The Yalu River Railway Bridge at Shanghekou stands in the mist. (Li Jin/Photo)
The plane started to descend. I was wondering if I could overlook the Yalu River under the sea of ??clouds through the porthole window, but I heard the announcement "Please close the sun visor." The light in the cabin quickly dimmed, and I waited in the dim light. When the plane landed at Dandong Langtou Airport, I discovered that the sky was overcast and rainy, and even with the sunshades on, I might not be able to see both sides of the river.
Langtou Airport, which is used by both military and civilians, is very close to the border between China and North Korea. To the east of the airport is the Yalu River, and to the south is the mouth of the Yalu River into the Yellow Sea. In 1951, the Volunteer Army's first plane took off, starting the first air battle between China and the United States. Old battlefields, border towns, overlooking North Korea... During the epidemic, tourists who came to the banks of the Yalu River had nothing but these visions.
In addition to this, I have another curiosity: "The color of the water is like a duck's head" recorded by Du You in the Tang Dynasty in "Tongdian", and "The color of the water is like a duck's head" written by Lu You in the Song Dynasty in "The Song of Chu Sai". Wild geese are flying on the Lujiang River, arrows are flying, geese are rising, and the clouds are black." What kind of scene is this?
I got in the car in the rain and drove eastward toward the Yalu River along Guomen Avenue. When approaching the river, the car walked along the approach bridge of the China-North Korea Yalu River Boundary Highway Bridge, which was erected on a high ground. The bridge eventually flew across the river, but we could only stop on the west bank of the river.
Whether it is because of the epidemic or the weather, this river bank is quiet and deserted. The Yalu River is shrouded in hazy rain, and the water laps at the lush green grass on the bank. The towering white cable-stayed bridge on the water is the longest transnational bridge in my country. The main bridge was completed many years ago. However, due to delays in the construction of the connecting approach on the North Korean side, the bridge has never been opened to traffic. My vision followed the empty bridge into the distance, slowly becoming blurry. Also blurry are the trees on the other side of the river, which only show blue-gray outlines in the rain and fog. A bird flew across the river and flew towards the shadow of the trees in the distance. At this moment, it was one of the few creatures that could freely come and go between the two sides of the river.
The Yalu River Boundary Road Bridge between China and North Korea (Li Jin/Photo)
The river rushed into the sea, and I went upstream along the river. As the houses and people gradually became denser, we arrived in Dandong City. Tourists who could not cross the river like birds crowded together on the riverside with boundary markers and looked at the other side. The most popular place was of course the half-broken bridge. This iron bridge was originally the first bridge on the Yalu River. It was built by the Japanese colonial government in 1911. The most special feature is that it adopts a rare opening and closing beam structure. It can rotate 90 degrees with the No. 9 cylindrical pier as the axis, making it easier to pass by. Ships sail. In November 1950, the U.S. Air Force blew up the bridge in half, leaving only 477 meters on the Chinese side of the original 944.2-meter-long 12-hole iron bridge.
Today, the mechanical structure of the opening and closing beams can still be seen at the bridge piers. The gears are stained with dust and rust. It is impossible to imagine the grand scene of thousands of sails passing by when the bridge was opened. On the observation deck at the end of the bridge, people's astonished eyes swept over the twisted steel bars, iron beams with bullet marks still there, and torpedoes tied with chains. They stretched out to the drizzle and breeze under the clouds.
In the broken section of the Yalu River bridge, the steel bars are twisted and bullet marks still remain. (Li Jin/Photo)
To the north of the Broken Bridge is the China-North Korea Friendship Bridge. It was also built by Japan. It was built later than the Broken Bridge. The two are only a hundred meters apart. As a transportation link connecting the front and rear of the troops, it was also subjected to devastating bombing by the US military. On the day the bridge was blown apart, the bridge was also severely damaged and could not be opened to traffic. The Anton (Dandong's old name) Railway Branch braved the fatal risk of air raids and made repairs overnight, finally restoring traffic before dawn the next day. In April 1951, the bridge was bombed again, causing the rails to bend and the bridge to shift. The Andong Railway Branch carried out emergency repairs for four days and nights, erecting temporary bridge stacks and laying rails for military trains to pass.
If it were not for the epidemic, trains on the China-North Korea Friendship Bridge would carry curious tourists to the mysterious neighboring country every day, while the trains returning to Dandong from the other side would be filled with migrant workers selected by North Korea. Almost every hotel in this small border town uses the view of the Yalu River as a selling point. While the boss was selling me a "Chao View Room", he would also enthusiastically tell me which restaurants could see beautiful North Korean girls performing songs and dances.
