The Royal Palace And Tombs Of Shenyang (瀋陽)
Posted On Tuesday, June 21, 2011 at at 11:15 PM by Alvin
The province of Liaoning (遼寧) was once part of Manchuria (滿州) in ancient times; and it was from these lands where the Founder of the Qing Dynasty (清) originated - Nurhachu (努爾哈赤). In a nutshell, this Big Guy united all the tribes in Manchuria, outside the Great Wall (關外) - which was the lands located at the Northeastern corner of present-day China, the Dude then went on to defeat the armies of the Ming Dynasty (明) and established the Qing Dynasty that was to be the last dynasty before China became a Republic around 300 years later. After a pleasant 3 hours bus ride from Dandong (丹東), we arrived at the mega-city of Shenyang (瀋陽), the capital of Liaoning and we were very interested to see the UNESCO Qing palaces and tombs located in this big city. We visited The Shenyang Royal Palace (瀋陽故宮), one of the three Royal Tombs (清昭陵) as well as venturing out (5 hours bus ride !) to the fort city of 赫圖阿拉城 where Nurhachu (努爾哈赤) first established his armies and Headquarters and plotted the downfall of the Ming Dynasty. Be warned, Shenyang was huge and full of modern buildings and it could take hours to get from one place to another - we enjoyed it !
Dandong (丹東) - One Hop To North Korea (北韓 - 朝鮮)
Posted On Sunday, June 19, 2011 at at 2:07 AM by Alvin
The city of Dandong (丹東) sat right on the eastern edge of Liaoning Province (遼寧) which made up one of the three North Eastern Provinces of China (東北三省). The city was made famous by the Damaged Bridge of the Yalu River (鴨綠江斷橋 ) during the Korean War (韓戰). We could see North Korea (北韓 - 朝鮮) across the famous river - at places, just a casual hop across. Sorry to disappoint you but, no obvious famine, no evidence of people fighting to get out and swim across; just farmlands, villages and tranquility. 
We reached Dandong after a 4 hours' journey from Dalian (大連) and were immediately impressed by Dandong's vitality and orderliness - the city being a main hub (2M inhabitants) which supported the Sino/North Korea Economic Initiatives. We visited the famous Damaged Bridge and strolled along the Yalu River for 2 hours and absorbed the atmosphere; we imagined and could almost sense the war planes droning, tragic casualties and battle cries of the Korean War. The bridge was bombed by US war planes to cut off supplies to North Korea from China. Now The Bridge stood as a monument to all that hopelessness, destruction and futility of another war between friends and foes. The site was surprisingly moving perhaps because the war happened not so long ago.
The next day we ventured on to the China's Eastern Great Wall (虎山長城) built during the Ming Dynasty (明朝) and we found there were numerous Korean (South) tourists visiting the Eastern Great Wall (as well as in Dandong) - a nice 15km trip out of town on a sunny morning. In the afternoon, we climbed up the Korean War Memorial (抗美援朝紀念館) in Dandong central which hosted thousands of important and informative items regarding the details of the Korean War and we were very satisfied to be refreshed with this chapter of our country's recent history.
Dalian (大連) - Seafoods, GeoPark, History And Ma'am On Horses (大連女騎警) !
Posted On Wednesday, June 15, 2011 at at 7:36 PM by Alvin
Taking a late flight out of HKIA (gratis from Singapore Airlines), we landed at a low-key Dalian Airport (周水子國際機場) at 9PM and having spent the night at the even more low-key airport hotel, we were pleasantly surprised the next day to find Dalian to be a very westernised, bustling and organised city (with the famous, friendly, smart and proud Ma'am Mounted Police - 大連女騎警 !). There were lots of Squares (廣場) in Dalian to feast the curious eyes, such as 星海廣場 (the largest square in Asia !), 友好廣場 and 中山廣場. We quickly settled down and visited the food stalls (天津街大排檔) where we stuffed ourselves with the famous Dalian abalone (鮑魚), sea cucumber (海參), juicy mutton roasted on a stick and fried prawns - sheer joy !
We spent a day visiting the Dalian Bin Hai National GeoPark (大連濱海國家地質公園) located about an hour northeast of the city by taking the city fast rail (大連快軌), right by the ocean edge; and we were rewarded with the smell and sights of fresh salty sea air, colorful rock formations as well as a good hike. Next day we ventured to the strategic military city of Lushun (旅順) where towards the end of the Qing Dynasty (清朝) had been the naval base of the Chinese Navy 北洋艦隊 ( later completely destroyed in the famous naval battle 甲午戰爭); as well as the tragic site which suffered foreign (Russian Tsar, Japanese) occupation, wars and massacres. Lushun though a very nice city for a day-trip, carried a heavy burden in recent history as witnessed by the Prisons built by the occupying Russian/Japanese (旅順日俄監獄), the victims memorial hall (萬忠墓紀念館) as well as the battle fields (203高地, 東雞冠山) dotted around the city.
