Northeast China Voyage Tips and guide

Contents

Northeast China (东北; Dōng​běi​) was historically known as Manchuria. In ancient times, this was an area of steppes and fierce nomadic tribes, outside the Great Wall built to protect China from those tribes.

In 1644, the Manchus from this region crossed the wall, conquered China, and founded the Qing Dynasty which lasted until 1911. For most of that period, Han Chinese were excluded from Manchuria.

From the 19th century until the end of the Second World War, Manchuria was the main prize in a complex territorial squabble mainly between China, Japan and Russia. After that, the area came firmly under Chinese control, began to be called Dongbei (the Northeast), and became China's "rust belt", the area where various five-year plans put most of the heavy industry. Although the largest ethnic group is now Han Chinese, there are substantial Manchu, Mongol and Korean minorities.

Since the "reform and opening up" policies of Deng Xiaoping went into effect in the late 1970s, this area has seen considerable economic growth but, except perhaps for the area around the region's main port, Dalian, growth here has not been as furious as in Southern provinces.

Heilongjiang Fierce winters with snow and ice festivals and characteristic Russian buildings.

Jilin Winter resorts, nature preserves and the imperial palace of the last emperor.

Liaoning Coastal cities, water cave and imperial palace.

• 41.10662122.989451 Anshan (鞍山; Ānshān), Liaoning Province — a heavy industry area but contains Qianshan National Park and other major tourist sites.
• 43.9125.22 Changchun, Jilin Province — former Manchukuo State capital
• 38.9121.63 Dalian, Liaoning Province — beautiful port city, once a Russian naval base
• 45.75126.6333334 Harbin, Heilongjiang Province — Russian-influenced architecture, winter festival
• 43.8461126.561575 Jilin City (吉林; Jílín), Jilin Province — home of the Rimmed Trees of Jilin, one of the four major natural wonders of China
• 41.8025123.4280566 Shenyang, Liaoning Province — former Manchu capital

• 41.298017124.0996661 Benxi Shuidong National Park (Liaoning Province) — river in a cavern
• 42.030258128.0743142 Changbaishan National Nature Reserve (Jilin Province) — home to Heaven Lake
• 43.988467129.0838773 Jingpohu National Forest Park (Heilongjiang Province) — nickname of Mirror Lake
• 41.026389123.1361114 Qianshan National Park (Liaoning Province) — nicknamed the Treasure Pearl of North China
• 48.6937126.25745 Wudalianchi National Forest Park (Heilongjiang Province) — nature reserve and health spa destination
• 45.05122.2833336 Xianghai National Nature Reserve— over 100 swamps and a wide range of wildlife

Even if the Chinese understand that there is civilization beyond the Great Wall, most tourists do not. The lands to the northeast of Beijing represent some of the least traveled and most challenging regions of China.

See also: Mongol Empire, Pre-modern Korea

The region was historically known as Manchuria, was inhabited by fierce nomadic tribes, and was not considered part of China proper. Over the centuries, several of these tribes crossed the Great Wall and took over parts of China. Much of the area was under the control of the Korean kingdom of Goguryeo (37 BC - AD 668), before it was defeated by the combined forces of China's Tang Dynasty and the Korean kingdom of Silla. The Khitans ruled much of Northern China as the Liao Dynasty, 907-1125. Then the Jurchens (ancestors of the modern Manchus) took over as the Jin Dynasty 1125-1234. During this whole period, the Song Dynasty (ethnically Han) held the south but could not dislodge the Khitans or Jurchens in the north. After that, the Mongols (also nomads from beyond the Great Wall, but further West) conquered more-or-less everything between Korea and Poland — including the Jurchen, the Song and the remnants of the Khitan Empire — and ruled China as the Yuan Dynasty, 1271-1368. Then the Ming Dynasty (ethnically Han) took over for about 300 years. See Imperial China for more on the various dynasties.