On the left is the broken bridge of the Yalu River, and on the right is the China-North Korea Friendship Bridge. (Li Jin/Photo)
But that day I just wanted to see one more bridge, an "invisible bridge".
About 5 kilometers north of the broken bridge, there is a secret passage across the river hidden in the water flow: Volunteers drove wooden piles in the water to build a pontoon bridge, connecting it to North Korea's Huosang Island on the other side. The bridge is submerged in the water at high tide and exposed to the water at low tide. In addition to a large number of troops crossing the river, a large number of supplies also entered the Korean front line through this bridge.
On the Yalu River, there are four bridges in Dandong that were used in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, namely the Yalu River Broken Bridge, the China-North Korea Friendship Bridge, the Hekou Broken Bridge (Qingcheng Bridge), and the Shanghekou Yalu River Railway Bridge. In addition, three bridges not in Dandong were used during the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, namely Ji'an Yalu River Bridge, Linjiang Yalu River Bridge, and Changhui Bridge. As for the floating bridges, they were built and demolished, demolished and built again. It is impossible to determine how many there were...
The Volunteer Army built two floating bridges in April 1951 alone, except for the floating bridge connecting Qiusang Island. In addition, another railway pontoon bridge is located at the mouth of the Shah River in the east of the city. Because it was on the main channel, it was demolished after the war. The first pontoon bridge that went to fight in Korea was built in September 1950. It is located one kilometer downstream of Shanghekou Village in Kuandian County. It was demolished and constructed every day to ensure its confidentiality: the bridge was opened two or three hours after dusk. It was erected, engineers guided the troops across the river secretly, and then dismantled 1 hour before dawn. As for the common historical photos of "crossing the Yalu River", they were taken at the pontoon bridge in Masicun Village. This was the only place where volunteers crossed the river on foot from a highway bridge to enter North Korea to participate in the war. After the war, the Mashi Village pontoon was destroyed by floods. Nowadays, the only trace of the floating bridge that people who come looking for a bridge can find is the one connected to Chusang Island.
Unfortunately, the rain caused the river level to rise, so I had no way to see it. I could only guess from the changes in water flow where the remaining piers of the pontoon bridge were located. This section of the river is much narrower than the urban area of ??Dandong, and the green fields and trees on the other side appear very close. The traces of the war have been drowned by time and water, and only the memory of history still lingers on the Yalu River like mist and mist.
Where the pontoons are located, the piers are below the current. (Li Jin/Photo)
The road heading north out of Dandong runs close to the river bank. In some sections, barbed wire fences are erected to separate the road from the river, constantly reminding me that the Yalu River is the boundary river between the two countries. The rain washed the vegetation even more green, and the greenery on both sides was refreshing and pleasant. The lush color spread with the flat terrain, until the intersection of the Yalu River and the tributary Lehe River, a mountain peak protruded. From a distance, you could see the trees on the top of the mountain hiding the enemy. Building, you will arrive at the Hushan Great Wall.
As early as the Liao Dynasty, there were Jurchens living on both sides of the Yalu River. They are the descendants of the Heishui Mohe people who migrated here. After Wanyan Aguda unified the Jurchen tribes, he expelled the Khitan rule, established the Jin Dynasty, and invaded the Song Dynasty from the south. Lu You's "Crossing the Fortress" contains the lines "Lang Ge chases the tiger to the north of Qilian" and "But shoots back to the Yanlu River". The Qilian Mountains and the Yalu River were both border areas of confrontation between the Song and Jin Dynasties at that time, and the poems are written about the soldiers who fought against the Jin Dynasty. A fighting life of galloping and hunting.
Then the Mongols destroyed the Jin Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty overthrew the Yuan Dynasty. Countries and mountains change hands and dynasties change, but only the river flows forever. In the fifth year of Chenghua in the Ming Dynasty, the Hushan Great Wall was built on the bank of the Yalu River. This is the easternmost end of the Great Wall in the Ming Dynasty. The original purpose of the Ming Dynasty in building the Great Wall in Liaodong was to prevent the restoration of the Northern Yuan Dynasty. However, with the rise of the Jianzhou Jurchens, which posed a threat to both the Ming Dynasty and North Korea, the land's defense target became the Jurchens.
