Yanbian
Yanbian (延边朝鲜族自治州; Yánbiān Cháoxiǎnzú Zìzhìzhōu; Korean: 연변조선족자치주 Yeonbyeon Joseonjok Jachiju) is a Korean autonomous prefecture in Jilin province, next to the border with North Korea and Russia.
Cities
Other destinations
- Antu County (安图县, 안도현) - A city on the Changbai Mountain footage
- Wangqing County (汪清县, 왕청현)
Understand
Over 2 million ethnic Koreans live in China, and this area has a large concentration of them. While there are some expatriates from North and South Korea, most of the ethnic Koreans here hold Chinese citizenship, making it the largest ethnic Korean community outside Korea.
Talk
Korean is an official language in this area , along with Mandarin Chinese due to the large number of ethnic Koreans. Officially, the Korean language is known here as 조선어 Joseon-eo (or in Chinese 朝鲜语Cháoxiǎn yǔ), like in North Korea, rather than 한국어 Hanguk-eo as is used in South Korea. The dialect of Korean spoken here is the Hamgyong dialect, which is also spoken in Hamgyong province in North Korea, and is slightly different from the Seoul dialect which is standard in South Korea, or the Pyongan dialect which is standard in North Korea. Most younger ethnic Koreans in this area are bilingual in Korean and Mandarin, so Mandarin speakers should not have any problems communicating.
All official signs, as well as most restaurant menus in the area are bilingual in Korean and Mandarin. Keep in mind that due to differences in the way Chinese place names are translated, the cities in Yanbian have local Korean names that are different from the ones used by South Koreans; see the Korean phrasebook for more details. As an example, Yanji, the largest city in the prefecture is called Yeon-gil (연길) by the local ethnic Koreans, but Yenji (옌지) by South Koreans. Unless otherwise stated, the Korean names listed here on Wikivoyage follow the local Chinese-Korean usage.
Respect
Despite being Chinese citizens, the ethnic Koreans in China share a common culture with their North and South Korean counterparts. The various respect tips in the South Korea article generally apply to the ethnic Koreans in China as well. However, they are generally proud of being Chinese citizens, and do not identify as North or South Korean nationals.