Where China and North Korea Meet - Tumen City (吉林图们，中国北朝鲜边境)
Join me as I travel to a sensitive region - a journey that takes me as close to the Hermit Kingdom as I can possibly go! Tumen City is located in Northeastern China (in Jilin Province) and is right across the river from Chamyang Workers' District, North Korea (DPRK). Check out the food, the sights, the culture and a whole lot more!
China Plans International Tourism Zone With North Korea, Russia: State Media
State news agency Xinhua said on Friday that China is planning an international tourism zone in its northeastern border area with Russia and North Korea, in Pyongyang's latest push for new investment.
According to Xinhua, Jiang Chaoliang, governor of China's northeastern Jilin province, said the province would draw up a blueprint for the Tumen River Delta international tourism area this year.
The Tumen River divides China and North Korea.
Xinhua said officials are exploring a management model of the tourism zone that would involve China, Russia and North Korea. Xinhua said, citing officials, that visitors shall enter the tourism zone without visas and shopping shall be duty-free.
Xinhua said, citing Zhao Xiaojun, director of Jilin Provincial Tourism Administration, that in the long run, South Korea, Japan and Mongolia will join the tourism area via highways, railways and air routes.
REAL CHINA! 东北 Dandong City! Sinuiju, North Korea, Hushan Great Wall, Yalu River Broken Bridge!!!
Join me as I travel to the northeastern Chinese city of Dandong (Liaoning Province) - 辽宁丹东 - where we'll be just a stones throw away from Sinuiju, North Korea! Just across the Yalu River you can literally see North Korean troops at the border as well as peasants working the fields! In this video we explore Dandong, we visit the Great Wall of China (at Hushan) 虎山长城, as well as the Yalu River Broken Bridge 鸭绿江断桥! We even try some of the 'interesting' local specialties! Come on - what are you waiting for! Travel dongbei!
Live: Visiting Dandong, China-DPRK border port丹东，中朝边境的历史之城
CGTN is taking you to the border town of Dandong, a stone’s throw away from the DPRK to visit the Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge, a gateway for the DPRK to connect with China and the world, initially constructed by the Japanese army during their invasion of Korea and northern China. Sharpen your knowledge about that period of history and the China-DPRK relations and listen to what travelers and locals have to say about the soaring tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
North Korea Tries Market Economy a Stone’s Throw From China Across the Yalu River
While North Korea is the most closed country in the world, international influences are creeping in, particularly in the capital, Pyongyang, and in key border cities and ports. FTV recently visited one such city, Sinuiju, where North Korea has slowly begun to experiment with market economy principles. Anne HuFTV News Director It’s time to board the train to the international economic zone of Sinuiju. One train a day leaves Pyongyang for Dandong, China. After about five hours we arrive at Sinuiju, a city on North Korea’s northwest border.Sinuiju is the capital of North Pyongan Province and, with more than 300,000 people, is North Korea’s third largest city. Across the Yalu River lies the Liaoning Province city of Dandong.The road and railway to Dandong share the same bridge.Anne HuFTV News DirectorWe’re at the northwest border of North Korea, in the Sinuiju International Economic Zone. Across the Yalu River is the Port of Dandong.Since being named an international economic zone in 2013, Sinuiju began to promote cross-border tourism in earnest. Foreign tourists can choose between one- or two-day cross border trips and river cruises.Kim Jung HyangSinuiju GuideFor the one- or two-day trips, bring your ID or passport to our travel agency in Dandong. We have also started a new trip that allows you to disembark (in North Korea) without the need for a passport or travel pass. Just go to the travel agency in China a day or two in advance.Strict access rules within the zone prevented us from getting the footage we desired. Next to buildings under renovation in Sinuiju we spotted old residences similar to the military dependents’ villages in Taiwan. Unfortunately, restrictions on foreigners interacting with inhabitants of these homes prevented us from asking their thoughts on life in this border town.Anne HuFTV News DirectorSinuiju is focused on developing light industry, as we can see at this cosmetics factory. Production is automated and packaging partially automated. The factory was established along the border to aid in growing export markets. ‘Spring Fragrance’ Factory GuideCurrently, most of our sales are domestic. “Spring Fragrance” in Sinuiju and “Galaxy” in Pyongyang are the country’s two largest cosmetics brands. They produce cleansing, skin care and cosmetics products. ‘Spring Fragrance’ Factory GuideOur bestseller among foreigners is the Korean ginseng toothpaste.This set of skin care products costs 600 renminbi for foreigners and 600 North Korean won for locals. That is 1/16th the cost of what foreigners pay. In