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Photo: Great Brightstar, CC0 via Wikimedia Commons
This is the first tomb of the Qing Dynasty in which Nu'erhachi, the founder of the dynasty, is laid to rest. It dates to the early 17th century and is constructed in traditional Manchu style along lines of Chinese fengshui. The area is listed, along with the other imperial tombs of the Ming and Qing dynasty, as a UNESCO world heritage site and a AAAA-rated tourist site on the Chinese national scale. It is one of only 3 imperial tombs north of the Great Wall of China. To the east of the tomb site a large area of park land forms Dongling Park.
The Fuling or Fu Mausoleum, also known as the East Mausoleum, is the mausoleum of Nurhaci, the founding monarch of the Later Jin dynasty and his wife, Empress Xiaocigao. It served as the main site for ritual ceremonies conducted by the imperial family during the entire Qing dynasty. Located in the eastern part of Shenyang city, Liaoning Province, northeastern China, Fuling has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2004.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
2006中国沈阳世界园艺博览会
This is the site of the 2006 International Horticultural Exposition. One of Shenyang's main tourist attractions, it continues to operate though the expo has officially ended. It features international gardens reminiscent of Epcot Center in Disney World in the U.S, (the amusement park is really awesome compared to the gardens, which includes a roller coaster and many other fun activities!). It also features gardens for different provinces and cities within China and the expo's most recognizable feature, the Lily Tower, a massive structure inspired by its namesake flower (for ¥30, you can take an elevator to the top of this magnificent structure). Before its transformation to the Expo Gardens, this was once the much humbler Botanical Gardens. It opens in the spring and closes in October. Most of the signs are in English and Chinese.
二战盟军战俘集中营旧址陈列馆
From 1942 to 1945, around 1500 soldiers from six different countries were interned by the Japanese at this POW camp in Shenyang. The site is now a museum. Information is provided in both Chinese and English.
老龙口 laolongkou
A small museum beside the Laolongkou distillery tells the history of Baiju production on the site which dates to the early 17th century. The display includes old maps and photographs of the area. Equipment used in the wine production and a collection of old bottles, labels and trademarks used by the company.
“九•一八”历史博物馆, 9.18 History Museum
At 22:30 on 18 September 1931, a bomb exploded beside the Japanese-run railway line near Shenyang. Though instigated by the Japanese, the Chinese were blamed for the event giving the Japanese an excuse to invade and occupy the whole of the northeast of China. Shenyang was the epicenter of that invasion, so it is most appropriate that the museum for the Mukden Incident, known in China as the '9.18 Incident', is in Shenyang next to the spot where the explosion occurred. The museum, as one would expect, depicts the incident from a Chinese perspective. It is not for the faint of heart because it unflinchingly displays the atrocities of war. Only the main descriptions are available in English, but it's enough to follow the course of events. The pictures and exhibits speak for themselves, anyway.
抚近门
Marshal Zhang's Mansion 张氏篩府
This was the home of Zhang Zuolin and his son Zhang Xueliang during the end years of the Qing dynasty and the beginning of the Republic. Zhang became, with the fall of the Qing Emperor, the warlord in control of the northeast of China, and for a short time was proclaimed president of China.