In 1616, Nurhaci united the various Jurchen tribes and founded the Later Jin Dynasty. His son Hong Taiji changed the name of the ethnic group from "Jurchen" to "Manchu" in 1635, before changing the name of the dynasty from Later Jin to Qing in 1636. In 1644, under the leadership of Hong Taiji's son, Fulin, the Qing Dynasty conquered China, with Fulin adopting the title "Shunzhi Emperor". The Qing Dynasty ruled China for over 250 years, until the revolution that created the Republic of China in 1911. During most of that time, Manchuria was off limits to Han Chinese but that prohibition broke down as the Qing began losing power in the late 1800s. Today, the Han are by far the largest ethnic group in the region. However, the area still has a mysterious quality separate from the rest of China, and substantial Manchu and Korean minorities remain in the region. While the Manchus have largely been assimilated into the Han and lost their language, the Koreans maintain a distinct ethnic identity and speak the Korean language.

From the 19th century until the end of the Second World War, Manchuria was the main prize in an exceedingly complex squabble over territory and influence; China, Japan and Russia were the main players, but other Western powers and local Manchu warlords were also involved. Russia sought dominance in the region, taking territory along the border which they still hold, taking Port Arthur (now called Dalian) as a naval base, building a railroad, and generally exerting great influence; the failing Qing dynasty was unable to effectively oppose them. The British and Japanese tried to limit Russian influence, with mixed success. Disputes over Manchuria were a major reason for the Sino-Japanese War in the 1890s and for the Russo-Japanese War in 1905-06; Japan won both wars decisively. Russian influences continued in later times as well. After 1917 many White Russians fled to this region, or to Shanghai, and after 1949 the communist government brought in many Russian advisors. Trade and tourism continue, and some of the locals speak Russian, while Heilongjiang is still home to a small ethnic Russian community.

The Qing dynasty fell in 1911. From 1915 to 1928, Manchuria was ruled by the Manchu warlord Zhang Zuolin, "the old marshal". At first he favoured the restoration of the Qing, but eventually he acknowledged the authority of the Nationalist government. He was therefore assassinated by the Japanese. His son, "the young marshal", fled to the Chinese interior with most of his army and became a prominent anti-Japanese fighter. At one point (the "Xi'an incident") he kidnapped Chiang Kai-shek and forced him to work out a truce with the Communists so both could fight the Japanese.

In the 1930s, Japan grabbed Manchuria and a chunk of Mongolia, and set up a puppet state called Manchuko, with the last Qing Emperor (deposed in China in 1911) as the powerless figurehead. The film The Last Emperor gives an interesting account of this period.

As elsewhere, Japanese occupation was brutal; in particular millions in Manchuria were conscripted into slave labour. The Japanese tried to expand further from their Manchurian base, but they were beaten on the Russian border near Khasan in 1938, then soundly thrashed by a Russian/Mongolian force at Khalkin Gol when they tried to move into Mongolia in 1939. After that, they changed their strategy and struck South instead of trying to grab Mongolia and Siberia. However, even with their focus elsewhere, they did hold Manchuria firmly until the end of the war.

In 1945, Soviet forces invaded and took Manchuria, along with parts of Mongolia and Korea. They then turned most of Manchuria (minus some Northern areas and the Liaodong Peninsula) over to Chiang Kai Shek's Kuomintang government of China, but Chiang soon lost it to Mao's forces. After 1949, with infrastructure already in place from its former masters, Russia and Japan, the Chinese government made the Northeast the center of their efforts at development on the Soviet model, with five-year plans and a concentration on heavy industry. The region is still sometimes referred to as "the rust belt".