fact, there are three tiers of prices in North Korea.At the low end of the spectrum are subsidized prices assigned to state rations. The second tier consists of goods that people can purchase from shops at market prices. Foreigners must use the third tier, which is much higher than the other two and about the same price one would expect to pay for similar products in other countries.GuideI bought these shoes in the department store. (Did you pay market price?) Yes.The red leather shoes our guide wears are Chinese imports purchased at a Pyongyang department store for RMB200, equivalent to about NT$1,000. This is the market price.The Tongnim County tourism hotel on the outskirts of Sinuiju reaches four-star standards. Locals who make purchases here qualify for subsidized prices, unlike foreigners who must pay much higher fees.Hotel guests can swim, play ping pong and volleyball, or participate in other exercises. Only foreigners are permitted in the casino.Shows aimed at attracting tourists have become more common. Waitresses who double as entertainers take a break from serving customers to change costumes and go on stage to perform.They then switch back to their regular uniforms and regular work.Tourism is at the forefront of economic change. While foreign tourists only gain a glimpse of North Korea during their short visit, locals involved in the tourism industry serve as intermediaries between their country and the outside world. One impact of outside influences is the adoption of a tipping culture between guides and the tourists they serve. Slowly, elements of the market economy are beginning to appear in the North Korean state.
CHINA-NORTH KOREA BORDER: KOREAS SUMMIT
Mandarin/Nat
XFA
North Korea's neighbour China hopes that the one-day delay to the long-awaited summit between the leaders of North and South Korea does not spell the end to any chance of reconciliation between them.
China's border with North Korea stretches for some 14-hundred kilometres (800 miles), but in recent years, relations between the two nations have been frosty.
China's leaders hope next week's summit are a sign that Pyongyang is opening up.
Nowhere are those hopes higher than in the northern border city of Dandong which lies just across the river from the North Korean town of Sinujiu.
For many people, this bridge in northern China might just look like any other one.
But it's not.
This steel structure across the Yalu river is in reality one of the only remaining 'check-point Charlies' left from the Cold War around the world.
Across the water, a few hundred meters from the Chinese city of Dandong in Liaoning, lies the People's Democratic Republic of North Korea D-P-R-K.
Isolated from the rest of the world for the last 50 years, little is known today about the 24 (m) million people who live in the world's last stronghold of hard line Communism.
These desolate river banks, with their rotten fishing boats and inactive cranes are probably the closest most outsiders get to North Korea.
But boats can be hired which take visitors within just a few metres of the North Korean river banks and from there it's possible to get a better idea of what life is like there.
Facing the Chinese city of Dandong lies the North Korean town of Sinuiju, a city which looks like China a few decades ago.
These half finished houses on the outskirts of Sinuijiu give the impression of economic deprivation, as do these children washing their clothes in the river.
Decades apart in developement, both sides have a lot in common apart from Communism.
Brothers in arms during the Korean war, ethnic ties between the two countries are still very strong and the chance to pay a visit to the bridge and take a peep at the other side attracts many Chinese tourist today.
In recent times, having your picture taken in a traditional Korean outfit on the side of the river has become a must for anyone visiting Dandong, and is just part of a growing tourist industry.
Once jammed by lines of trucks bringing Chinese goods into North Korea, traffic on the bridge has dwindled to nothing in recent years, since relations between China and North Korea cooled.
But it's common knowledge in Dandong that Chinese goods still cross the border whether by road or river, mostly on a barter trade exchange basis, food for scrap metal.
Beside the friendship bridge built by the Japanese, lies the original one, a reminder of the past and a common opposition to U-S imperialism.
On November 14, 1950, U-S planes bombed four of the bridge's struts on the north Korean side cutting a vital logistics supply road between North Korea and China, sending a strong signal to the Chinese.
The metallic structure still standing intact on the Chinese side has since become a platform for the tourists.
These twisted metallic structures and reproduction U-S bombs are testimony to the battle.
But they are not the only reminders.
Inside Dandong, is the second most visited spot in the whole city: the museum of the Patriotic Volunteers in Korea.
In the autumn of 1950, thousands of Chinese 'volunteers' poured across the Yalu river to help the North Koreans and
fight the Americans who were reaching north to the banks of the river.
