Yanji Region
Yanji City downtown area. The Korean language is used in many ads on the street.
Yanji City is one of the six cities of the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Region, situated in the eastern part of Jilin Province, China. The five other cities are Hunchun, Dunhua, Longjing and Tumen, and the region also has two counties, Antu and Wangqing.
There are people of many nationalities residing in Yanji City as well as in other areas. They include Hanzus, Manzus, Huizus, and Koreans. Of the 350,000 population of the city, 60% or 210,000 are Koreans as a national minority.
View of Changbai Mountains from the Chinese side.
One of the most outstanding attraction of Yanji City is stunning Mt. Paekdu (Changbai Mountains in Chinese), at the top of which is a crater lake, called Lake Chon (Lake Tianchi in Chinese), created by a volcanic eruption in 1702. This 2,575 meter high "sacred" mountain, special to all Koreans, towers above on the border with China. The mountain is surrounded by a 2,000 sq km natural reserve containing beautiful waterfalls and thick forests. At present the DPRK is applying for resistration of Mt. Paekdu as a World Heritage.
In addition to being a tourist attraction, the mountain area is one of Asia's most important sources of raw materials for the traditional Korean and Chinese pharmaceutical industry. More than 100,000 south Korean tourists visit this area annually.
*Mt. Paekdu tour course is an optional (See tour intinerary)
<Useful tips in Yanji City>
- One of the most famous special foods in Yanji City is "dog cuisine," using edible dogs. Especially, its dog meat soup is fabulous.
- Wherever in the city, there are many sauna bath facilities. A 50 yuan (less than 1,000 yen) charge including two-hour facial and body massage and shampoo services.
A sauna bath facility in Yanji City.
People of Yanji City also run many traditional Korean and Chinese medicine shops. Well-known is "Paekdu red ant" herb medicine as an anti-cancer and anti-hepatitis drug. Chinese President Jiang Zemin is said to take it for his health.
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