Dongning 东宁市

Setting and landscape

The Suifen River (绥芬河) runs through the whole city. A maritime influence keeps the average temperature around 6°C, with no severe winter cold or summer heat, which earns Dongning the nickname "little Jiangnan beyond the northern frontier". Forest covers most of the land. There are two national wetland parks, on the Suifen River and at Suiyang (绥阳), and the provincial Niaoqingshan Nature Reserve (鸟青山自然保护区). Part of the Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park lies here; the Mudanjiang city government reports that monitoring has recorded 15 wild Amur tigers and 22 Amur leopards.

History

Traces of people go back some ten thousand years to the Palaeolithic, and more than 20 sites from the Qin and Han periods have been found. In the 7th century the area belonged to Goguryeo (高句丽) and later to the Bohai kingdom (渤海国). The Qing ran it as Dongning Subprefecture (东宁厅); under the Republic it became Dongning County, locally called Sanchakou (三岔口). The county became a county-level city in December 2015.

Border trade through the Dongning crossing began in 1990, and in 2000 the China–Russia Dongning–Poltavka trade zone (东宁—波尔塔夫卡互市贸易区) was set up.

What to see

Dongning Fortress (东宁要塞) was one of the Japanese army's border fortress complexes in Manchuria, stretching more than 110 kilometres along its front and over 50 kilometres deep; some 170,000 labourers worked on its construction. Soviet forces attacked it on 9 August 1945, and the last Japanese troops inside surrendered only on 30 August, more than two weeks after the Japanese emperor announced surrender on 15 August. The remains of 39 former "comfort stations" have been found within it. In 2006 it was added to the sixth batch of national key protected sites under the name Japanese Army Fortresses in Northeast China (侵华日军东北要塞). The Mudanjiang city government calls it Asia's largest military fortress and the last battlefield of the Second World War.

Food and local products

The rivers and hills supply tantou fish (滩头鱼), chum salmon (大马哈) and matsutake mushrooms (松茸). Black wood ear fungus (黑木耳) has earned Dongning the title of "China's top black fungus county". Soybeans, rice, apples and ginseng are also grown.

Getting oriented

The city government is at Dongning town (东宁镇). The Mudanjiang city government gives distances of 53 kilometres to Ussuriysk and 153 kilometres to Vladivostok in Russia. National Highway 331 passes through.

Highlights

• Dongning Fortress 东宁要塞: Japanese border fortress complex, national key protected site since 2006; its garrison held out until 30 August 1945.
• Suifen River 绥芬河: Runs through the whole city; one of its two national wetland parks lies along it.
• Niaoqingshan Nature Reserve 鸟青山自然保护区: Provincial-level nature reserve.
• Black wood ear fungus 黑木耳: Has earned Dongning the title of China's top black fungus county.