Known as the City of Hill in the northern China, Tonghua (tōng huà 通化) is located in the southeastern part of Jilin Province. It meets Baishan (běi shān 北山) City in the east; adjoins Liaoning Province in the west, connects Jilin City and Liaoyuan City in the north, overlooks Democratic People's Republic of Korea with river between them in the south. It is one of the three ports open to North Korea. Covering an area of 15,600 square kilometers and a population of slightly more than 2.3million, Tonghua currently has jurisdiction over two cities at county level - Meihekou (méi hé kǒu 梅河口) City, Ji'an (jí ān 集安) City, three counties-Liuhe (liǔ hé 柳河) County, Huinan (huī nán 辉南) County, Tonghua County, and two districts directly under the municipality-Dongchang (dōng chāng 东昌) District, Erdaojiang (èr dào jiāng 二道江) District. What's more, Tonghua is an open border city upon approval of the central government.

 

Situated in the south part of Jilin, It is neighbor to cities of Baishan, Liaoyuan, Jilin of Jilin Province and Tieling (tiě lǐng 铁岭), Dandong (dān dōng 丹东) of Liaoning (liáo níng 辽宁) Province. The Yalu (yā lǜ 鸭绿) River separates it from North Korea in its south. It is in the economic development belt of Yalu River in Changbai (cháng bái 长白) Mountain, Tonghua is the only way to Changbai Mountain. It represents itself in abundant resources: charming landscape, unique natural and human scenery, and numerous attractions. Ji'an, a historical and cultural city, preserves most of the relics of history and culture of Koguryeo ethnic group 1500 years ago. The Tomb of a General, praised as "Oriental Pyramid", the Wukui (wǔ kuī 五盔) Tombs, No.1 Tomb in Changchuan (cháng chūn 长春) is all of national-level key protection units. Delta Dragon (Chinese Dragon) Bay National Forest Park in Huinan County possesses ancient city walls, ancient bacon towers, and sites of battlefields. Yuhuang (yù huáng 玉皇) Temple in Yuhuang Mountain Park of Tonghua witnessed its long history and endless stream of pilgrims. What's more, Jinchang (jīn chǎng 金厂) Ski Resort, regarded as the Cradle of Skiing, is the earliest skiing center found in China. It has hosted National Ski Race for seven times with its comprehensive facilities. The featured itinerary tour on cultural relics, natural scenery, winter snow, folk customs, Road of Ginseng, Volcano Lake in Changbai Mountains, industrial development, and ecotourism have appealed to numerous tourists from home and abroad.

 

About 6,000 years ago, human beings started to live in this area. It is the cradle of China's northeast ethnic minority group Gaogouli (gāo gōu lì 高句丽) and Manchu culture. In the Western Han (xī hàn 西汉) Dynasty (260BC-24), it belonged to the Liaodong (liáo dōng 辽东) Four County. The Qing (qīng 清) Dynasty (1644-1911) government firstly set up county there formally. In 1985, it became a prefecture-level city in the approval of the State Council.

 

Most of Tonghua's land is covered with mountains and hills which incline from high south to low north. Tonghua enjoys typical temperate continental climate. It is dry and windy in spring while hot and rainy in summer. Winter is quite long and cold. it has four distinctive seasons, the annual temperature is 5℃, the annual rainfall is 850 mm and it is a rainy city in Jilin Province. The best traveling seasons are summer and winter.

 

The forest park occupies an area of 6780 hectares, among which 227 hectares are covered by water, and the rest are of 1095 hectares. Inside the lake, ten attractions, namely, Delta Dragon Bay, Primary Dragon Bay, Prior Dragon Bay, Minor Dragon Bay, Eastern Dragon Bay, Southern Dragon Bay, Dry Dragon Bay, Jug Lake (waterfall), Golden Dragon Peak, Square Peak, contribute to a landscape of seven Bays, one Lake and two Peaks. In total there are 100-odd attractions here.

Dragon Bay is a lake resulted from the volcanic eruption in ancient world. The average depth of the seven bays is around 50m, and the deepest one reaches up to 100m. Bays here are like jades scattering in different shapes. With such numerous numbers, intensive distribution, diverse figures and perfect preservation, it ranks second to none in the country with no doubt.

Location: Chaoyang (cháo yang 朝阳)Town, Huinan (huī nán 辉南) County

Transportation: The highways for touring in scenic spots of Dragon Bay have been paved and put into use. Take bus to Chaoyang Town at Tonghua Bus Station and the Special tourist lines towards Dragon Bay are Chaoyang Town everyday.

Tel: 0448-8718003

Admission Fee: CNY 80

 

Located in the southeast part of Jilin Province, Ji'an City is a key port to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea which is on the other side of Yalu River. With the coverage of 3,217 sq. km. and a population of 236,000, Ji’an has 18 nationalities, 88.4% of which are Han, and 7.5% are Korean. The Capital Cities and Tombs of the Ancient Koguryo Kingdom are distributed in the area of Ji’an city, Jilin Province, and there is an inner city, a hill city and 14 imperial tombs and 16 other tombs in which the nobles were buried. Koguryo, which is often called Koryo for short by the Chinese people, is the name of an important ethnic group who had lived in the northeastern China from the Western Han Dynasty (206BC-25AD) to the Tang (táng 唐) Dynasty (618AD-907AD). This group of people has had great influence on the development of the local culture.