Since Deng Xiaoping's "reform and opening up" in the late 70s other regions — such as the Pearl River Delta in the South and the East China area around Shanghai — have developed enormously, based mainly on trade and light industry. The Northeast has many large state-owned enterprises, much heavy industry, and things such as steel mills and armaments factories considered critical to national interests; all are harder to adapt for the export trade than industries like clothing and electronics which dominate in the South. The Northeast has therefore not developed as spectacularly as some other regions, but it is doing very well indeed. As elsewhere, the coastal regions have some of the fastest development; in the Northeast, Dalian is one of the most prosperous cities.

In 2021, a new study suggested that Northeast China was the place of origin of the Altaic peoples, which includes the Japanese, Koreans, Manchus, Mongols and Turkic peoples.

For most Chinese, the North East probably brings to mind images of factory workers with bright smiles and a cheery attitude instead of wild men riding on horseback from an earlier age. Despite the industrial buildup, North East can claim China's largest natural forest area, its most uncontaminated grassland area, and one of its most spiritual lakes (Tian Chi).

The region is trying for a makeover since the industrialization of the region is falling apart. It is not known as the rust belt without just cause. Tourism, it is hoped, will help pump money back into the region and keep the local economies afloat. The Northeast is still difficult to visit but, because it is not as hyped as other parts of China, is still fresh and free of the tourism problems of other parts of China.

Mandarin is the native language of most people in Northeast China, though there can be substantial dialectal variations between areas. This can make it a little tricky to understand if you have just learnt standard Mandarin, though if you are a fluent speaker, asking the other person to speak slowly will usually allow them to be understood. That said, most younger people can speak standard Mandarin if required, and the dialects are not much different in terms of pronunciation to standard Mandarin (rather very similar); the main challenge are the unique phrases that always confuse people (see below). There are substantial groups whose first language is Korean or Mongolian, and Russian is fairly common as a second language. Speakers of these minority languages are generally bilingual in their language and Mandarin. Sadly, Manchu is now a moribund language, and is only spoken natively by a few elderly people in isolated villages, virtually all of whom are also able to speak Mandarin. As elsewhere in China, English skills are not widespread but some people speak it quite well.

There are international airports at

• Dalian, Liaoning Province - international flights from Tokyo and a number of other Japanese cities, Seoul, Frankfurt, Munich, Paris, London, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Delhi, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Melbourne and Sydney. Domestic flights from most major cities.
• Changchun, Jilin Province - international flights from Tokyo and a few other Japanese cities as well as Seoul. Domestic flights only from the largest cities in the country.
• Harbin, Heilongjiang Province - international flights from Khabarovsk, Vladivostok, Niigata, Seoul and Los Angeles. Domestic flights from a number of cities throughout the country.
• Shenyang, Liaoning Province - international flights from Seoul, Cheongju, Pyongyang, Irkutsk, Khabarovsk, Osaka and Tokyo. Domestic flights from most major cities.

There are domestic airports at

• Mudanjiang, Heilongjiang Province
• Qiqihar, Heilongjiang Province
• Dandong, Liaoning Province
• Jilin, Jilin Province
• Yanji, Jilin Province
• Jiamusi, Heilongjiang Province

Rail service is extensive throughout the region but when you get off the main lines it slows down considerably. The major problem is that since the northeast is connected with the rest of China by a few main lines, long-distance tickets to other places in China past this bottleneck are few and far between, especially sleeper tickets. High speed trains run to most major cities (Shenyang, Dalian, Changchun, Harbin and etc.) Much faster than buses, cars or ordinary trains with affordable price. The fares of trains in China are much cheaper than most countries in the world.

The three province capitals of Harbin, Changchun and Shenyang can be reached by direct train from most major cities in the country; only from distant places will a change of trains in Beijing be needed. Other cities in the region have connections from Beijing but not many from other places.

Northeast China can be entered from Russia via the train from Vladivostok to Harbin. This is a very slow train doing the not very long journey in 35 hours. This train is not much used, you will have to wait long hours in strange places, and crossing the border is a mess. Another option from Russia is the more well-travelled route from Irkutsk to Harbin. It is also possible to go by train from North Korea to the region.

