4 billion USD) and “half of the bilateral commerce with China goes through Dandong” which “imports $468 million [USD worth of product], according to its
Ministry of CommerceMinistry of Commerce may refer to:*Ministry of Commerce *Ministry of Commerce * Ministry of Commerce and Industry *Ministry of Commerce *Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China...
.” Dandong’s annual resident per capita wage income for 2004 was somewhere between ¥9,500 and ¥12,237 RMB and the city’s GDP was 3.77 billion USD.
The port of Dandong is being developed into the second major international logistics center of Liaoning and has become a notable alternative to the port of
DalianDalian is a major city and seaport in the south of Liaoning province, Northeast China. It faces Shandong to the south, the Yellow Sea to the east and the Bohai Sea to the west and south. Holding sub-provincial administrative status, Dalian is the southernmost city of Northeast China and China's...
.
Interestingly, the city had “5.86 million tourists” in 2004, of which 16,000 of those traveled into North Korea; another 81,000 of those were from overseas and pumped $27.54 million USD into the economy. During 2004, “the total tourism income was 4.02 billion Yuan [RMB],” and this was an increase of almost 33% from the previous year.
Development Zones
Dandong Border Economic Corporation Zone was approved as a national-level development zone in 1992. It is located on the bank of Yalu River, opposite the North Korean city of Sinuiju. It encourages the following industries: electronic information, machine manufacturing, bio-pharmaceuticals, among others.
Dandong Qianyang Economic Development Zone was first approved by Dandong City as a Special Economic Zone, in 1994 by Liaoning Province as Liaoning Dandong Qianyang Economic Development Zone (LDQEDZ). In July 2009, the development of the
Liaoning Coastal Economic BeltThe Liaoning Coastal Economic Belt is a group of prefectures in Liaoning province in Northeast China. The region was defined for the purpose of a national economic development strategy of China, aiming to strengthen the region as access point of Northeast China to the sea and a vital economic...
was listed as a national strategy. Qianyang Town, situated at the eastern tip of the Belt is now an important component of Dandong’s coastal development, and has an opportunity to demonstrate its strategic position.
Railways
Trains from Dandong to Shenyang are available several times a day with night trains to
BeijingBeijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
,
DalianDalian is a major city and seaport in the south of Liaoning province, Northeast China. It faces Shandong to the south, the Yellow Sea to the east and the Bohai Sea to the west and south. Holding sub-provincial administrative status, Dalian is the southernmost city of Northeast China and China's...
,
ChangchunChangchun is the capital and largest city of Jilin province, located in the northeast of the People's Republic of China, in the center of the Songliao Plain. It is administered as a sub-provincial city with a population of 7,677,089 at the 2010 census under its jurisdiction, including counties and...
and
Qingdao' also known in the West by its postal map spelling Tsingtao, is a major city with a population of over 8.715 million in eastern Shandong province, Eastern China. Its built up area, made of 7 urban districts plus Jimo city, is home to about 4,346,000 inhabitants in 2010.It borders Yantai to the...
. From Dalian, the train takes a slow route of almost 10 hours. It is also possible to take the train to
PyongyangPyongyang is the capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea, and the largest city in the country. Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River and, according to preliminary results from the 2008 population census, has a population of 3,255,388. The city was...
, North Korea and
MoscowMoscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, with the proper visas.
Road
From the long-distance bus station it takes about 10 hours to get to
BeijingBeijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
, four hours to
DalianDalian is a major city and seaport in the south of Liaoning province, Northeast China. It faces Shandong to the south, the Yellow Sea to the east and the Bohai Sea to the west and south. Holding sub-provincial administrative status, Dalian is the southernmost city of Northeast China and China's...
and
Tonghua-Economy:Traditionally, Tonghua occupied a railhub position in a region of China noted for trade in only three agricultural commodities. These were ginseng, marten furs and deer antler products. In the 1980s Tonghua had some success with a wine distillery producing sweet, sticky red wines that...
