The Dongliao River runs through Liaoyuan and provides the best walking in the urban area. The riverbank has been developed into a park-like promenade, with paths running along both banks and the bridges serving as gathering places in the evenings. In summer the river is pleasant and green, with willows trailing over the water; in winter the ice is thick enough that locals sometimes walk across it.
The river corridor is one of the few parts of the city that retains a sense of the landscape that existed before the industrial era. Looking upstream from the central bridges, the hills close in and the view becomes genuinely attractive. It is nothing dramatic, but for a working city in the post-coal transition, the river is an honest asset and the nicest way to spend an afternoon in Liaoyuan.