Dandong

As the boundary between China and North Korea, the Yalu River flows over 300 km between the countries. Yalujiang Park is the best place to view North Korea, see the public sculptures, the swimming platforms (Warning: do not swim into North Korea), and possibly take a fast boat ride up and down the river along the border. There are remnants of an original railroad bridge across the river, bombed and destroyed by the Americans, a few km north of the Friendship Bridge, with a large stone-carved book inscribed in Chinese as a monument onshore.

This bridge reaches only halfway across the river, the other half having been badly damaged by American bombing during the Korean War, and got disassembled by the Koreans. The last section of the broken bridge is no longer accessible to the public, but most of the bridge is still walkable. Bring your own binoculars to get an even closer view of North Korea.

A large museum and monument built on a hill overlooking central Dandong and the Yalu river. The many, well-labeled bilingual exhibits venerate the courageous Chinese Volunteers Army, and offer a Chinese perspective on the history of the Korean war. The museum reopened in 2020 after six years of renovations. You can reserve a ticket on the museums Wechat account.

This Ming Dynasty section of the Great Wall of China, which travels parallel to river, was restored to decent condition. The section is steep so watch your footing. Buy a ticket at the long distance bus station for ¥6.5 and the trip takes about 40 minutes. The bus driver will drop you off at a T-intersection right by the Wall. Ride hailing from Dandong to the entrance of the wall costs approximately ¥30-40. You can hike along the Wall one way and then return to the beginning on a walkway along the bottom of the mountain. The walkway was (temporarily?) closed as of August 2025. A shuttle bus can take you back to the start of the wall for ¥10 in case you do not want to hike back again. You can climb on top of the tower at the highest point and see the Yalu River, and look into North Korea. There is an old wire fence that separates North Korea from China. North Korean guardhouses are 300-400 metres in the distance. The actual border is a small stream-river along the base of the mountain. Don't cross the water. To find the location of One Step to North Korea do not scale the actual wall but walk under it following a road lined with vendors selling snacks and souvenirs. After the construction of the embankment on the North Korean side, the view from One Step to North Korea is not as good anymore. Best views are had from the top of the highest tower of the wall. To return to Dandong, return to the T-intersection and wait for a bus that will take you back to the long-distance bus terminal for ¥3. Confirm with the bus driver that the bus is going to Dandong. A return taxi to Dandong costs around ¥40.

The official crossing into North Korea. Passage is only by vehicle or train. Travellers are not allowed to walk across this bridge.

It is west of the railway station and is easily accessible by a 10-minute walk. The park is very popular to visit by local families on the weekend and by the elderly community during the weekdays as they gather to sing Chinese revolutionary or folklore songs. During the Korean War a giant ammunition bunker was dug into the mountain by the PLA and is still there. The walk to the top can be completed within 30-minutes. Once reaching the top you can walk up the stairs of two different pagoda towers for an impressive view of Dandong and North Korea if the weather was great.

A multi-functional cultural street with nostalgia sightseeing of the Nationalist period, classic food and tourism and shopping. The outer street and inner street shops are designed to reproduce the old streetscape by drawing on the classic architectural elements of the old Andong, together with the old objects and streetscape sculptures, including century-old brands, branded catering, northeastern specialties, local seafood, flavourful snacks, local theatre performances, and a variety of folk arts flourishing in the Andong period.

This massive, double arch motorway bridge was built by the Chinese government for about ¥2.2 billion and was intended to replace the old Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge, as the North Koreans made promises to turn South Sinuiju into a Special Economic Zone and build a connecting road; neither has ever happened, so the bridge is ending in a dirt road among rice fields on the Korean side of the border. It's another example of a huge Chinese infrastructure project which didn't go as planned; also look for the vast, deserted immigration complex on the Northern side of the bridge.