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| End of the Old Yalu River Bridge Looking Toward N. Korea |
...Or how we kinda sorta crossed into North Korea (according to
Google).
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The first two visits on our list of things to do in Dandong were pretty outstanding. I have to say I was a little worried that the bridge would be underwhelming, considering there was no way we were going to get closer to North Korea than when we near the Hushan Great Wall, at the edge of the creek separating the two countries.
The bridge did not disappoint. The cool factor here was twofold. First, the old Yalu River Bridge formerly known as the
Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge (there is a newer one just upstream) was built between May 1909 and October 1911, and is claimed (by China) to be one of the largest
swing bridges in the World at a total span of 944.2m.
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| Yalu River Bridges |
Sidenote: This is a little more "exaggeration" by the Chinese as the largest swing bridge in the US is The George P. Coleman Memorial Bridge in Virginia with a span of ~990m.
The second and more awesome part about this bridge is according to Google, it EXTENDS INTO NORTH KOREA!!! That means that the picture I took from the
end of this bridge not only is of North Korea but I took it while I was
in North Korea.
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| View of North Korea - Taken from North Korea |
The whole feeling about the Korean War / "War of American Aggression" here is a little weird. They give all outward appearances that is was 100% instigated by the US Military. At the end of the destroyed bridge there is a monument "For Peace", that shows Mao with a bunch of armed men standing at the end of the bridge. I'm not sure I believe that a bunch of armed Chinese guys standing at the end of the bridge are necessarily advocating Peace.
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| For Peace? |
Turns out, this is a monument to the
Chinese People's Volunteer Army (PVA) and their response to US crossing into North Korea. There is even a plaque off to the side commemorating October 19th, 1950. The day the Chinese PVA crossed into North Korea, via the Yalu River Bridge. So yeah, a bunch of infantry
standing rushing across a bridge, probably they are looking for peace...
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| Remembering the Chinese PVA Entering N. Korea |
Judging solely by the attitude put forth in the museum and the number of monuments around Dandong, it seems the Chinese people are extremely proud of the PVA, the sheer number of Chinese people that volunteered and their successful defense of N. Korea. I have to say, if they really believed defending N. Korea was right, then I can understand that they have a lot to be proud of. I'm not saying that I agree, but look at what these people did. With virtually no air force and little in the way of military technology (of their own) , they made a vicious defense of Pyongyang and the supply lines from China and essentially forced the US/UN forces into an eventual stalemate.
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| Russian MiG's Next to a Chinese "War Plane" |
Back to the bridge. As I understand it, the story of the Yalu River Bridges goes like this: during the war the Americans continuously destroyed this important supply line to China but the Chinese kept rebuilding and repairing it. Eventually, at some point toward the end of the war, the North Koreans refused to rebuild both bridges. They wanted to rebuild only the newer of the two bridges, leaving the older bridge as it was. The idea was to leave the older bridge severed so that the US could not deny that it had been attacking the North Korean supply lines so close to China.
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| American Firepower and the Damage it Caused |
China has repaired the relatively undamaged four spans of the bridge and opened it to the public as an extension of the earlier memorial to the Chinese People's Volunteer Army. They have left much of the damaged section unchanged though. In many places they have even circled shrapnel damage in red paint almost to force you to see the full extent of the damage caused by the US bombing.
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| Shrapnel Damage |
Despite the introverted nature of China and North Korea, they maintain trade relations and the newer Yalu River Bridge is a sign of their cooperation. After the Korean War they agreed to rebuild the newer version of the Yalu River Bridge and today it is open to foot and train traffic. In order to cross this bridge on foot, you must have a visa and you are accompanied by an armed Chinese soldier at all times. To cross by train, you need to obtain a visa in Beijing and board a train there. The train then departs from Beijing traveling East, eventually ending in Pyongyang.
Wow, what an experience Dandong was. It is extremely interesting to see something like the Korean War from the other side, especially considering my extreme lack of knowledge on the subject. I think writing about it really forced me to learn a little more about both sides of the story - in a good way. While the Chinese side of things may not be entirely accurate, I'm sure the US story has some of its own exaggerations. I think what is really interesting here is that a lot of people will say "History is written by the winners" but here it's not so clear cut who the winners were. This is more a case of history is written by your culture. We have our version, they have theirs.
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| Mao at the Dandong Train Station |
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