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Home Travel in Liaoning Shenyang Travel Guide
Shenyang Travel Guide
Travel in Liaoning

Shenyang

Shenyang (shěn yáng 沈阳), a city full of vitality. As the center of economy, culture, transportation and commerce of northeast China, Shenyang is the capital of Liaoning Province and the largest city in the northeast of China steeped in history. Shenyang is located at the center of the northeast Asian economic ring and Pohai economic ring, so it has important strategic status.

 

History

NurhaciHuangtaijiShenyang is a celebrated old city with more than 2,000 years of history which can be traced back to Warring States Period (476 BC - 221 BC). It is the birthplace of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), and has many cultural relics which symbolize the prosperity and subsequent decline of China's last feudal dynasty. According to traditional naming method, the north of a mountain is called yin (yīn 阴) while the north of a river is called yang (yáng 阳), Shenyang got its name because it was located in the north of Shenshui River (shěn shuǐ 沈水). This area is a birthplace of Chinese people and culture. Go back 7200 years to the New Stone Age, this place had already had people lived here. The city was first constructed in 300 BC, it has 2300 years of history till now. In 1625, Nurhaci, the emperor of Qing Dynasty moved here and built his imperial palace and was laid to rest in one of the first two imperial tombs of the Qing Dynasty, Yongling Tomb (dōng líng 东陵). It was in Shenyang that the Russian army was defeated by the Japanese in 1905. It was also here, on September 18th, 1931 that the Mukden incident ignited a war between China and Japan that would see the Japanese occupation of all of Northeast China. The later 20th century saw Shenyang develop as a major industrial centre. Today the city is rapidly modernizing with large scale construction throughout the city.

 

Tourist Attractions

Shenyang Imperial Palace
Shenyang Imperial PalaceShenyang Imperial Palace (shěn yáng gù gōng 沈阳故宫), also named Houjin Imperial Palace (hòu jīn gù gōng 后金故宫) or Shengjing Imperial Palace (shéng jīng gū gòng 盛京故宫), is the only existing royal palace in China outside of the Forbidden City in Beijing. Covering an area of more than 60,000 square meters, the palace consists of more than 300 rooms, formed around 20 courtyards. The main structure of the palace was built in 1625 when Nurhaci (nǔ ěr hā chì 努尔哈赤) was in power and was finished in 1636 by his son Huangtaiji (huáng tài jí 皇太极). Emperors Kangxi (kāng xī 康熙) and Qianlong (qián lóng 乾隆) expanded the palace to its present size and added Han and Mongol architectural styles to its original Manchu style. This imperial palace has special historical, artistic and scientific values.
Admission fee: CNY 50
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Qipan Mountain (Chessboard Mountain)
Qipan MountainQipan Mountain (qí pán shān 棋盘山) is the last part of Changbai (cháng bái 长白) mountain range; it is connected to the great mountains in the northeastern China. Qipan Mountain Scenic Area is the biggest natural scenic area in Shenyang which covers 203,000 square meters. The scenic spots zone mainly includes the plant and animal reserves, the central tourism region, the water sports area, the dynamic entertainment area, the static tourism area, the central service area, the hunting area and the villa area. It is a place combing nature and human sights.
Admission fee: CNY 20
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Shenyang Guai Po (Magic Slope)
Guai PoWe know that go downhill is easy, and it is difficult to go up a slope because of the gravitation. However, there is a strange slope in Shenyang City. The strange slope is more than 80 meters long and 15 meters wide. The car will go upwards along the slope automatically when shutting off the engine. That is Guai Po (guài pō 怪坡), a miraculous place for you to have fun. Now Guai Po has been developed into a scenic area with more than 20 tourism spots.
Admission fee: CNY 27
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Transportation
Shenyang is the transportation hub of the northeast. The superhighways extend in all directions, not only connecting all cities of the province , but also cities including Beijing, Tianjin, Changchun, Harbin, and so on ,and those cities are approachable overnight. Shenyang has one of the heaviest traffic hubs of railway in China, 6 trunks intersect here toward each place all over the country.

Railway
Shenyang North Railway StationShenyang is a railway centre in northeast China. Jingha (jīng hā 京哈), Shenda (shěn dà 沈大), Shenji (shěn jí 沈吉), Shendan (shěn dān 沈丹) Highway and etc. cross here. There are also three top grade stations in Shenyang including Shenyang Station, Sujiatun Station (sū jiā tún zhàn 苏家屯站) and Shenyang West Station. Shenyang North Railway Station is the biggest railway station in northeast area where most of trains set off.

Bus
Buses in downtown city costs CNY 1, and overnight buses are also available. In suburban area buses’ price depends on the distance.

Taxi
The starting price is CNY 8 in day time, CNY 1.8 per km for over 3 km, CNY 2.7 per km for over 15 km, while it’s CNY 9 in the night and CNY 2 per km for over 3 km and CNY 3 per km for over 15 km. when driving speed is lower than 12 km/h, it costs you CNY 1 for every 3 minutes.

Metro
Shenyang Metro
Entertainment
Shenyang Yangko Dance (shěn yáng yāng gē 沈阳秧歌)
Derived from Tang Dynasty and developed in Ming and Qing Dynasty, Shenyang Yangko absorbed the traditional Dongbei (northeastern China) Yangko Dance and stilts art and finally formed its own style. It was once a living method and gradually became a performance to celebrate.

Shenyang YangkoShenyang YangkoShenyang Yangko

Shopping

Zhongjie StreetZhongjie Street (zhōng jiē 中街) This street exists over 100 years, it is the oldest and longest commercial walking street in northeast China and it’s also one of the 10 most famous commercial streets in China. In 2008 it got the fame of the National Golden Street.
Address: Zhongjie Road, Shenhe District (shěn hé qū 沈河区).

Taiyuan Street (tài yuán jiē 太原街) The history of Taiyuan Street is as long as Zhongjie, it is so flourishing that it can be called Wangfujing in Shenyang.
Address: Taiyuan Street, Heping District (hé píng qū 和平区).

Sanhao StreetSanhao Street (sān hǎo jiē 三好街) Shenyang’s Silicon Valley. You can buy any kind of computer equipment here.
Address: Sanhao Street, Heping District.

Wuai Market (wǔ ài shì chǎng 五爱市场) Located on Shenhe District, it is one of the 5 biggest wholesale market in China, it attracts people by the great variety of goods and very low price.
Address: No.65 Renao Road (rè nào lù 热闹路), Shenhe District.

Lu Xun Park Curio Market (lǔ xù gong yuán gǔ wán shì chǎng 鲁迅公园古玩市场) Calligraphy and paintings, stamps, porcelains, carvings and coins in different ages all can be found here. Brighten your eyes, there must be something you like. Every weekend it gets very crowded just like a temple fair.
Address: No.6 Xibinhe Road (xī bīn hé lù 西滨河路), Heping District