The river separating Dandong in China from Sinuiju in North Korea is the Yalu River, also called the Amnok River.
The Yalu forms much of the China–North Korea boundary as it flows from the Paektu Mountain region toward Korea Bay. Near its lower course, the river passes between Dandong in China’s Liaoning province and Sinuiju in North Korea, creating one of the most recognizable border landscapes in East Asia.
The river is about 790 kilometres long and is joined by the Tumen River farther east as one of the principal natural features defining the China–North Korea border. Its name has several proposed explanations: in Mandarin, Yālù is commonly interpreted as “duck green,” while another theory connects it with the names of its upper branches.
Dandong and Sinuiju are connected by the Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge, which opened to traffic in 1943. Nearby stands the broken bridge built in 1911, whose damaged remains recall the Korean War. The Han River is associated mainly with South Korea, while the Tumen lies farther east and is not the river beside Dandong.