Dandong Korean War Memorial Hall

Dandong Korean War Memorial Hall

The Dandong Korean War Memorial Hall is a national AAAA-level tourist attraction, a classic red tourism site, a patriotic education base, and a national defense education base.

The Korean War Memorial Hall is located in Dandong City, a nationally renowned tourist destination on China’s northeastern border. Nestled on Yinghua Mountain, surrounded by green hills and shaded by lush trees in a picturesque setting, it is the only large-scale military-themed memorial hall in the country that comprehensively showcases the history of the Korean War and the Korean War movement.

The Korean War was a just war waged by the government of the People’s Republic of China at the request of the government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea between June 1950 and July 1953. It aimed to repel the invasion of Korea by the United Nations forces led by the United States and to defend —.

The Korean War Memorial Hall was first built in 1958. In October 1990, with the approval of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council, it was expanded on the original site. On July 25, 1993, the new hall was completed and an opening ceremony was held. Hu Jintao, then a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Secretary of the Secretariat, cut the ribbon for the opening. Party and state leaders such as Jiang Zemin, Li Peng, and Liu Huaqing inscribed messages for the opening of the Korean War Memorial Hall.

The memorial covers a total area of 200,000 square meters, with a total construction area of 16,000 square meters. It consists of three main structures: the Monument, the Exhibition Hall, and the Panoramic Painting Hall, along with a large outdoor military equipment display area. The Monument stands 53 meters tall, with the seven gilded characters “Korean War Memorial Monument” inscribed on the front, personally written by Deng Xiaoping. The base is carved from white marble, featuring a tower emblem composed of flags, flowers, and ribbons. At the upper east and west sides of the tower are stone carvings of the “Long Live Peace Medal” and the “Korean War Memorial Medal.” The lower back of the tower is engraved with a 621-character inscription documenting the heroic deeds of the Chinese People’s Volunteers. In the center of the square in the memorial area is the former site of the Command Post of the 13th Army Corps of the Chinese People’s Volunteers, a provincial-level cultural relic protection unit covering an area of 500 square meters. On the north side of the square stands a 3-meter-high, 18-meter-long black marble stele corridor, inscribed with the words “Who Are the Most Admirable People?” handwritten by the famous writer Wei Wei. The flower beds, pine trees, green spaces, and blossoms on the square complement the Monument, the former command post site, and the marble stele corridor, creating a harmonious and visually pleasing environment that offers visitors a comfortable and scenic leisure experience.

The Exhibition Hall is a three-story modern geometric building with a traditional Chinese “品”-shaped layout, covering a construction area of 4,816 square meters. Above the main entrance are seven gilded characters “Korean War Memorial Hall,” inscribed by Guo Moruo. The Panoramic Painting Hall is a cylindrical structure with a diameter of 44.6 meters and a height of 24 meters. Inside, it displays a massive painting titled “The Battle of Annihilation by the Chongchon River,” which is 16 meters high and 132.15 meters in circumference. The painting is enhanced with ground modeling, lighting, and sound effects, artistically recreating the grandeur and intense atmosphere of the Korean battlefield, immersing visitors as if they were on the scene and delivering a profound emotional impact. In addition to the three main buildings, the Korean War Memorial Hall also features a large outdoor military equipment display area spanning over 2,000 square meters. Among the many weapons on display are representative pieces that participated in the Korean War, such as the MiG-15bis fighter jet, MiG-15 fighter jet, Tu-2 bomber, T-34 medium tank, NCY self-propelled gun, M42 76mm anti-tank gun, M38 122mm howitzer, Katyusha rocket launcher, and M1939 37mm anti-aircraft gun.

The Korean War Memorial Hall currently houses a collection of 20,433 cultural relics and over 6,000 photographs. Among them, there are 57 national first-class relics and 202 second-class relics.

In March 2003, the memorial underwent a second-phase renovation and expansion project. On May 1, 2004, the internal exhibition of the Exhibition Hall was renovated and opened to the public. The renovated Exhibition Hall is divided into seven sections: the Preface Hall, the Korean War Hall, the Korean War Movement Hall, the Sino-Korean Friendship Hall, the Heroes of the Volunteers Hall, the Air Force Special Hall, and the Epilogue Hall. The entire exhibition consists of over 600 precious historical photographs and more than 1,000 representative cultural relics. Both in design form and exhibition content, it highlights the new concept of creating high-quality exhibitions. The comprehensive exhibition integrates various artistic forms and methods, including cultural relics, documents, photographs, films, paintings, modeling, sculptures, models, electronic touch screens, and restored displays, vividly and systematically presenting the glorious history of the great Korean War and the heroic achievements of the Volunteers, reaching a top-tier level of exhibition in China. Especially in the Korean War Movement Hall, the Sino-Korean Friendship Hall, the Heroes of the Volunteers Hall, and the Epilogue Hall, the important theme of national unity is fully reflected. These halls use precious photographs and relics to showcase how people of all ethnic groups across the country, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, carried out an extensive and profound mass movement to support the Korean people and the Chinese People’s Volunteers. During this movement, people from all ethnic groups responded actively to Chairman Mao Zedong’s call: “The people of the whole country have united as never before in the Korean War movement, resolutely struggling against the forces of imperialism.” They joined the military and fought, donated enthusiastically, increased production and conserved resources, supported the army and cared for soldiers’ families, offered heartfelt condolences, and helped the Korean people rebuild their homes. Through the Korean War movement, the political awareness of people of all ethnic groups was greatly enhanced, national self-esteem, confidence, and cohesion were strengthened, and the patriotic enthusiasm and initiative of the people were fully mobilized, effectively supporting the Korean War and facilitating the successful recovery of the national economy.

To fully leverage its role as a patriotic and national defense education base, the memorial has also established a specialized National Defense Education Park, covering an area of 50,000 square meters. It includes areas for weapon displays, military physical training, military project development, weapon simulation demonstrations, and simulated combat exercises. The project design caters to the characteristics of young people, emphasizing participation, immersion, and experiential functions. It offers both rich content for learning and visiting, as well as operational facilities for practice, enabling comprehensive implementation of national defense education activities. The park began trial operations in May 2007 and officially opened in June 2008, receiving over 100,000 visitors annually.

In the 10 years since its opening, the memorial has received over 4 million domestic and international visitors. It has been designated as one of the first batch of 100 “National Patriotic Education Demonstration Bases,” a “National Patriotic Education Base for Primary and Secondary Schools,” a “National Hundred Red Tourism Classic Scenic Spots,” and a “Liaoning Provincial Patriotic Education Demonstration Base.” The Provincial National Defense Education Committee named it the “Liaoning Provincial National Defense Education Base” in December 1998 and the “Liaoning Provincial National Defense Education Demonstration Base” in April 2004. In April 2007, the provincial government redesignated it as the “Liaoning Provincial National Defense Education Base.”

Further Reading:

· National Second-Class Museum of China