Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture

"Yanbian" redirects here. For other uses, see Yanbian (disambiguation).

Yanbian Prefecture 延边州 · 연변주
Autonomous prefecture
Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture 延边朝鲜族自治州 연변 조선족 자치주
Yanji, the prefectural seat of Yanbian
Yanbian (red) in Jilin (orange) and China
Coordinates: 43°08′N 129°11′E
Country	People's Republic of China
Province	Jilin
County-level divisions	6 county-level cities 2 counties
Prefectural seat	Yanji
Government
• Party Secretary	Zhang Anshun
Area
• Total	43,509 km2 (16,799 sq mi)
Population  (2010)
• Total	2,271,600
• Density	52/km2 (140/sq mi)
• Ethnic composition	64.55% Han 32.45% Korean 2.52% Manchu 0.28% Hui 0.13% Mongols
Time zone	UTC+8 (China Standard)
Area code	0433
Licence plate prefixes	吉H
Website	http://www.yanbian.gov.cn/

Yanbian (Chinese: 延边, Chinese Korean : 연변, South Korean transliteration: 옌볜) is an Autonomous Prefecture in northeastern Jilin Province, People's Republic of China, just north of the border with North Korea. Yanbian is bordered to the north by Heilongjiang, on the west by Baishan City and Jilin City, on the south by North Hamgyong Province of North Korea, and on the east by Primorsky Krai of Russia. Yanbian is designated as an autonomous prefecture due to the large number of ethnic Koreans living in the region. The prefectural capital is Yanji, and the total area is 42,700 square kilometres (16,500 sq mi).

The Prefecture has an important Balhae archaeological site: the Ancient Tombs at Longtou Mountain, which includes the Mausoleum of Princess Jeonghyo.

Administration

The prefecture is subdivided into eight county-level divisions: six county-level cities and two counties:

Map
Yanji (city) Tumen (city) Dunhua (city) Hunchun (city) Longjing (city) Helong (city) Wangqing County Antu County
Name	Chinese	Hanyu Pinyin	Chinese Korean transliteration			South Korean standard transliteration			Population (2003 est.)	Area (km²)	Density (/km²)
			Chosŏn'gŭl	Revised	McCune	Hangul	Revised	McCune
Yanji City	延吉市	Yánjí Shì	연길시	Yeongil-si	Yŏngil-si	옌지 시	Yenji Si	Yenji Si	410,000	1,332	308
Tumen City	图们市	Túmén Shì	도문시	Domun-si	Tomun-si	투먼 시	Tumeon Si	T'umŏn Si	130,000	1,142	114
Dunhua City	敦化市	Dūnhuà Shì	돈화시	Donhwa-si	Tonhwa-si	둔화 시	Dunhwa Si	Tunhwa Si	480,000	11,963	40
Hunchun City	珲春市	Húnchūn Shì	훈춘시	Honchun-si	Honch’un-si	훈춘 시	Hunchun Si	Hunch'un Si	220,000	4,938	45
Longjing City	龙井市	Lóngjǐng Shì	룡정시	Ryongjeong-si	Ryongjŏng-si	룽징 시	Rungjing Si	Rungjing Si	250,000	2,592	96
Helong City	和龙市	Hélóng Shì	화룡시	Hwaryong-si	Hwaryong-si	허룽 시	Heorung Si	Hŏrung Si	210,000	5,069	41
Wangqing County	汪清县	Wāngqīng Xiàn	왕청현	Wangcheong-hyeon	Wangch’ŏng-hyŏn	왕칭 현	Wangching Hyeon	Wangch'ing Hyŏn	250,000	8,994	28
Antu County	安图县	Āntú Xiàn	안도현	Ando-hyeon	Ando-hyŏn	안투 현	Antu Hyeon	Ant'u Hyŏn	210,000	7,444	28

The above counties and cities are divided into 642 villages (边境村/邊境村).

Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture
"Yanbian", as written in Chinese and Korean
Simplified Chinese	延边朝鲜族自治州
Traditional Chinese	延邊朝鮮族自治州
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Yánbiān Cháoxiǎnzú Zìzhìzhōu Yue: Cantonese Jyutping jin4bin1 ziu1sin1zuk6 zi6zi6zau1
Chinese Korean name
Chosŏn'gŭl	연변 조선족 자치주
Transcriptions Revised Romanization Yeonbyeon Joseonjok Jachiju McCune–Reischauer Yŏnpyŏn Chosŏnchok Chach'ichu
South Korean name
Hangul	옌볜 조선족 자치주
Transcriptions Revised Romanization Yenbyen Joseonjok Jachiju McCune–Reischauer Yenbyen Chosŏnchok Chach'ichu

History

In the Ming Dynasty, Yanbian was governed by the Jianzhou Guard-district (建州衛), and in the late Qing Dynasty the area was divided into the Yanji (延吉廳) and Hunchun (琿春廳) subprefectures. From 1644 to the 1800s the Manchurian administrators of the Qing state attempted to separate northeast China, politically and ethnographically, into a "Manchuria" to which they could retreat in case an ethnically Han Chinese dynasty regained control over China. However, this effort failed because of the trading and agricultural opportunities available to Han Chinese migrants in the northeast region which made it profitable to evade the rules, as well as later Qing relaxation of the same rules to discourage Russian encroachment.

In the 19th century, Korean immigrants migrated en masse from the Korean peninsula to China. After the foundation of the Republic of China, a second wave arrived. Of the 2 million ethnic Koreans in Manchuria at the time of the communist takeover, 1.2 million remained in the region after the end of World War II. Many participated in the Chinese Civil War, most on the side of the Chinese communists. When the civil war was over, the new Chinese government gave Koreans their own autonomous region (区) in 1952. Yanbian was upgraded to an ethnic autonomous prefecture in 1955.

Korean (Joseon) migration into northeast China began in any significant numbers in the last quarter of the 19th century and was mainly motivated by economic hardship on the Korean side of the border. After the Japanese annexed Korea in 1910, a small but significant number of migrants also came to Manchuria for political reasons.

In 1952, the Korean migrants composed some 60% of the local population, but by 2000 their share had shrunk to 32%. The Chinese authorities subsidize Korean language schools and publications, but also take measures to prevent an emergence of Korean irredentism in the area. From the late 1990s the Koreans voluntarily assimilated into mainstream Chinese culture with increasing speed, often switching to daily use of Chinese and choosing to attend the Chinese language schools.

Geography

• Geographic coordinates: 41° 59' 47" - 44° 30' 42", 127° 27' 43" - 131° 18' 33" E
• Total border length: 755.2 kilometres (469.3 mi)
  • With N Korea: 522.5 kilometres (324.7 mi)
  • With Russia: 232.7 kilometres (144.6 mi)

Mountains that are in the prefecture are:

• The central range of Changbai Mountains
• Zhangguangcai Peak (张广才岭)
• Harba Peak (哈尔巴岭)
• Peony Peak (牡丹领)
• Old Master Peak (老爷岭)
• Nangang Mountain Range (南岗山脉)

There have been over 40 types of minerals and 50 kinds of metals, including gold, lead, zinc copper, silver, manganese and mercury, discovered near or in the mountains.

Average land height is 500 metres above sea level.

Main rivers include:

• Songhua River
• Mudan River (Peony River)
• Tumen River
  • Gaya River (流嘎呀河): branch of the Tumen
  • Hunchun River (珲春河)

The rivers sustain 28 running water processing facilities.

The rivers created basins, which are suitable for agricultural uses, like rice paddies and bean farms.

Transportation

Railways include:

• Chang-Tu Line (长图线)
• Mu-Tu Line (牡图线)
• Chao-Kai Line (朝开线)
• Yangchuan-Shantun Line (阳川山屯线)
• Tumen-Hunchun Railway: under construction

There are 1,480 kilometres of public roads altogether. There are four airports.

