Get to know Yanji
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- Administrative area
- County-level city · 县级市
- Part of
- Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture
- Chinese name
- 延吉市
- Local areas
- County-level city guide
Area & population
- Area in the source
- 1,748.30 km²
- Population · 2020 census
- 686,136
- Administrative seat
- Henan Subdistrict
Source: cited geographic source, as of the dates shown.
Setting and landscape
Hills close the basin on the east, south and north; the west is open. Its rivers, the Burhatong (布尔哈通河), the Yanji River (烟集河) and the Hailan (海兰江), all feed the Tumen (图们江). The Burhatong and Yanji rivers split the city into Henan (河南) in the south, the government quarter in the north-east and a cultural district in the north-west. Springs are dry and windy; winters are long and cold.
History
The town was once called Nangang (南岗). After the Qing lifted its settlement ban in 1881, a land-reclamation office opened there, and the place became Juzijie (局子街). A Yanji sub-prefecture was set up in 1902; in 1909 it became a prefecture and replaced Hunchun (珲春) as the region's administrative centre. Under Manchukuo it was the capital of Jiandao Province (间岛省). Yanji became the seat of the Yanbian Korean autonomous region in 1952 and a county-level city in 1953.
What to see
Mid-Cretaceous fossils about 101 million years old were identified in 2016 at Longshan (龙山), a nationally protected fossil site on the southern slope of Maoer Mountain (帽儿山); in 2017 a sauropod later named Yanjilong (延吉龙) became the first brachiosaur-type find in Asia. The Maoershan (Dinosaur) Cultural Tourism Area (帽儿山恐龙文化旅游区), a national 4A scenic area since 2021, combines Maoershan National Forest Park, a dinosaur theme park, the Yanji Dinosaur Museum (延吉恐龙博物馆) with halls on world and local dinosaurs, and the China Korean Folk Custom Park (中国朝鲜族民俗园), where visitors are photographed in traditional Korean dress.
Yanji News describes women dancing traditional Korean dances in Yanji People's Park (延吉公园). Other listed sights are the Yanbian Museum (延边博物馆), the Yanji Water Market (延吉水上市场) and a wall at Yanbian University (延边大学).
Food and local products
Yanji West Market (延吉西市场) is the place for Yanbian Korean food: stalls sell Alaska pollock, kimchi, rice wine and pounded rice cakes (打糕) and serve rice sausage (米肠), warm noodles (温面), soup with rice and soft tofu (水豆腐), and the market has a fifth-floor food court. Pickle counters hold thirty to forty kinds, among them Yanbian spicy cabbage (延边辣白菜). China Radio International names Yanbian Prefecture the country's largest dried-pollock processing area; the guts and roe go into a fish sauce, and the skin and bones are roasted into snacks.
Getting oriented
Yanji lies 356 kilometres from the provincial capital, Changchun (长春). Yanji West Station (延吉西站) is the largest high-speed rail station in the prefecture, and Yanji Chaoyangchuan International Airport (延吉朝阳川国际机场) has domestic flights and a route to Incheon in South Korea.
Highlights
- Yanji Dinosaur Museum 延吉恐龙博物馆: Part of the 4A Maoershan dinosaur area; displays on world dinosaurs and Yanji finds.
- China Korean Folk Custom Park 中国朝鲜族民俗园: Korean-style buildings where visitors are photographed in traditional dress.
- Maoershan National Forest Park 帽儿山国家森林公园: Forest park whose southern slope holds the Longshan dinosaur fossil site.
- Yanji West Market 延吉西市场: Market for pollock, kimchi, rice wine and rice sausage, with a fifth-floor food court.
- Yanbian spicy cabbage 延边辣白菜: A customer favourite among the thirty to forty pickles sold at West Market.
Sources for this guide
延吉市 - 维基百科，自由的百科全书 · Chinese Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
延吉市帽儿山(恐龙)文化旅游区被评为国家4A级旅游景区 · China Radio International (CRI Online, Jilin)
有一种生活叫延吉| 寻常巷陌里的烟火与浪漫 · Yanji News (Yanji Converged Media Centre)
“延边味”广受欢迎 奔赴全国餐桌 · China Radio International (CRI Online, Jilin)
Original English written from the listed sources and checked sentence by sentence against quoted extracts by a separate reviewer. Updated 2026-09-25.
Explore Yanji
Core places to explore, with English and Chinese names.
Places to explore around Yanji
View of Mao'er Shan's forested peak from Hailan Mingzhu Tower, Yanji, Yanbian · 延边州延吉市海兰明珠塔上远眺帽儿山 Source-recorded photograph date: 2026-05-04 09:41:35.Mao'er Mountain帽儿山
Mao'er Mountain (帽儿山) is a 517.2-metre mountain on Yanji's southern edge, named for a profile resembling a straw hat.
Read the place guide →
The main exterior and entrance steps of Yanbian Museum, Yanji. Photographed on 23 June 2023.Yanbian Museum延边博物馆
Yanbian Museum connects local archaeology with the history and cultural life of ethnic Korean communities in China. The excavated-relics galleries introduce the region's earlier societies, while the folk-customs displays bring…
Read the place guide →
A tall multi-storey market building of white stone and dark glazing seen across its forecourt, carrying the roof sign 韩元智能宾馆 and the vertical signs 서시장 / 西市场 with a large LED screen and advertising panels on its flank; buses, cars and pedestrians along the road in front, other commercial blocks at the right, under a blue sky with cumulus.Yanji West Market and Yanbian University Area西市场与延边大学周边街区
Yanji West Market and Yanbian University Area (西市场与延边大学周边街区) pairs Yanji's West Market with the streets around Yanbian University, highlighting local food culture and the city's bilingual streetscape.
Read the place guide →Local life & food
Yanji local specialties
延吉市特色美食 · 2 specialties to discover
Yanbian spicy fermented cabbage 延边辣白菜AI dish illustration / AI 菜品示意图
Expect crisp leaves, juicy stems and a combination of chilli heat and acidity. Some versions lean sweeter or more garlicky, while longer fermentation makes the sourness more pronounced. The colour alone does not reliably predict the heat.
Source ↗Read the dish guide →
Yanbian seasoned pollock strips 延边明太鱼丝AI dish illustration / AI 菜品示意图
The flavour is savoury and concentrated, often with a sweet-spicy coating. The strands can be quite chewy. A little goes a long way when used as a side beside rice, instead of as the sole main dish.
Source ↗Read the dish guide →All dish names · 全部菜名 (2)
More dishes from across Jilin are in the Jilin food guide.
Plan your visit
Getting there
Yanji is about 35 km in a straight line from central Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture. Search for 延吉市 in a map app to find stations and your accommodation.
Where to stay →Build your route
Mao'er Mountain and Yanbian Museum are both listed here. The linked place guides have entrance and visit details.
Continue with Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture →More in Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture
Sources & geographic information
Administrative names and parent areas: Official geographic directory · Reference date 2026-09-06.
Some facts checked against 延吉市 — Wikipedia contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photo: Mao'er Mountain · H2v5o68z · CC0. Full frame retained; proportionally resized and converted to WebP. No retouching or changes to the photographed subject. Card displays may crop the view.
Photo: Yanbian Museum · EditQ · CC BY-SA 4.0. Proportionally resized and converted to WebP without cropping, retouching or changing the photographed subject.
Photo: Yanji West Market and Yanbian University Area · EditQ · CC BY-SA 4.0. Full frame retained; proportionally resized and converted to WebP. No retouching or changes to the photographed subject. Card displays may crop the view.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Pins mark approximate centres, not entrances or boundaries.