Many of them never came back and the city erected this museum to make sure they will never be forgotten.
Here, everything speaks of the great friendship between North Korea and China.
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China-Grain supplies to cross bridge into N Korea
T/I 10:30:45
In the northeastern Chinese city of Tumen, trucks laden with
desperately-needed grain have been queuing up for days to cross
the bridge into North Korea.
The grain supplies are part of an ongoing trade arrangement
between China, North Korea and their neighbours. Launched by the
UN Development Programme in 1992, the Tumen Region Economic
Development Area (TREDA) - which also includes Russia, Mongolia
and Japan - has hopes of becoming a significant economic force
in the region.
SHOWS:
CHINA 18-19/3
TUMEN, CHINA, 18/3
North Korean truck driving past on border with North Korea
carrying load of grain;
WS road as trucks drive past;
CU cargo grain on top of trucks;
men in warehouse;
market at Tumen with woman at food stall;
vs of market;
pan down border gate between China and North Korea with truck
driving through carrying grain;
ws of trucks on road in North Korea from Chinese viewpoint, with large poster of Kim Il Sung in background;
ext. buildings;
CHINESE SOT, Sun Xiang Biao of the Tumen Regional Economic Zone saying north east asia is the final frontier of economic development;
CU map;
CHINESE SOT continues: One reason is Japanese technology and markets, two is China and North Korea's abundant sources of cheap labour, and
three is huge amounts of mineral resources located in Russia,
China and Mongolia.;
CA reporter in office;
EN ROUTE FROM TUMEN TO HUNCHUN ON BORDER WITH RUSSIA 19/3
train passing in distance;
CU railway tracks;
truck passing donkey drawn carriage;
high shot Hunchun town; ext. factories
with flags flying outside;
CU border guard in wooden hut;
ZOOM IN on border post and barrier at Chinese-Russian border;
CHINESE SOT of Russian trader saying that because of this special zone, Chinese goods can get to international markets through ports such as Vladivostock;
Russian truck driving into Russia from China.
RUNS 2.40
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Activity at Chinese-North Korean border
Dandong city, China
1. Friendship Bridge in China's Dandong city on border with North Korea
2. Street in Dandong with shops doing business with North Koreans
3. North Koreans taking goods in plastic bag from Chinese businessman
4. Goods in boxes and plastic bags placed on ground
5. North Koreans buying goods in shop
6. Shop sign in Chinese and Korean
7. North Koreans walking out of shop
8. North Koreans talking
9. Pan from Dandong export market to shops nearby
10. North Koreans walking on street in front export market
11. Close of national flags of China and North Korea
12. Exterior of Bank of China
13. Bank of China sign
14. People walking into bank
15. Chinese couple looking at pictures taken on camera at river bank of Yalu River
16. Wide of couple taking pictures at river bank of Yalu River
17. Wide of chimneys in North Korean city of Sinuiju and Chinese tourist boat cruising in Yalu River
18. Tracking shot of North Korean ship docked at river bank on North Korean side (Sinuju city)
19. Wide tracking of North Korean ship
20. Tracking shot of port on North Korean side with crane carrying goods in bags
21. Crane carrying goods in bags
22. Tracking shot of goods in bags with North Korean soldier standing nearby
23. Tracking shot of North Korean ship
24. Chinese tourists on broken bridge bombed by US troops during Korean War, pan to wide of Friendship Bridge over Yalu River
STORYLINE:
There was very little trading in China's border city of Dandong with North Koreans on Saturday as businesses closed under government sanctions imposed for Pyongyang's nuclear test.
Some North Koreans were seen in one or two shops on a street near the export market in Dandong, looking for goods, bargaining and carrying goods in boxes and plastic bags.
However, the general border trade with North Koreans came to a halt and most shops dealing with border trade in and near Dandong's export market were closed.
The branch of Bank of China in Dandong also paused financial transfers to North Korea.
All four major Chinese state-owned banks, including the Bank of China, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank and the Agricultural Bank of China have stopped financial transfers to North Korea under government orders as part of the sanctions.
On the river bank on the North Korean side, ships were docked in line and two cranes were busy carrying goods in bags.
China stepped up inspections of cargo being trucked across the border into North Korea since the United Nations Security Council approved sanctions on the country last Saturday.
