Located in the Changbai Mountains in southwestern Jilin Province, the prefecture borders Russia in the east and is separated from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea by the Tumen River in the south.

The Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture has an area of 42,000 square kilometers and a population of 1.98 million, 880,000 or 41.8 percent are Koreans. There are also 19 other ethnic tribes such as the Han, Manchu, Hui, Mongolian, Xibe, and Miao. Yanji City is the prefecture's capital.

The prefecture, a land of songs and dances known in and outside of China, has green mountains and clear waters. Buried underground everywhere are precious mineral deposits. The Koreans are an ethnic group good at singing and dancing. They are enthusiastic, bold, and unconstrained.