, and three hours to
ShenyangShenyang , or Mukden , is the capital and largest city of Liaoning Province in Northeast China. Currently holding sub-provincial administrative status, the city was once known as Shengjing or Fengtianfu...
.
Air
Flights to and from
Dandong AirportDandong Langtou Airport is an airport in Dandong, Liaoning, China .-Airlines and Destinations:...
are limited, but one can always fly in/out of Dalian or Shenyang and then take the train or bus to/from Dandong. The airport is located 13 miles west of town and an airport shuttle is available. Domestic flights are available to Beijing,
GuangzhouGuangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...
, Qingdao,
SanyaSanya is the southernmost city in China and is a part of Hainan Province. In 2006, it had a population of 536,000, making it, after the provincial capital , the second most populous city on the island. The city is renowned for its tropical climate and has emerged as a popular tourist destination,...
,
ShanghaiShanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
and
ShenzhenShenzhen is a major city in the south of Southern China's Guangdong Province, situated immediately north of Hong Kong. The area became China's first—and one of the most successful—Special Economic Zones...
.
Ports and waterways
The Port of Dandong is located on the right bank at the mouth of the Yalu River. It is bordered by the Yellow Sea in the south and is separated from the North Korea in the east. It was set up as a trading port in 1907. Since large-scale construction began in the mid 1980s, the Port, together with the ports at
DalianDalian is a major city and seaport in the south of Liaoning province, Northeast China. It faces Shandong to the south, the Yellow Sea to the east and the Bohai Sea to the west and south. Holding sub-provincial administrative status, Dalian is the southernmost city of Northeast China and China's...
and
YingkouYingkou is located in the northwestern portion of the Liaodong Peninsula, and on the left bank of the Daliao River, which enters the sea in the city. To the west is the Liaodong Bay of the Bohai Gulf, and the city thus looks across to Jinzhou and Huludao...
, has become an important distributing center in northeast China.
Landmarks
The city is across the river from
SinŭijuSinŭiju is a city in North Korea, neighboring with Dandong City, China via international border and is the capital of North P'yŏngan Province...
, North Korea. The two cities are connected by the
Sino-Korea Friendship BridgeThe Sino-Korea, Sino-Korean, or China-North Korea Friendship Bridge connects the cities of Dandong, China and Sinŭiju, North Korea. It was constructed by the imperial Japanese between April 1937 and May 1943, during their reign over Korea and Manchukuo, to span the Yalu River...
(中朝友谊桥, also called the China-Korea Friendship Bridge). Another major landmark is
Hushan Great WallHushan Great Wall is the most easterly known part of the Great Wall of China. About 600 metres of remains were excavated here in 1989. In 1992, a section of wall was renovated and is open to the public, forming a popular tourist attraction. The wall runs for about 1,200 metres over Hushan...
(虎山长城), which marks the eastern end of the start of the
Ming DynastyThe Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
's extension to the
Great WallThe Great Wall of China is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in northern China, built originally to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire against intrusions by various nomadic groups...
. Other interesting tourist spots include: a museum dedicated to the "War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea" (also known as the
Korean WarThe Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
) and Jinjiang mountain (锦江山) that is now the city's biggest park, but used to be a Chinese army lookout.
Places
Tourists can rent speed boats or passenger boats to approach the border and get a closer look at the North Korean city of Sinŭiju. North Koreans often gather close to the river's edge, waving to foreigners as they cruise by. There is a rarely used ferris wheel in Sinŭiju that tourists are able to see from across the Yalu River. This is a highlight for tourists wishing to catch a glimpse of North Korea.
Friendship cities
Dandong is a Sister City with the following cities: Tokushima,
JapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
- (1991)
DoncasterDoncaster is a town in South Yorkshire, England, and the principal settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster. The town is about from Sheffield and is popularly referred to as "Donny"...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
,
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
- (1988)
WilmingtonWilmington is a port city in and is the county seat of New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. The population is 106,476 according to the 2010 Census, making it the eighth most populous city in the state of North Carolina...
,
North CarolinaNorth Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, USA - (1986)
External links