The Dandong Experience

Although Dandong is not large, in and around the city limits there is actually a lot to do. From hiking the eastern portion of the Great Wall to camping in nearby mountains or islands, not to mention the historical sites from the Korean War and more recent, massive industrial expenditures, there is plenty to keep you busy at any time of the year. Most people opt to spend a weekend in Dandong, choosing two or three activities out of the plethora of choices. There are some must-see places inside the city, however. One such place is the Yalu River Broken Bridge and memorial. Another is the Korean War Memorial, or the "Resist America-Save Josun (nowadays a reference to N. Korea) War" Memorial. Below are some images of our time in Dandong, from our first steps outside the train station to our last hour in a beautiful park.

 

 

 

Dandong train station

 

 

 

The Resist America-Save Josun Memorial

 

 

 

DA3 standing in line at the memorial. The man is taking a picture of...

 

 

 

Me! with his friends, who were making him take the picture, thinking I didn't understand what they were saying. So I got DA3 to take a picture of me pretending not to notice.

 

 

 

Old machine guns outside the memorial

 

 

 

Old fighter planes

 

 

 

It cost 10 RMB to get in the weaponry field, otherwise I would have gotten as close as this guy.

 

 

 

After visiting the memorial, we went into the city to find some of Dandong's delicacies for lunch before our train back to Changchun. Unfortunately for this street food connoisseur, Dandong's "specialties" were basically the same foods I've seen in Changchun going by a different name. I did find some brownie-like mooncakes (how have I not found them before??) and we ended up at a random porridge place that surprisingly had the best broccoli and shrimp, sweet and sour chicken, and meat-stuffed fry bread we've had in a long time. Thank goodness DA3 insisted we buy soft-sleeper tickets for the ride back, because a few minutes into the ride our food got the best of us and we napped to the rocking of the train in our own private compartment.

 

 

 

Our order of Dandong's Egg-Nut Bread. Translated literally it sounds funny, but it's just a thin, crisp crepe topped with three different sauces (semi-spicy, sesame paste, and really spicy), folded over with fry bread (or sausage) and lettuce in between.

 

 

 

Amid all the planning that went into the trip, we still managed to come across the unexpected: a beautiful mosque in the middle of the city.

 

 

DA3 before going inside. Having made the choice to stay cool that day, my attire did not allow me to enter the complex.

 

 

A bass saxophone player tooting his memorized 1950's American movie scores in a mountain-side park.

 

 

Tai-chi practitioners on the Yalu River boardwalk at dusk. 

  

 

Humongous blooms! Unfortunately I couldn't get closer without paying something to someone.

 

 

A new favorite exercise machine: Calf Massager

Yalu River Broken Bridge

 

 

Entrance to the bridge and memorial

 

 

Only two hours or so inland from the Yellow Sea and at the mouth of the Yalu River lies Dandong. It being a port city and because of its location on the border of China and North Korea, it has seen its share of historic events in the last century. It inevitably houses a lot of bridges, many of which were built during the Japanese occupation and then bombed during the Korean War. More famous due to its being the first railway bridge, the Yalu River Broken Bridge is a top tourist attraction when visiting Dandong. 

 

 

 

Under the Broken Bridge looking at the Friendship Bridge

 

 

 

People flock to see traverse the Broken Bridge

 

 

 

Looking pretty by some vestiges of war

 

 

 

The bridge used to be a railway

 

 

 

A stele memorial looking out to the Friendship Bridge (still connected to China's neighbor)

 

 

 

Trying to recreate the 1940's photos of the bridge

 

 

One cool thing about the bridge is its middle panel which, in its heyday, rotated to create a path for passing ships. Then it was bombed by the American Army during the war. The gears for the rotating panel still stand, but where the bridge ends is a tangled mass of steel.

 

 

At the site of the bombing

 

 

To give you a picture of how long the bridge is (over 900 meters), here is what's left of the Broken Bridge next to the Friendship Bridge, which people still use to get to and from North Korea. These photos are taken from the halfway point, or where the bridge was bombed.

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now it's time to play "Which Side is Which?"! Here's how it works: I show you a photograph and you guess which country it shows, China or North Korea.

 

 

China or North Korea?

 

 

 

China or North Korea? 

 

 

China or North Korea?

 

 

China or North Korea?

 

 

Chinese or North Koreans?

 

 

China or North Korea?

 

 

 

Chinese or North Korean?

 

 

Chinese or North Korean?

Just kidding! They're birds...get it?

 

 

 

Here are just some fun pictures from the boat ride. We're right in the middle of the river, so I can't ask you to guess who owns what (although I'm sure there's an answer).

 

 

The Friendship Bridge

 

 

Lazy me got the best view

 

 

A mysterious North Korean house/office boat

 

 

I won't make you guess. This is a North Korean boat and we're completely at a loss as to what it's used for. If you look closely at the back, caged part you'll see something that confounded us even more.

 

 

Do you see it yet?

 

 

Could it be? There's a basketball court onboard! What?!

I wonder if it's Kim Jung-Ohn's personal basketball/business yacht, but I suppose that's a question for another era.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Birthday Poem

In the city of Dandong

two train rides away

a couple of foreigners

celebrated a birthday

 

 

 

 

Finding an Italian-Japanese sushi place

DA3 cried, "let's stuff our face!"

and Hailan agreed

for some food she did need

 

 

 

Happily they did pass the night

munching on fish and slurping up noodles

when they looked out the window

and saw lanterns gal-oodles! 

 

 

 

So the river they sought

and a purple one they bought.

They wrote some sweet words

in 3 languages, the nerds

 

 

 

The wax was attached

and a fire was lit

for some seconds it heated

while on the boardwalk it sit

 

 

 

When the time came to fly

it rose in the night sky

the foreigners looked on

another birthday had gone

 

 

 

Happy birthday to you

and to you a goodnight!

 

A Rafting Play

 

The Setting

 

 

 

The Props

 

 

 

The Cast

 

 

 

Supporting Cast

 

 

 

The Plot

 

 

 

The End (of the river and of our play)

 

Happy birthday to me!