Dandong lies in the south- eastern part of Liaoning Province. It shares the borderline with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. It is also very close to South Korea.
　　Dandong serves as the center of Northeast Asia and is an important crux of the Yellow Sea-Ring Economic Zone and the Bohai-Ring Economic Zone. It is a city featuring its industry, trade, logistics and tourism thanks to its geological conditions. As a river-side city close to the sea and borderlines, it is a national borderline economic cooperative zone and is also called the largest and most beautiful city on the borderline in China. It is also the only city in Asia that simultaneously owns frontier ports, airport, high-speed railway, river ports, seaport and expressways. Rebuilt from the war in 1950, it was listed as one the 10 most livable cities in China by the Chinese magazine Southern People Weekly.
　　The archeologists found that Dandong was inhibited by people early 18 thousand years ago. When human beings entered into the civilization, its geological condition determined its importance as a military fortification for different dynasties and countries. From the WarringState Period to the Second World War, big or small battles broke out here among different nations, peoples and cultures. In spite of the wars, people governing or ruling this area spent a lot of efforts developing it, which laid a foundation for its current prosperity. In 1993, the Chinese government rearranged the governance of Dandong. With an enlarged administrative area, Dandong saw the es- tablishment of an economic zone with it as the center. As one of the earliest economic zones in China, Dandong went through fast development from then on.
　　The geological condition of Dan- dong not only gave this city the unparalleled importance and economic development opportunities, but also brought it the typical climate with the features of both variable zones and coastal areas. The climate, the location and the culture culminated the natural and man-made beautiful scenes of this city, making it another place of interest for Chinese and foreign tourists.
　　 The Yalu River Scenic Spot
　　The Yalu River is an important river for Northeast China. It serves as the borderline between China and North Korea. The Yalu River Scenic Spot consists of both water-side and mountainous sights, as well as numerous manmade places of interest. People could take boats to travel along the river and chose their favorite among the 100 river-side scenic sports. Here we chose some typical scenic areas that could represent the beauty of Dandong.
　　 I. Shuifeng Lake
　　The Shuifeng Lake Scenic Area is one of the six top sightseeing spots along the Yalu River. It lies souheasst of the Kuandian County, Dandong City. With a 415-sq-km area, it is the largest scenic area among the six representative places of the Yalu River and it is also said to be the most beautiful natural scene you can find in Dandong.
　　The center of this area is the Shuifeng Lake (Water Abundance Lake). It is the largest freshwater lake in Northeast China. Located on the borderline of China and North Korea, it has unparalleled tourism environment as it combines both water and mountain, gardens and forests, Chinese and Korean features together. People can travel around the lake with a boat, listen to the singing or water birds, see the deep forests by the lake and their reflections in the water, enjoy the primary and natural environment and feel the national features of Chinese and Koreans.
　　The management company of this scenic area provides tourists with luxury yachts, on which people can enjoy the delicious fish-dinners while watching the beautiful scenes.
　　 II. Taiping Bay
　　
　　The Taiping Bay Scenic Area has the largest manmade water reservoir in Northeast China. Another feature is the hydropower station that provides electric power for both China and North Korea. Tourists can get onto the dam and watch how the dam cut apart the Yalu River, as well as the comparison between China and North Korea. The Chinese tourists could even get into North Korea and have a short stay there without the visa.
　　Meanwhile, the luxury boats allow people to have free and joyful cuisine on both the Yalu River and the water reser- voir. They can also enjoy satisfactory accommodation, nature-made fishing pool, standard swimming pool and stuff here. Elegance, Quietness, grandeur and naturalness could explain the charm of this area.
　　
　　 III. Hushan Scenic Area
　　The Hushan Mountain (Tiger Mountain) lies 15 kilometers east away from Dandong. It was originally called Ma’er Mountain (Horse Ear Mountain). The two peaks that stand abreast with each other look like a pair of tiger ears. Thus it is called Hu’er Mountain (Tiger Ear Mountain). Its current name Hushan Mountain was earned in the Qing Dynasty.
　　The most famous and eye-catching scenic spot of this area is the Hushan Great Wall, which could explain most of the charm of this area. The Great Wall in Hushan Mountain is the eastern start of Great Wall built in the Ming Dynasty. It was found in the early 1990s when archeologists unearthed the incessant walls and bases. After reading literature and making on-the-spot surveys, historians believed that it was a part of the Great Wall that lasted thousands of miles in North China.
　　Then the Chinese government began to rebuild this part of Great Wall in 1992. By now the part at the length of 1250 meters has been repaired with gate towers, smoke towers, enemy broadcasting stations, garrison stations and so on. The restored Great Wall carries over its grandeur and pride of the original construction. It twists like a snake, crawling along the Hushan Mountain and extending north until it gets close to Dandong. People can get onto the highest part of the Hushan Mountain along the Great Wall as its first smoke tower is located in the highest peak. People standing on this tower could see the overall sight of Dadong, Sinuiju City of North Korea and the grand Yalu Bridge that connects China and North Korea.