The rain almost stopped. I climbed up to the gate tower and walked up the Great Wall. The summer rain nourishes the lush grass and trees. A blue-gray stone city wall lies among the green trees. It is almost impossible to distinguish it if you don't look carefully. The Great Wall stretches up along the ridge, and vines climb all over the city wall, covering the stones like a green velvet blanket, making this section of the not-old Great Wall look a little vicissitudes of life.
Hushan Great Wall, the city wall is hidden among the green trees. (Li Jin/Photo)
In the late Ming Dynasty, the Hou Jin Dynasty established by Nurhachi controlled Liaodong. After the Battle of Sarhu and the Battle of Songjin, the damaged Hushan Great Wall, like other Liaodong Great Walls, lost its military defensive significance and was abandoned ever since. After the Qing Dynasty took control of the Central Plains, it designated the Northeast as the "Zhaoxing Place" as a restricted area. The abandoned part of the Ming and Liaodong Great Wall was planted with willow branches and transformed into a "wicker edge" as a symbol of the restricted area. Times have changed, and many people think that Shanhaiguan is the starting point of the Ming Dynasty Great Wall, and the Liaodong Great Wall has been forgotten for many years. Today, the city wall under my feet was restored and rebuilt on the basis of the ruins at the end of the 20th century. The scenic spot proudly says at the entrance: The starting point of the east end of the Great Wall.
The employees of a restaurant in Dandong were doing team building on the Great Wall today. More than a dozen of them said that although they had known about the Hushan Great Wall since childhood, this was their first time climbing it.
They have all been to the "one-step span" under the Great Wall, where the river is so narrow that it seems like one can step from the rural areas of Northeast China to the farmland of North Korea in one step. However, the epidemic has closed the "One Step Across", and everyone can only climb to the top of the Great Wall to see neighboring countries.
The leader was holding a speaker in his hand, and the passionate melodies of old songs such as "On the Songhua River" and "Lu Binghua" urged people to move towards higher watchtowers one after another. There is an extremely narrow and steep staircase leading to the watchtower on the top of the mountain. People are squeezed tightly between the rocks, looking up at the gloomy sky, and climbing up with hands and feet. When we reached the top out of breath, we discovered that there was a longer, wider but still steep staircase waiting at the top. The speakers sang louder, the employees cheered each other up, and I followed their footsteps and climbed to the highest point of Tiger Mountain, climbed up to the watchtower and looked out.
Looking out over the Yalu River south from the watchtower on the top of Hushan Mountain. (Li Jin/Photo)
It was the end of the Qing Dynasty when war broke out again in Hushan. During the Sino-Japanese War of 1888-1894, Japan was approaching China from both sea and land fronts. Hushan, across the river from North Korea, became one of the important battlefields. The Qing army deployed defenses along the Yalu River, and generals went to Hushan for on-site inspection. More than a thousand soldiers defended the mountain; the Japanese army set up camp in Yiju, North Korea on the other side. On October 24, 1894, the two sides launched an artillery battle across the river. The Japanese army swam across the river at the mouth of the Anping River in the upper reaches, opening a gap in the Qing army's defense line. But this was an attack from the east to the west. The Japanese army intended to confuse the Qing army in order to secretly prepare bridge-building materials. The river surface along the Hushan line is a sandbar formed by alluvial sediment, and the water flow is shallow. That night, the Japanese army erected two pontoon bridges on the river under Hushan Mountain, but the Qing army did not even notice. In the early morning of the 25th, the Japanese army launched an attack on the Qing army's position in Hushan. The Qing army suffered heavy casualties and was forced to withdraw. The Japanese army occupied Hushan and transferred their headquarters here. On the 26th, the Japanese army further occupied Jiuliancheng and Andong County in the lower reaches of the Yalu River.
"Next to the green mountains and green waters, there are two big white poplar trees in front of the door, a neatly fenced yard, and a small thatched house..." The tune of an old song from the anti-Japanese period is flying, although it is not the Songhua River. But the Yalu River is also full of green mountains and blue waters. The island in the middle of the river and the other side are flat farmland, with neat village houses standing among them, and lush trees dotting the field scenery. The rain began to pour again, and the river and clouds connected in the sky. The people of Dandong were accustomed to seeing the scenery of North Korea, so they quickly went to take shelter from the rain with their singing. The mountains and fields returned to silence, leaving me still thinking about the past of the Great Wall in the wind and rain.
From the watchtower on the top of Hushan Mountain, you can overlook Jiangxin Island and the other side. (Li Jin/Photo)
I didn’t notice when the fog rose after the rain. As I headed north, I gradually lost sight of the blue river surface. The thin mist was like a cloud and a smoke cage. Among the green trees, covered by the river. When I stopped the car, the white fog was already there.