China is believed to be North Korea's main link to the world financial system, more so since Washington imposed sanctions on a Macau bank that served North Korean companies, making other financial institutions uneasy about dealing with Pyongyang.
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Peace Insight _ Reunification Over Flowers - in China
The birthplace of the poet Yun Dong-ju, Harbin Railway Station, Lushun Prison…
About 150 college students explored the border area between China and North Korea, dreaming about reunification. In this segment, we tag along the Unification Leadership Camp held by the Institute for Unification Education each year.
꽃보다 통일 - in 중국
윤동주 시인의 생가, 하얼빈역, 뤼순감옥..
150여 명의 대학생들이 통일의 꿈을 키우며 북.중 접경 지역을 탐방했는데요.
이번 통일의 현장에서는 통일교육원이 매년 개최하는 통일리더캠프 현장을 따라가봤습니다.
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NKorea launches tours from China, snubbing SKorea
(31 Aug 2011)
Rason - August 30th
1. Wide of inauguration ceremony of maiden voyage of the Man Gyong Bong leisure cruise
2. Wide pan Man Gyong Bong leisure cruise
3. Close-up of banner hanging on cruise in Korean and Chinese reading Rason-Kumgang International Tourism Project
4. Wide of North Koreans gathering for inauguration ceremony
5. Official announcing inauguration
6. Close-up of balloons set for celebration
7. Close-up of Korean women in traditional dresses waving flowers at ceremony
8. Chinese passengers boarding cruise
9. Wide of passengers boarding cruise
10. Close-up of water waves
11. Wide of boat leaving Rason port
Kumgang - August 31st
12. Wide of boat arriving at Kumgang port
13. Boat leading way
14. Wide of ship docking at port
15. Passengers getting off ship
16. Wide of passengers getting off
17. SOUNDBITE: (Mandarin) Sun Changshu, Passenger of Man Gyong Bong Maiden Voyage:
This is the maiden voyage, so I have high expectations for this. If the project goes well, we''ll come quite regularly in the future, because Yanbian (the Chinese border city with North Korea) is actually quite close to Kumgang.
18. Wide pan of Kumgang Tourist Zone
19. Wide of petrol station closed
20. Petrol station closed
21. Wide of street in Kumgang Tourist Zone
22. Shop closed
23. SOUNDBITE: (Mandarin), Pak Chol Su, Vice Chairman of Taepung International Investment Group of DPRK:
This is a newly opened tourist route, and we''ve just inaugurated the maiden voyage, but we are expecting to bring about one hundred thousand tourists to Kumgang next year. This is just part of our project. Apart from this, we are planning to set up some 16 flights connecting Kumgang and some Chinese cities.
24. Wide of scenic spot Haegeumgang
25. Islands and stones at tourist site
26. Wide of tourists around Haegeumgang
27. Tourists taking photos on rock
28. Scenic site
STORYLINE:
A refurbished cargo ship plastered with patriotic North Korean slogans arrived at Mount Kumgang on Wednesday, marking the launch of a leisure boat service meant to draw Chinese tourists and investors to a luxury resort that''s been declared off-limits to the South Koreans who built it.
The beach and mountain resort with spas and a golf course was built inside North Korea by an affiliate of South Korea''s Hyundai Corporation.
But the South declared it illegal for its citizens to visit after a North Korean guard shot and killed a South Korean tourist there in 2008.
The loss of tourist revenue from the resort was a blow to the impoverished North.
The regime, run by reclusive leader Kim Jong Il, announced this month it was seizing Hyundai''s remaining assets in Kumgang and would begin courting new investors to develop the project.
As part of the effort, the North launched a leisure cruise service to bring tourists from Rason, a border area next to Russia and China, down to Kumgang.
The maiden voyage was completed on Wednesday, bringing Chinese travel agents, international media and North Korean officials on a trial run to drum up interest in the destination and raise the resort''s profile among potential investors.
The Man Gyong Bong, a refurbished cargo ship with rusty portholes and musty cabins, was used for the 18-hour overnight cruise, which hugged the length of North Korea''s east coast.
Officials from the Taepung International Investment Group, which organised the tour, said they weren''t sure of the age of the Japanese-built ship, but a photo and a plaque on board commemorated a 1972 tour of the boat by North Korean founder Kim Il Sung.
Passengers of the maiden voyage of the Man Gyong Bong were received in the port of Kumgang early on Wednesday morning.
At the moment around 500 arrive a week.
