Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge
Sino–Korean Friendship Bridge | |
|---|---|
 View from Dandong, China | |
| Coordinates | 40°6′54″N 124°23′33″E / 40.11500°N 124.39250°E |
| Carries | road and rail traffic |
| Crosses | Yalu River |
| Locale | Dandong, Liaoning, China Sinŭiju, North P'yŏngan, North Korea |
| Official name | 中朝友谊桥 (Chinese) 조중우의교 (Korean) |
| Other name(s) | Sino-Korean or China–Korea Friendship Bridge |
| Characteristics | |
| Material | Iron |
| Total length | 940.8 m (3,087 ft) |
| Location | |
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| Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge | |||||||||||||||||
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 Aerial photograph taken in November 1950 during air attacks by US bombers shows damage to the Yalu River bridges | |||||||||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 中朝友誼橋 | ||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 中朝友谊桥 | ||||||||||||||||
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| Korean name | |||||||||||||||||
| Chosŏn'gŭl | 조중우의교 | ||||||||||||||||
| Hancha | 朝中友誼橋 | ||||||||||||||||
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The Sino–Korean Friendship Bridge or China–North Korea Friendship Bridge is a bridge across the Yalu River on the China–North Korea border. It connects the cities of Dandong, China and Sinuiju, North Korea, but pedestrians are not allowed to cross. One of the few ways to enter or leave North Korea, it carries automobile and rail traffic.
It was renamed to its current name from the "Yalu River Bridge" in 1990. That bridge was constructed by the Imperial Japanese Army between April 1937 and May 1943, during their occupation of Korea and northeast China. Further downstream, a third bridge began construction in October 2010.
History
About 60 m (66 yd) downstream are the remains of an older bridge constructed between May 1909 and October 1911. It was an 944.2 m (3,098 ft) iron truss bridge with 12 spans on stone piers. The fourth span was a swing bridge that could be opened with a 90° horizontal rotation to allow easy navigation for tall ships. Both bridges were bombed by American aircraft during the Korean War. From November 1950 to February 1951, the United States used B-29 heavy bombers, and F-80 fighter-bombers to repeatedly attack the bridges in an attempt to cut off Chinese supplies to the North Koreans. The bridges were repeatedly repaired. The 1911 bridge was left destroyed and only the newer 1943 bridge repaired and used at the end of the war. The North Koreans claimed that they did not want to rebuild the broken bridge so that the U.S. could not deny they destroyed it. Four spans of the old bridge remained on the Chinese side of the river, giving it the name "Broken Bridge" (断桥 Duàn qiáo).
Tourism
The bridges are flanked on the Chinese side by parks and promenades which make up the Yalu River Scenic Area. This is a major tourist attraction in China and is rated AAAA on China's national tourist scale. Tourist boats leave from the side of the bridge allowing visitors to view both bridges and the Dandong river front, and pass close to the North Korean waterfront. The four remaining spans of the old Yalu River Bridge were opened as a tourist attraction in 1993. Pedestrian walkways were constructed along the length allowing tourists to view the bomb damage close up. The Broken Bridge also allows good views across the river to Sinuiju on the North Korean side. In 2006 the Broken Bridge received protection as a key cultural relic by the State Council of China.
See also
- People's Republic of China – North Korea relations
- Foreign relations of North Korea
- Friendship Bridge
- New Yalu River Bridge
Other Sino-Korean border bridges:
- Ji'an Yalu River Border Railway Bridge (Ji'an City)
- Linjiang Yalu River Bridge (Linjiang City)
- Changbai-Hyesan International Bridge (Changbai Korean Autonomous County)
- Tumen Border Bridge (Tumen City)
- Tumen River Bridge (Hunchun City)
External links
- Eyeing North Korea at the Wayback Machine (archive index)