"Wow, wonderland!" A young woman's voice shouted out the sigh in my heart. When I looked back, the woman smiled at me and greeted me behind me, "It's so beautiful, come and take pictures. ." Five or six people got out of a van that had just stopped, and they all stood by the river and admired the fog.
Originally, I planned to go to the north to find another broken bridge. The bridges connecting China and North Korea had been violently bombed by the US military. There was also a broken highway bridge in Hekou Village in Kuandian County. This is the earliest highway bridge on the Yalu River spanning the two sides of China and North Korea. It was originally called Qingcheng Bridge. The first batch of volunteers crossing the river passed through it. Yet "Wonderland" made me forget about bridges. Along the river bank, the fog accumulates thicker and rises higher, casting a gray veil over the exotic islands and mountains on the other side. The sky is clear after the rain, the distant mountains are gently undulating, the sparse village houses seem to be floating on the clouds, and the mist reflects the green color of the grass and trees, making the Yalu River finally worthy of its name of "water as colored as a duck's head".
The mist rises from the river, reflecting the lush green trees. (Li Jin/Photo)
A sign that reads "Where the Peach Blossoms Bloom" stands in the middle of the road leading to Hekou. Peach trees are planted all over Hekou Village. In the spring, the scorching peach blossoms embrace the beautiful The village, reflecting the clear river water, is just like what the song says. But the summer flowers have faded long ago, and all around me is the clean green after the rain. Large clouds float lightly in the sky, connected with the mist on the broad river. Fishing cages are floating in the water, and the dense forests and mountains in the distance are It smudges into a blurry ink color.
If there are cages, there must be fishermen. When the car passed through Peach Blossom Island, which is full of farmhouses, I saw a lone boat in the middle of the river.
There was only one fisherman standing on the boat, rowing rhythmically in the diffuse fog, not knowing where to go in the dusk. I followed the boat quietly, fearing that the slightest sound would disturb the tranquility of this landscape painting.
There are several green peaks on the river, but I don’t know which bank the fishermen are from. (Li Jin/Photo)
But the car is still much faster than the boat against the current. The fishing boat slowly disappears in the mist behind the car. The Yalu River Railway Bridge at the Upper River Estuary standing on the river in front breaks into my field of vision. This bridge was also built by Japanese colonists for the purpose of transporting engineering materials for the Shuifeng Hydropower Station upstream, but it was not used after it was completed. The bridge came into use during the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea. The Northeast Military Region extended and built the railway from Fengcheng to Kuandian to Shanghekou. Then Shanghekou Railway Station was connected to North Korea's Qingshui Station through this railway bridge, becoming another important channel for transporting volunteers and supplies. .
There is no doubt that this bridge also suffered intensive bombing by US military artillery fire. The bridge body was seriously damaged and has not been opened for use since the armistice. But the increasingly dense fog in the evening obscured these traces of the war, as well as the bridge piers inserted into the water and the buildings on the other side (if there were any). I looked far into the distance, and saw only distant mountains like black clouds, and the bridge seemed to be floating in the distance. In the sky, there are vast clouds and mountains connecting the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.
After passing the national gate and boundary marker at the end of the bridge and crossing the railway tracks, I parked the car at the entrance of the 74-kilometer tunnel of the Fengshang Line Railway. There used to be more than 20 military columns transported from here to North Korea every day and night. The sculptures of volunteer soldiers are still gazing at the direction of North Korea and marching forward. After leaving Dandong, the other side finally showed some signs of industrialization. The riverside seemed to be a factory, with towering chimneys breaking through the fog and sticking straight into the mountains. At this moment, I realized that I had reached the edge of the river mouth, and the broken bridge I originally planned to look for had been missed. I opened the map and found that the landmark of the broken bridge was located on the edge of Peach Blossom Island - just as I watched the river water being divided and merged by the oars, and thinking about the changes in personnel, the remains of the highway bridge were ignored by me in the mist. .
Looking across the river in the fog, you can see North Korean houses and chimneys. (Li Jin/Photo)
I turned back and looked towards the road I came from, and saw that the fog had spread from the Yalu River onto the road. The dusk was low, and the mountains and fields were filled with wet mist. I couldn't see the river, nor could I see the cars or roads clearly. As if the brush and ink of a landscape painting were suddenly swiped, the fog enveloped me, completely immersing me in the atmosphere of the Yalu River.
Li Jin