　　The rest three scenic areas are respectively based on the Yalu Bridge Scenic Area, the Jiangkou Scenic Area and the Lujiang Scenic Area. Among them, the Yalu Bridge Scenic Area bears significant meanings. There are two bridges there: the new bridge connects China with North Korea and allows people and vehicles to walk on it; the old one is a piece of cul- tural relics to memorize the Korean War in 1950. In that year, Chinese soldiers who helped North Korea in the war just walked through this bridge and arrived in the battlefield in Korea.
　　 The Jinjiang Mountain Park
　　The Jinjiang Mountain Park is the largest comprehensive part in Dandong. Its lies on the southern part of Jinjiang Mountain, which stands north of the city. It is a park that is covered by grass and flowers and thus enjoys the name of the “No. 1 of the Top 8 Scenic Spots in Northeast China”.
　　The park was initially built in 1905 and expanded in 1965. It owns untold impressive sightseeing spots from the start to the end. The gate to the park is a good start of the pleasant journey for tourists. The memorial archwaylike entrance is full of national features.. The gate was initially built in 1924 with wood and the current one was an imitation in 1956 with hard stones. The red columns are decorated with frescos. Its top part was painted with delicate classical pictures and the color tiles that form 32 lions. When there is a festival, 560 lanterns hung on the archway will shine, making the gate most imposing and impressive.
　　When you enter the garden and turn left, you will be greeted with a big flower bed in which flowers form different kinds of patterns. After bypassing the flower bed, you will see the lotus pool.
　　Following the path from the Lotus Pool, you will walk into the world of animals, including lions, tigers, leopards, spotted deer, camels, wolves, boars, redcrowned cranes, peacocks. These animals and birds pose different features for the mankind. Along with the animals are different manmade entertainment facilities, allowing people to enjoy themselves in the park.
　　An unmissible place in the park is the Huigui Pavilion (Returning Pavilion). It is a two-storey building with the apparent ethnic style of North China. The ground floor takes the shape of a square and a homocentric square could be found in the center of the floor. A marble stele is erected in front of the pavilion, on which the article “Our Basic Standpoint for the Issues of Hong Kong” based on the talk between Deng Xiaoping and Ms. Thatcher was carved. The eight sides of the pavilion have the eight scenes of Hong Kong carved on them, highlighting its meaning of celebrating the return of Hong Kong in 1997.
　　The center of this park is taken by the Cultural Garden, where people can view local history and culture. The Garden covers over 10,000 square meters and is surrounded by blue hills and greenstrees. The trees can also be seen inside the Garden along with many steles, which make the Garden look elegant and classic. There are inscriptions from modern literati Guo Moruo, Mao Dun, Bing Xin, calligraphists Shu Tong, Qi Gong, Shen Peng and revolutionists and leaders.
　　The Cultural Garden is accompanied by the Cenotaph for Martyrs Liberating East Liaoning. Its presence adds solemnity into the beauty of the park. Its unique shape and sharp features make it a witness of the brave deeds that revolutionists made to liberate East Liaoning. The cenotaph was built in 1948. The whole construction consists of the base, the pedestal, the square body and the bronze statue. The tower is 10.73 meters high and supports a 2.08-meter-high statue of a PLA soldier. The soldier held a gun with their right arm and raised his left arm, seemingly to call for his companions to press forward. Visitors could image the battlefield 60 years ago from this statue.
　　 The Phoenix Mountain
　　The Phoenix Mountain is 60 kilometers northwest away from Dandong. It is called the “No. 1 Mountain in East Liaoning” and one of the four best known mountains in Liaoning Province.
　　The mountain is famous for “grand and steep shape, quiet and clean streams, fragrant and beautiful plants, and weird and rugged rocks, as well as the scenes varying to seasons”. The Phoenix Mountain is a part of the Changbai Range. Its main peak is 836.4 meters high above the sea level. Forecasts cover the mountains and streams flow from several of its peaks to form the waterfalls. In addition to these natural scenes, artificial relics, which could date back to hundreds of years ago, could be found everywhere in this mountain. It has ten major features which could be summarized as “scene, peak, steepness, rock, cave, stream, artifice, temple, carving and relics”. It is said that the Phoenix Mountain accumulate the grandeur of Mountain Tai, steepness of Huashan Mountain, quietness of Lushan Mountain, weirdness of Yellow Mountain and elegance of Emei Mountain.
　　 The Wulong Mountain
　　
　　The Wulong Mountain (Five Dragon Mountain) lies in the north of Dandong. It consists of the Wulong Mountain Scenic Spot and the Wulongbei Hot Spring. The Wulong Mountain Scenic Spot is a national park with four major scenic areas – the deep ponds, imposing ancient temples and the multifunctional squares form the sights peculiar to Wulong Mountain.
　　The Wulongbei Hot Sring was called“holy water” in ancient times. The hot springs in this mountain form a famous spa resort for recovery and rehabilitation. The slightly alkalescency water of the hot spring fluctuates between 42-78 degrees and contains the minerals of bicarbonate, kalium, magnesium, calcium and s on. Bathing in the water is good for treating the arthritis, neuralgia, rheumatism and skin disease.