Demographics

Ethnic compositions:

• 2,271,600 (2010)
  • 64.55% Han
  • 32.45% Korean
  • 2.52% Manchu
  • 0.28% Hui
  • 0.13% Mongols
• Growth rate 0.4%.

Population density: 51 people per km² (132 per mi²).

Like on the Korean peninsula, Yanbian Koreans' most common surname is Kim. Many emigrated from Korea during the 19th century, and again during the Japanese Occupation.

Between 1952 and 2002, the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture had among the highest rates of urbanization (城市化水平) at 55.6%, 20 percentage points greater than the provincial average (31.3%) and 25 more than the national average (26.5%).

Education

Colleges and universities:

• Yanbian University, which uses both Chinese and Korean as instruction mediums.
• Yanbian University of Science and Technology

International schools:

• Yanbian International Academy
• Korean International School in Yanbian

Culture

Both Mandarin Chinese and Korean are used as official languages in Yanbian.

The Museum of Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture was planned in 1960, and constructed in 1982. It contains over 10,000 exhibits, including 11 first-level artifacts. The exhibits' labels and explanations are bilingual in Korean and Chinese, and tour guides are also available in both languages.

Tourism

There are seven public parks in Yanbian's green space (18% of whole prefecture), including:

• Yanji People's Park (延吉人民公园)
• Youth Lake Park (青年湖公园)

Also popular among locals during holidays and festivities.

• Baekdusan

Nature and environment

Over 70% are originally forest in the prefecture, so there is a rich diversity of life.

• 1,460 species of native animals
• 250 species of native plants.

Sports

Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture is an important region for Chinese football. Over 50 years more than 40 footballers have been selected by the Chinese national football team.

The first professional football team in this prefecture is Jilin Three Stars Football Club. From 1994 to 2000, this club had been played each years in the top Chinese football league. In 2000, they were relegated from the top league. Because of poor economic conditions the club was sold to Lucheng Group in Zhejiang Province.

In 2001, Yanbian Football Club was founded. They are currently playing in the 32,000-seater Hailanjiang Stadium in the Chinese Super League, the top tier of the Chinese football league system.

In popular culture

The 2006 South Korean drama serial Pure In Heart features a female protagonist, "Yang Guk Hwa" (played by South Korean actress Ku Hye-sun), who came to Seoul from Yanbian. She is portrayed as an honest and warm-hearted young lady who grew up in a poverty-stricken rural region and experiences difficulties living in urban Seoul. Other characters in the drama refer to Guk Hwa as a "country girl" and as a "foreigner" (which would be technically correct since ethnic Koreans in Yanbian are citizens of the People's Republic of China, and in one scene Guk Hwa is shown to own a passport that has a red cover with gold lettering, characteristic of PRC passports). In one scene, Guk Hwa is shown speaking in Chinese.

The action of the 2010 South Korean thriller drama film The Yellow Sea starts in Yanji, in Yanbian Prefecture. Gu-nam, a taxi driver addicted to gambling is offered a deal by the local gangster Myun Jung-hak, a contract killing in South Korea. Yanji is presented as a black market city where people can be hired to perpetrate diverse odd jobs.

The 2013 South Korean crime drama film, New World, includes four countrified hitmen, referred to as the "Yanbian hobos", who arrive on a ferry from Yanbian, and who provide the only comic touches to an otherwise dark drama.

The 2008 South Korean romantic movie "Innocent Steps" includes a female lead character who is Chinese Ethnic Korean, played by Moon Geun-Young, who speaks with accented Korean and uses words typical of that dialect. She is brought to South Korean mistakenly, as she impersonates her older sister who is a skilled ballroom dancer.

External links

• Official government website Template:Zh-cn
• Official government Tourism website
• Yanbian Office in Korea Template:Ko icon
• Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture: by the Information Office of Jilin Provincial Government
• A map labeled in Chinese written in the list in the "Administration" section