Extensive and fairly reliable, can take a lot of time and be very crowded. From nearby provinces the fares will be cheap and the condition of the buses are good but don't expect a more comfortable ride than trains especially during public holidays when the buses may get too crowded. Most buses are safe enough for travelling, but there are always (really often) thieves on them. Sometimes those buses can be overloaded which means a slow and dangerous journey.

As elsewhere in China, there is an extensive rail network. Rail is the main means of inter-city travel for the Chinese themselves, and many visitors travel that way as well. The system now includes fast bullet trains on most major routes; unless your budget is very tight, these are the best way to go — fast, clean and comfortable. The fares for high-speed services are affordable (usually ¥0.4 to ¥0.6 per kilometer) and so as the ordinary trains. Tickets can be bought from the station, ticket booths or the website.

Train travel in China is usually not so hard and fairly comfortable. Timetables and more information can be provided by station staffs or somewhere at the Stations. There are usually catering cars (cānchē 餐车) which provides food services on board, but not so tasty (Especially on high-speed trains which are cooked hours before departure and heated on board) and usually cost more than buying food before you travel.See the main Trains in China page for more details.

All the major cities have airports with good domestic connections; some have international connections as well. However, air travel isn't so cost-efficient compared to trains between most cities in the northeast region in China. (For example, a plane journey from Dalian to Harbin takes around 4.5 hours and ¥500 in Economy class, when high-speed trains takes 4 hours and ¥403.) See the individual city articles for details.

There is also an extensive highway network, much of it very good. Busses go almost anywhere, somewhat cheaper than the trains. See the China article for more. Driving yourself is also possible, but often problematic; see Driving in China.

• Russian buildings — most prominent in Harbin and Dalian, reflecting the history of Russian colonial rule in the region
• Goguryeo Ancient sites — the remains of the ancient kingdom of Goguryeo. The Goguryeo are credited as the ancestors of the Korean people. These sites include including Wunu Mountain City, Guonei City and Wandu Mountain City; 14 imperial tombs; 26 noble tombs; a General's Tomb; and the monument to the 19th Emperor of the Koguryo Kingdom, which are now UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Most of these are around Tonghua.
• Puppet Emperor's Palace (偽皇宮 Wei Huang Gong) — the former residence of Puyi, the last emperor of China and the Puppet Emperor of Manchuko on behalf of the Japanese. In the north east of Changchun.
• Great Wall of China — goes through the area. There are two interesting restored portions at Hushan near Dandong and at Jiumenkou 18 km east of The First Pass Under Heaven at Shanhaiguan near the city of Huludao.
• Religious structures — famous in the area include Fengguo Temple in Yixian, which possesses the largest single-floor wooden hall in China, Guangji Temple in Jinzhou and Yongfeng Pagoda in Dalian.
• Ancient cities — remains in the area include Tayingzi Ancient City in Fuxin or Shenyang and Ruins of Gaoli City in Yingkou.

• Siberian Tiger Preserve — in the outskirts of Harbin is home to hundreds of tigers and is a must see.
• Zhaolin Park — in Harbin is home to the city's famous ice sculptures in the winter.
• Longtou Mountain — these hills contain ancient Tombs including the Mausoleum of Princess Zhenxiao and royal tombs of the Balhae kingdom. It is in Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture.
• Rimmed Trees of Jilin — the trees are extolled as one of the four major natural wonders of China along with the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River, the landscape of Jilin and the Stone Forest of Yunnan.
• Mountains — there are a number worth a visit in the area, including Bijias Mountain in Jinzhou, Yiwulu Mountain in Fuxin, Longshou Mountain in Tieling, Tiesha Mountain in Benxi and Dagu Mountain in Dalian.

