Yanbian

Yanbian (延边朝鲜族自治州; Yánbiān Cháoxiǎnzú Zìzhìzhōu; Korean: 연변조선족자치주 Yeonbyeon Joseonjok Jachiju) is a Korean autonomous prefecture in Jilin province, next to the border with North Korea and Russia.

Cities

Yanbian in China

• 1 Yanji (延吉, 연길) - The capital city
• 2 Dunhua (敦化, 돈화)
• 3 Helong (和龙, 화룡)
• 4 Hunchun (珲春, 훈춘) - Joint City from China to North Korea and Russia
• 5 Longjing (龙井, 룡정)
• 6 Tumen (图们, 도문) - A small city on the Tumen river with a bridge crossing the river into Namyang, North Korea

Other destinations

• Antu County (安图县, 안도현) - A city on the Changbai Mountain footage
• Wangqing County (汪清县, 왕청현)

Understand

Over 2 million ethnic Koreans live in China, and this area has a large concentration of them. While there are some expatriates from North and South Korea, most of the ethnic Koreans here hold Chinese citizenship, making it the largest ethnic Korean community outside Korea.

Yanbian has five national nature reserves and eight provincial nature reserves, with a forest coverage rate of 80.8%. It is known for producing the "The northeast sambo": ginseng, deer antlers, and mink fur, with the highest production of ginseng and deer antlers in the world. Yanbian is also the largest production base for apple pears globally. Additionally, it is the only Korean Autonomous Prefecture in China and the largest settlement area for ethnic Koreans, benefiting from the national Western Development policy, being one of the three prefecture-level administrative regions that enjoy these related policies.

Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture is located in the eastern part of Jilin Province, between latitudes 41°59'47" to 44°30'42" N and longitudes 127°27'43" to 131°18'33" E. It lies at the crossroads of China, North Korea, and Russia, facing the Sea of Japan. To the east, it borders Russia's Primorsky Krai; to the south, it faces North Korea's North Hamgyong and Ryanggang Provinces across the Tumen River; to the west, it adjoins Jilin City and Baishan City; and to the north, it connects with Mudanjiang City in Heilongjiang Province. The prefecture contains five border counties (c`ities) and 642 border villages. The total length of its border is 768.5 kilometers, with a 522.5-kilometer border with North Korea and a 246-kilometer border with Russia. The total land area of the prefecture is 43,300 square kilometers, accounting for about one-quarter of Jilin Province's total area.

Climate

Yanbian is located in the mid-temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere and has a temperate monsoon climate. Spring is dry and windy, summer is warm and rainy, autumn is cool and rainy, and winter is long and cold. The annual sunshine duration ranges from 2,150 to 2,480 hours; the average temperature is between 2-6℃, with extreme minimum temperatures ranging from -23 to -38℃ Celsius and extreme maximum temperatures between 34-38℃. The average annual precipitation is between 400 and 800 millimeters. The winter winds are predominantly from the west, while summer winds are mainly from the east, with the highest wind speeds occurring in spring.

Yanbian
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D       5.4     −7 −19       5.5     −2 −15       9.9     6 −8       29     15 0       59     21 7       82     24 13       129     27 17       109     27 17       61     22 10       24     15 1       12     4 −8       6.7     −4 −16 Average max. and min. temperatures in °C Precipitation+Snow totals in mm http://nmc.cn/publish/forecast/AJL/yanji.html China meteorological administration
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D       0.2     20 −2       0.2     29 5       0.4     42 18       1.2     60 33       2.3     70 45       3.2     76 56       5.1     80 63       4.3     81 63       2.4     72 49       0.9     59 33       0.5     39 18       0.3     24 4 Average max. and min. temperatures in °F Precipitation+Snow totals in inches

Talk

Korean is an official language in this area , along with Mandarin Chinese due to the large number of ethnic Koreans. Officially, the Korean language is known here as 조선어 Joseon-eo (or in Chinese 朝鲜语Cháoxiǎn yǔ), like in North Korea, rather than 한국어 Hanguk-eo as is used in South Korea. The dialect of Korean spoken here is the Hamgyong dialect, which is also spoken in Hamgyong province in North Korea, and is slightly different from the Seoul dialect which is standard in South Korea, or the Pyongan dialect which is standard in North Korea. Most younger ethnic Koreans in this area are bilingual in Korean and Mandarin, so Mandarin speakers should not have any problems communicating.

All official signs, as well as most restaurant menus in the area are bilingual in Korean and Mandarin. Keep in mind that due to differences in the way Chinese place names are translated, the cities in Yanbian have local Korean names that are different from the ones used by South Koreans; see the Korean phrasebook for more details. As an example, Yanji, the largest city in the prefecture is called Yeon-gil (연길) by the local ethnic Koreans, but Yenji (옌지) by South Koreans. Unless otherwise stated, the Korean names listed here on Wikivoyage follow the local Chinese-Korean usage.

Get in

By Plane

Yanji Chaoyangchuan International Airport YNJ ^IATA is located around 6 kilometers from the city center. Flights from the airport serve dozens of domestic destinations, such as Changchun, Beijing, Shanghai, Zhengzhou, Qingdao, Yantai, Dalian and a couple of international destinations, all in South Korea.

See

Yanbian Museum

The Yanbian Museum, located in Yanji, is dedicated to the culture and history of the Korean ethnic minority in China. The museum contains over 10,000 exhibits, including 11 first-level artifacts. The exhibits' labels and explanations are bilingual in Korean and Chinese

Mao'ershan National Forest Park

The park is located 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) south of Yanji City. It features a folk-custom park dedicated to the Korean ethnic minority.

Fangchuan National Scenic Area

Located Southeast of Hunchun city, it is the only scenic spot near Japan Sea in China and the nearest place to Japan. The area is also renowned for its unique "viewing three kingdoms at a glance”

Liuding Mountain

FangChuan scenic spot

Respect

Despite being Chinese citizens, the ethnic Koreans in China share a common culture with their North and South Korean counterparts. The various respect tips in the South Korea article generally apply to the ethnic Koreans in China as well. However, they are generally proud of being Chinese citizens, and do not identify as North or South Korean nationals.