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Chinese navy patrolling river at NKorea border
(29 Dec 2011) SHOTLIST
1. Wide of China-North Korean Friendship Bridge connecting Chinese city of Dandong and North Korean city of Sinuiju
2. Mid of Chinese soldiers guarding bridge practicing boxing
3. Zoom out of Chinese navy vessel under bridge, AUDIO: Siren
4. Various of vessel patrolling along Chinese side of Yalu River
5. Mid of Chinese flag
6. Vessel passing under bridge
7. Wide of bridge
8. Mid of vessel patrolling by river bank
STORYLINE
A Chinese navy vessel patrolled along the Chinese side of Yalu River near the border with North Korea on Thursday, as North Koreans were finishing the official period of national mourning for their late leader Kim Jong Il.
The vessel carrying at least five crew members passed the China-North Korean Friendship Bridge at about 2:00 PM local time (0600 GMT) and patrolled back and went by the bridge at around 3:30 PM local (0730GMT).
Weapons and artillery attached to the vessel were covered with cloths and crew members could be seen wearing life jackets.
Earlier in the day, traffic, boats and trade stopped in the Chinese city of Dandong, across Yalu River, in a mark of respect for Kim Jong Il, while North Korean women working in Dandong visited their country's consulate to express their condolences.
Meanwhile on Thursday hundreds of thousands of North Koreans packed the square in central Pyongyang, filling the plaza from the Grand People's Study to the Taedong River for the second day of funeral ceremonies for the late leader.
The country declared Kim Jong Il's son and successor Kim Jong Un supreme leader of the ruling party, military and the people during the memorial on Thursday for his father in the government's first public endorsement of his leadership.
Given Kim Jong Un's inexperience and age, he is in his late 20s, there are questions outside North Korea about whether he is equipped to lead a nation engaged in long-stalled negotiations over its nuclear programme and grappling with decades of economic hardship and chronic food shortages.
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Northeast China sees opportunity for new regional development
China looks to revive its northeastern region, the country's old industrial base consisting of Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces. Click to check out progress achieved.
Tourists at China's border with NKorea react to tension
(4 Sep 2017) Tourists and locals in the Chinese city of Dandong, which lies directly across the Yalu river from North Korea, gave their reactions on Monday to an underground test of what Pyongyang claimed was a hydrogen bomb.
M. Wang (he did not want to give his first name) took his girlfriend for a romantic weekend to the Chinese city, where tourists were seen taking photos and donning copies of traditional Korean dresses.
The 25 year-old admitted he had not heard of the news of the nuclear test but said he believed it was a dangerous move.
While Wu Xinghua, a trendy-looking thirty-something woman from Dalian in the Bahai strait, said that as soon as she heard the news of the underground test, her friends and her drove directly to Dandong to see what was happening there.
South Korea's Defence Ministry said Monday that North Korea appeared to be planning a future missile launch, possibly of an ICBM, to show off its claimed ability to target the United States with nuclear weapons, though it was unclear when this might happen.
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North Korea - Trade continues
T/I: 10:03:10
Trade between China and North Korea continues apace with Pyongyang forced by food shortages to exchange metal and mineral resources for desperately needed grain supplies from Beijing.
The grain supplies being traded by China will help North Kore cope with a severe food shortage already in its second year.
SHOWS:
TUMEN PROVINCE, CHINA/ NORTH KOREAN BORDER, 19/03
Wide of trucks queuing at border crossing, Korean Trucks,
Korean license plates,
Chinese truck pan to grain;
Shot of bridge w/ two portraits (Kim Iand II),
border police checking drivers id,
Trucks crossing bridge;
Characters on hillside Speed to Battle,
traders watching trucks;
Soundbite of Chinese trader in Mandarin: Because of the floods last year, trade has increased... the market is not as closed as it used to be. Some days I send as much as 100 tons of staples, sometimes less. I average about 4 or 500 tons a month. Mostly it is flour, corn, meal and sugar. Basically they want grain.
market in Tumen, Korean goods, foods,
Trucks getting across bridge,
Flags (DPRK & China) pan to other side, two North Koreans on river bank.
2.51
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Sonya - Tearful Tumen River | 쏘냐 - 눈물젖은 두만강 [Immortal Songs 2 ENG/2018.04.07]
Click the Caption button to activate subtitle!