Location: Ji'an City (jí ān 集安)

Transportation: take bus to Ji'an City at Tonghua Bus Station

Tel: 0435-6262796

Admission Fee: CNY 100

 

Yang Jingyu Cemetery broke earth in 1954 and completed in 1957. The remains of General Yang Jingyu were reinterred here from Harbin in 1958. The cemetery is 200 meters long and 100 meters wide, covering 20,000 sq. m. It is made up of the mourning hall, tomb, showroom, etc.

 Born in Queshan (què shān 确山) Town of Henan Province in 1905, General Yang Jingyu joined Chinese Communist in 1927. After that the Japanese imperialism decided to establish the "Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere" in February 1940 and adopt more brute measures against Chinese. They applied the policy of "three alls" - burning all, killing all and plundering all, which made the condition of the first army worse. General Yang Jingyu used pistols with both hands, shooting with great accuracy and killing dozens of the invaders. And because of what he was doing, the victory is coming in his local part. After the foundation of the new China, the Chinese leaders paid high respect to General Yang Jingyu. A monument was built to memorize the hero in Jingyu County which was named after the general.

Location: in the north of Hun River, Jingyu (jìng yǔ 靖宇) Mountain, Tonghua City

Transportation: take bus except No.18 from the Tonghua Railway Station to Tonghua Square

Opening Time: 8:00-17:00

Tel: 0435-3652882

Admission Fee: Free

 

Yunfeng Lake Scenic Area is located in the east of Ji'an City, 40 kilometers upper reaches of Yalu River, Yunfeng Dam and manmade lake with a height of 218.5 meters and area of 102.5 square kilometers. The high mountain stands at two banks of Yunfeng Lake, the gorge is deep and clear and the cloud and mist move in rings, forming beautiful photos, is the first place of returning to nature. There are many scenic and manmade sites except the dam and workshop, such as mountain waterfalls, stone caves, Iron Bridge, park-like street and so on. The opposite bank of the scenic area is the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, you can see the form of the Korean people and experience the unique folk amorous feelings, is really a tourist and holiday resort.

Location: East of Ji'an City (jí ān 集安)

Transportation: take bus to Ji'an City at Tonghua Bus Station and take tourist special line bus to Yunfeng Lake Scenic area in Ji'an City, four shifts one day, the departure time is: 6:45、8:05、9:05、10:05

Admission Fee: CNY 20

 

20km away from Tonghua urban district, Baijiyao National Forest Park, with the total coverage of 1,067 hectare, forest accumulation of 120,000 cubic meters and forest coverage rate of 98.7%, is situated in the management area of Tonghua forestry center. The park, with magnificent mountains and rich water resources, has a spectacular view. It is said that thousands years ago, two aerolites from outer space falling on two peaks in the park, which are called the Qianbaiji (qián bái jī 前白鸡) (White rooster in the front) located at 1,318m height level and Houbaiji (hòu bái jī 后白鸡) (White rooster in the back) located at 1,300m height level respectively. The mountains get its name "Baijiyao" - White rooster from the hard and silver white aerolites. The park is on the ancient camel carrying road. The remaining of the Longwang (lóng wáng 龙王) Temple (dragon king temple), Guandi (guān dì 关帝) Temple and Kwan-yin (guān yīn 观音) Temple built at the end of Ming Dynasty can be found in the park. Baijiyao National Forest Park is an important ecological Scenic Area in Tonghua city.

Location: in the south of Dongchang (dōng chāng 东昌) District, Tonghua City

Transportation: take bus No.6

Opening Time: 8:00-17:00

Admission Fee: CNY 5

 

According to Ji'an Cultural Anthology, the area around Wunv Peaks gathered the spectacular sceneries even in the ancient time long before the establishment of Wunvfeng Park. The park broke earth in 1991 and completed in 1993 to improve the investment environment and promote the development of Ji'an Development Area. Wunvfeng National Forest Park was certified as one of the 20 model National Forest Parks in May 1994. The park has a forest volume of 1,150,000 cubic meters and forest coverage rate of 94.5%. 26 peaks in the park are comparatively high with 17 over 1000 meters high while the highest is 1337 meters and the lowest is 653 meters. Among all these peaks, there are 5 distinctive peaks from which the name of the park is drawn - Wunv peak (five ladies’ peak)

Location: in the north of Ji’an City

Transportation: take bus to Ji’an City at Tonghua Bus Station

Admission Fee: CNY 50

 

Roll the steamed glutinous rice into thin slices, scatter the cooked soybean powder and sesame salt equally, then roll them and cut the long rolls into pieces, then comes the brown tasteful bean rolls, sticky, soft and fragrant

 

The process of bun making is similar to bean roll. Yet, the rice is made into dough, rather than thin slices, and is steamed on perilla leaves. After cooling down, the bus is of fragrant smell of perilla leaves, and sweet taste of bean bun.

 

It is made by corn, mostly eaten by the Manchu people in summer. The steps are as follow: first, soak the corn for days, after softened, grind them into flour, ferment until sour, and then squeeze them in a special pipe and stew them in boiled water. Or squeeze them by hands. The noodle can be divided into clear one and thick one. The clear noodles can be mixed up with vegetables or spices, while the thick noodles can be eaten together with soups. The sour noodle tastes sour and sweet. It is the best choice in summer.

 

The Shenji (shěn jí 沈吉) Railway, Meiji (méi jí 梅集) Railway and Yada (yā dà 鸭大) Railway pass through the whole city. The railway station located at the Jianshe (jiàn shè 建设) Street; there are trains to and from Beijing, Shenyang, Qingdao and Dalian.

The National highway 303, 201 and 202 pass through the city and there are buses to and from Liaoyuan, Jilin, Siping (sì ping 四平) and Dalian. The bus station is located at the same street with railway station, the Jianshe Street.