Dandong

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Dandong
Chinese transliteration(s)
 - Simplified
 - Pinyin Dāndōng
Location of Dandong in Liaoning
Location of Dandong in Liaoning
Coordinates (city(2410000)): 40°07′N 124°23′E / 40.117, 124.383
Country China
Province Liaoning
Districts and Counties
Government
 - CPC Dandong Committee Secretary
 - Mayor Chen Tiexin
Area
 - Prefecture-level city 15,222 km² (5,877.2 sq mi)
 - Urban 832 km² (321.2 sq mi)
Population (2004)[1]
 - Prefecture-level city 2,409,697
 - Urban 752,227
Time zone China Standard (UTC+8)
Area code(s) 415
Website: http://english.dandong.gov.cn
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Dandong (simplified Chinese: 丹东; traditional Chinese: 丹東; pinyin: Dāndōng, Wade-Giles: Tan-Tung) is a city in the Liaoning province, China. It is on the border between China and North Korea, marked by the Yalu River. Also at this point, the river flows into Korea Bay. The size of the administrative city is 14,910 square kilometers; the urban city is 563 square kilometers in size and has 643,000 inhabitants. The administrative city covers around 2.4 million inhabitants as of 2001.

The city was previously known as Andong.

Contents

[edit] Landmarks

The city is across the river from Sinŭiju, North Korea. The two cities are connected by the Sino-Korea Friendship Bridge (中朝友谊桥)(also called the China-Korea Friendship Bridge). Another major landmark is Hushan Great Wall (虎山长城), which marks the eastern end of the start of the Ming Dynasty's extension to the Great Wall. Other interesting tourist spots include: a museum dedicated to the "War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea" (also known as the Korean War) and Jinjiang mountain(锦江山) that is now the city's biggest park, but used to be a Chinese army lookout.

[edit] History

Maps and artifacts suggest that the area has been settled since the Zhou Dynasty. The area became known as Andong (安東), county in 1876. Andong, which stands for pacifying the east, was so named to reflect 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 Manchukuo era it was the capital of Andong Province, one of the fourteen provinces established by Manchukuo. It adopted its present name on January 20, 1965, to avoid connotation of its previous name, which was considered imperialistic by some.

[edit] Administrative divisions

"Short Bridge" bombed by the US during the Korean War
"Short Bridge" bombed by the US during the Korean War

Dandong is divided into 3 districts, 2 towns and one autonomous county  :

[edit] Friendship cities

Dandong is a Sister City with the following cities:

[edit] In popular culture

Dandong is featured in the video game Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction as the headquarters of the Chinese faction in the northern province of North Korea, though technically it is situated in China.


[edit] External links

Coordinates: 40°07′N, 124°23′E