Yangmuchuan Hongtonggou Scenic Area

Yangmuchuan Hongtonggou Scenic Area

Yangmuchuan is located in the southwestern part of Kuandian Manchu Autonomous County. It is 40 kilometers from the county seat of Kuandian and 45 kilometers from downtown Dandong. The Yangmuchuan area boasts beautiful scenery and abundant local produce. The town currently has 2,000 acres of chestnut trees, yielding 200 tons of chestnuts annually, which are harvested and marketed in bulk every October. The town also cultivates 2,000 acres of melons, producing 2,000 tons annually, which are harvested in bulk around mid-June. The melons are renowned both within and outside the province for their sweet taste and pollution-free cultivation, and are sold as far away as Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces.

The Xianshan Fort in Yangmuchuan Town was first built in 1546 (the 25th year of the Jiajing reign during the Ming Dynasty) and is located in Tuchengzi Village of the town. This square-shaped fort has relatively well-preserved inner walls on the eastern side, standing 6 meters high and 7 meters wide. The Xianshan Fort holds significant value for studying the border defense construction within Kuandian during the Ming Dynasty.

Traveling 17 kilometers eastward from Yangmuchuan Town, visitors will encounter a natural landscape surrounded by water on three sides, with thousands of rows of willows and poplars lining the riverbanks, and tall oaks and locust trees on the hills, where over a thousand egrets fly and perch. Every year in early spring, as warm breezes melt the ice on the rivers and snow on the mountains, during the “Spring Equinox” when willow catkins are flying, two or three egrets will be the first to return to Hongtonggou. They seem to be on a reconnaissance mission, flying around their second home for a few days before leaving again. A week later, flocks of egrets gradually arrive at Hongtonggou to settle down, forming a large bird colony that attracts numerous tourists each year for scientific research and bird-watching.