travel
China Elevator Stories
Dandong, Liaoning Province: China’s Border City with North Korea (China Travel)
I visited Dandong, which is located on the Chinese–North Korean border in Northeast China, in September 2025.
12/09/2025
Ruth Silbermayr
Author
Dandong (丹东市) is located in southeastern Liaoning Province in Northeast China, right across from North Korea, and is separated from it by the Yalu River. It is a relatively small city compared to larger metropolises such as Shanghai or Beijing, and depending on what you’re planning to do, one or two days are enough to explore the Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge (中朝友谊桥), the Yalu River (鸭绿江), or the Hushan stretch of the Great Wall (虎山长城). Though it is comparatively small, it is still China’s largest border city with North Korea.
It is a chaotic city, tumbling with energy, and at the time of my visit, it was frequented mainly by locals (Chinese, many of them Northeastern Chinese). I had originally planned to stay for three days, but I changed my train ticket and stayed only one, after discovering that the city wasn’t as large as I had expected and could easily be explored within a day.
Compared to some of the more modern cities in China, which shine with their new high-rises and a level of cleanliness that would be hard to find anywhere in Europe nowadays, Dandong was not as clean or shiny. I encountered a city that reminded me of “the old China,” of many towns and cities that used to be more chaotic and less clean in the past, and where people were less civil towards one another than they are now. (In certain cities, people were taught to behave more civilly than they used to—such as not spitting on the ground, queuing up instead of cutting in line, or speaking quietly instead of disrupting others with extremely loud voices.)
The difference between a city where people have been taught to behave more respectfully and consider others can be felt, and in Dandong it was quite obvious that this wasn’t the case. This became especially clear after having stayed in Changchun for a few days. The kind of chaotic, rude atmosphere I found in Dandong comes with its own charm, particularly if you are familiar with this kind of atmosphere from China in the past.
The Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge is located at the Yalu River and can be explored on foot. There are two steel bridges at this stretch of the river: the Yalu River Broken Bridge (鸭绿江断桥), which was partly destroyed, and the Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge, which still connects China with North Korea through road and rail access and is used for transporting goods between the two sides. I saw a fully loaded truck leaving for North Korea, so it is still in use today. This bridge was built in 1937 by the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. The Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge was bombed by the US between 1950 and 1951, but was rebuilt and still connects both countries.
The second bridge, the Yalu River Broken Bridge, was built by Japan between 1909 and 1911. It was bombed by the US in 1950 during the Korean War and remains in its demolished state, as it was never rebuilt. It serves as a memorial of the war and can be accessed for 30 Yuan. You can walk in the direction of North Korea on the bridge and see both Dandong behind you and Sinuiju in front of you.
Korea, annexed by Japan in 1910, was divided into North and South in August 1945. After World War II had ended, Korea was controlled by Soviet forces in the North and US forces in the South. Stalin appointed Kim Il-Sung as the communist leader of North Korea in 1948. Backed by the US, Syngman Rhee became the first president of South Korea in 1948 and remained in office until 1960.
In 1950, the Korean War broke out and lasted until 1953.
China, which supported North Korea during the Korean War, supplied wartime goods to North Korea via the entry point of Dandong. Dandong served as a crucial city for delivering supplies to North Korea, which is why the bridge was bombed by the US, an ally of South Korea. It remains an important trading hub today.
A Chinese cab driver in Dandong complained to me that Chinese citizens were not currently allowed to visit the North Korean city of Sinuiju on the other side of the Yalu River, as they once were. They hadn’t been allowed to visit for more than five years due to the North Korean government’s fear of COVID-19 transmission. In February 2025, the travel ban was lifted, but it was reinstated shortly afterward and is still active.
After visiting the bridges, I took a cab, and the driver showed me a stretch of the Yalu River. North Korea can be seen from the Chinese side. After leaving the stretch where Sinuiju is visible, the North Korean side turns into countryside. The natural scenery in this area is beautiful, with fields, hills, and sweeping views of the river. I recommend visiting during a time when the weather isn’t too cold. September was a great time to visit: it was still warm, but not too hot or too cold, and leisurely strolls along the banks of the Yalu River were possible.
Ji’an, which is located in Jilin Province, is an even better place to visit if you want to truly enjoy the Northeast Chinese countryside and glimpse a more beautiful North Korean city than Sinuiju, which has only a few modern buildings visible from the Chinese side. At the border near Ji’an, North Koreans can be seen strolling along the riverbank, cycling, or transporting goods by lorry. Manpu, the city on the North Korean side, looks beautiful from China, with older and more traditional buildings. Other traditional North Korean villages can be spotted when following the Yalu River near the North Korea–China border at Ji’an, and the area is truly amazingly beautiful.
The natural scenery around Dandong is also enticing, though not as beautiful as around Ji’an. The views of North Korea across the Yalu River are more striking from Ji’an than from Dandong, but Dandong is still worth a visit if you’re interested in Chinese-Korean history, or if you want a glimpse of North Korea from the Chinese side without actually entering the country.
Have you ever visited Dandong?