• Heilongjiang Provincial Museum — in Harbin is not great but big
• Meteorite Museum — in 1976, Jilin was hit by a heavy Meteorite storm. Many of the stones were collected and placed into this museum. The largest stone weighs 1,775 kg and is thought to be the largest meteorite in existence to date.
• Imperial Palace or Forbidden city in Shenyang — a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with its bigger cousin in Beijing. Although much smaller, the Shenyang palace rivals that of Beijing in its beauty and distinctive Manchurian architectural styles.
• Tombs — Three earliest imperial tombs of the Qing Dynasty, built before the Manchu conquest of China proper, are located in Liaoning province. The Yongling mausoleum in Fushun is dedicated to four of Nurhaci's paternal ancestors, while Shenyang is home to the Fuling mausoleum, Nurhaci's tomb, and the Zhaoling mausoleum, the tomb of Nurhaci's son and successor Hong Taiji. All three are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

• Festivals — Harbin International Snow and Ice Festivals (from 5 January until warm weather) are the main events in the region and worth planning for if you can stand the cold. Harbin is also home to a beer festival (late August) and a music festival (every two years). There are also a Ice Lantern Festival in Jilin and a Ice and Snow Festival in Shenyang.
• Theaters and concert halls — one place to look for these kinds of cultural events is in Zhongshan district in Dalian.
• Skiing — there are ski resorts in the region: one of the best is in Wofoshan near Jiamusi, Yabuli near Harbin and Riyuexia near Yichun and some are found around Shenyang.
• Heilongjiang River — cruises on the river from Mohe (the country's northernmost town) and Heihe. It is also possible to swim in the river.
• Benxi Water Cave — cruise through the cave in Benxi Shuidong National Park near Benxi city. This is the largest water filled cavern in Asia. You can also raft down the nearby river.
• River rafting — if you are into this kind of thrilling sports, go to Fushun for Honghu Red River Canyon Rafting or Su River Rafting.
• Beaches — the province has some good ones including Xingcheng Beach in Huludao, Jinshi Beach in Dalian, Dalian Beach in Dalian and Dalian Beach-Lushunkou in Dalian.
• Hot springs — are found around the region, e.g. in Anshan.
• Public baths (澡堂 zǎotáng) - The region is known to have more public bathhouses than other parts of the country. These typically include amenities such as an on-site a la carte restaurant, massaging areas, playgrounds and saunas. Be sure to take a shower first, submerge in the large pools, spend some time in the sauna, have a scrubbing (do note it's a bit painful), and take a rinse again in order to follow local customs. It's common to spend the whole afternoon in the bathhouse.

Northeastern Chinese cuisine is a cuisine blending Northern Han, Manchu and Korean cooking styles. One of the distinguishing characteristics of the cuisine is the use of uncooked fresh vegetables. During the long winter season, pickled Chinese cabbage, which is called "suancai", is preserved and used for cooking. Popular local dishes include:

• Large dumplings (东北饺子, dongbei jiǎozi) - typically served in large amounts such as 10 or 20.

• Guobaorou (锅包肉) - deep fried battered sweet and sour pork chops.

• Zhuroudunfentiao (猪肉炖粉条) - simmered pork with cellophane noodles.

• Xiaojidunmogu (小鸡炖蘑菇) - chicken with honey fungus.

• Dongbeiluandun (东北乱炖) - potato, beans, Chinese cabbage, eggplant, wood ear fungus and random vegetables stewed with pork belly.

• Harbin red sausages (哈尔滨红肠, haerbin hongchang)

• Disanxian (地三鲜) - fried potato, green pepper and eggplant.

• Saqima (萨其马) - traditional Manchu sweet made of fluffy strands of fried batter bound together with stiff sugar syrup.

Northeastern Chinese cuisine are known for their larger portions than any other Chinese cuisine.

Staring at the local people in the eye is considered to be a provoking act, so make sure not to do that, though it is fine as long as they are familiar with you or while having a conversation (never do it to a stranger), a lot of people might consider it a challenge and react violently. Be extra-vigilant around the train station areas where thieves often prowl.