Shenyang

Understand

Nurhaci built his imperial palace and was laid to rest in one of the first two imperial tombs of the Qing Dynasty, Fuling Tomb. His son Hong Taiji is buried in Zhaoling tomb, which is the second of the first two imperial tombs. The imperial palace and the two tombs are all listed by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites. It was in Shenyang that the Russian army was defeated by the Japanese in 1905, resulting in Japan taking control of the Liaodong Peninsula from Russia. It was also here, on September 18, 1931 that Japan would stage the Mukden incident in order to use it as a pretext to occupy all of Northeast China. This city was also the home to the warlord Zhang Zuolin and his son Zhang Xueliang who ruled over the Northeast during the 1920s. In the 20th century, Shenyang developed as a major industrial centre. Today the city is rapidly losing its older structures with large scale construction throughout the city, as in all other cities in China.

Get around

thumb|Shenyang Metro in 2020 Sights in the old city, Shenhe District, can be walked between, but other areas such as those in Beiling or Dongling require transport.

The Shenyang Metro has three lines. Line 1 runs east-west across the city (serving Shenyang rail station). Line 2 runs north-south (serving Shenyang North rail station). Line 9 runs in an L shape, from northwest to southwest to southeast. Line 10 runs in an L shape, from northwest to southwest to southeast.

Shenyang has a comprehensive bus system, but it can be incomprehensible if you do not read Chinese. Make sure you pick up a city bus and area map at either train station. Very handy to help get around. Buses charge ¥1-2 and major bus lines congregate around the train stations. Bus 203 travels between the two train stations.

There are plenty of taxis whose meters start at ¥8 for 3 km, then ¥1.8 per kilometer. Make sure you get a taxi in which the meter is mounted on the dashboard and easily visible from your seat instead of behind the gear shift - it is possible the driver may be pulling some sleight of hand to increase your fare.

See

thumb|Dazheng Hall, oldest building at Mukden Palace thumb|250px|City wall

Eat

Liaoning is home to Liaocai (辽菜), a distinctive cuisine named after the area. Liaocai tends to be strong in flavour with plenty of garlic, ginger and other spices but not hot. Shenyang has a large Korean and Mongolian population, who operate a lot of barbecue stands on the street corners of the city. Some of the city's best types of cuisine include 火锅 hot pot, 麻辣烫 mala tang, or spicy pay-by-weight soup, and 串儿 chuan'r barbeque. There are many Muslim hand-pulled noodle places, and also a number of very good Korean restaurants. All of Shenyang's top hotels feature fancy restaurants serving Cantonese, Japanese and Western food. At least two different places offering Mexican specials. There are also some decent noodle shops, as well as the national chain California Beef Noodle, on some of the small roads near the train station. thumb|Frost Flower Fried Dumplings from Laobian Dumpling is one of their must-try Fast food and coffee shops are plentiful. The imported, western style food tends to be at the higher end of the price market. By going after local cuisine you will save money. One of the absolute best places to try cheap and savoury local foods is at the 彩电塔 Cai Dian Ta night market near the Liaoning Radio Tower, located just west of the Kempinski hotel and 青年公园 Qingnian Gongyuan Station. This market is full of cheap barbeque 串儿 chuan'r, with selections as various as chicken necks, pig feet, or tofu rolls. There are also various noodle dishes, potato dishes, soft-serve ice cr…