Dandong - Benxi

MOM - click on the arrow on the bottom image to see the video.  It may take a little time to load in.  xxx

The bridge that finishes
halfway across the river

Spanning the Yalu River from Dandong to North Korea, are two bridges.  One is intact (built 1937 - 1943) and the other goes halfway across the river and then ends.  This older bridge was built in 1909 - 1911 but bombed in 1950 during the Korean War as a way of cutting off supplies from China to North Korea.  It was left as half a bridge and is a tourist attraction today.  We walked to the endpoint - a somber reminder of a war half a century ago.  

Girls dressed in traditional Korean outfits
Note the half-bridge behind and piles from missing parts

Benxi (relatively small population of about 1.5 million) and the large cave system was our next stop after several hours of driving northwest.    These are not well-known to the western world and in fact we were the only European faces to be seen here.  Given that coal mining is a primary income in Benxi, this is probably how these caves were discovered.  (Just as an aside - a comment from Wikipedia - “The worst coal mining disaster in the world took place on April 26, 1942 in Benxihu Colliery. A coal-dust explosion killed 1,549 miners working that day.”  In any case the caves are amazing!

Entrance to caves at Benxi

The air temperature is a constant 7 degrees Celcius summer and winter - so very chilly!  There are dry caves that you can walk through, but the main feature is the boat trip into the caves (about 20 minutes each way), viewing stalactites and stalagmites.  We were fortunate in that our boat skipper did not talk during the trip, allowing us to enjoy the trip quietly.  It was hard to get photos that look like anything but William did get a video shoot that looks pretty good.  It didn’t feel as noisy as the video sounds though! 

xxx,

Shanghaisuz