Immortal Songs 2 : Legendary Songs in Textbooks
Guests: Song Sohee and 2nd Moon, Min Woohyuk, Kim Yongjin, Momoland, V.O.S, Sonya, Park Yeseul
#Immortal_Songs_2 #불후
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From an apartment in Dandong China you can see North Korea every day.
Explore North Korea Tour Group based in Dandong China doing the tour to North Korea by train. Welcome to the tour to North Korea.
NORTH KOREA | The less visited NORTHEAST 北韓東北
???? Namyang, Hoeryong, Chongjin, Chilbosan and Rason.
The less visited northeast. A very different angle to see the country and to engage with the people. More traveling but worth it.
/// Detailed itinerary below FYR :D ///
.
這次，是較少人到的 北！韓！東！北！
到訪????南陽、會寧、清津、七寶山、羅先
入住民宿、在沙灘追逐、盪鞦韆、打排球、在北韓過生日、徙步入境彈出彈入、登山野餐⋯ 相比平壤，這裡盡是不一樣的一番風土人情。
雖較多長途車，但值得。
(詳細行程在下面供參考～)
.
Day -1:
- 3-hr flight from Hong Kong 香港 to Beijing 北京, then 3-hr High Speed train to Shenyang 瀋陽. Stayed in Shenyang 瀋陽.
//
Day 0:
- 4-hr train from Shenyang 瀋陽 to Yanji 延吉, the seat of Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture 延邊朝鮮族自治州. Stayed in Yanji 延吉.
//
Day 1:
- An hour ride from Yanji 延吉 to Tumen 圖們 where we crossed the border by foot. We crossed the Tumen Border Bridge 圖們國境大橋 and walked into Namyang 南陽 of North Korea. A special way to enter the country which you could walk back and forth, or just stand across the borderline, with one foot in China and the other in North Korea.
- We visited a house that Kim Il-sung once stayed during war time then left Namyang 南陽 after lunch. There's always performance by the beautiful waitresses at all restaurants in North Korea. Don't feel surprised when you got invited to the stage. ;)
- Then it's a 2.5-hr ride to Hoeryong 會寧.
- We visited the birthplace of Kim Jung-suk, drank some water which is claimed to make you an hour younger for one sip.
- Fun sports time with students at Kim Ki-song Middle School 金基松中學. Sports never fails to bring people tgt.
- Stayed in Hoeryong 會寧.
//
Day 2:
- Hoeryong Revolutionary Museum 會寧革命博物館
- Tumen River 圖們江 which is called Dumas River 豆滿江 by North Koreans.
- 2-hr ride to Chongjin 清津
- Short walk the city followed by school visits at Chongam Kindergarten 青岩幼稚園 and Chongjin Foreign Languages High School 清津外語中學. Always the best time for me to meet these lovely students and share about all interesting topics. We even had an session teaching them about Hong Kong.
- Stayed in Chongjin 清津.
//
Day 3:
- 2.5-hr ride to Chilbosan 七寶山 where we had a picnic and met a local tour groups from Chongjin. They were so happy visiting Chilbo and excited to join in photos with us!
- Visited the Inner Chilbo 內七寶, Outer Chilbo 外七寶, Kaesimsa 開心寺 (drank water from well again).
- Our next stop at Sea Chilbo 海七寶 where I had a fun sand battle with the local kids at the beach. Then we took a boat ride with all the sand in my ears. There are a lot of local tourists dancing, playing volleyball and you are always welcome to join.
- Stayed at the one and only Homestay Village 民宿 in North Korea. And we had a birthday candlelight dinner for a girl in our group. Our local tour guides brought the big big creamy cake all the way from Chongjin 清津 and prepared this surprise. Touching indeed. And the cake tastes good.
//
Day 4:
- Goodbye to the hosts and back to Chongjin 清津 for lunch. Then another long bus ride of 2.5-3hrs to Rason Special City羅先特別市.
- We said goodbye to the local guides who were with us since Day 1 and met the other group of local guides at the border of Rason. (Rason is administrated separately and not under any provincial control.)
- Checked in the hotel after dinner and we split into 2 groups. One for massage and one for coffee.
//
Day 5:
- Visited the Golden Triangle Bank 金三角銀行 where we could exchange some local currency for purchasing stuff later at the market. And I bought a local Rason 羅先 credit card with $25RMB.
- Visited the can't-miss bronze statue of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jung-il where a lot of locals are cleaning and sweeping in the area.
- Had a visit to the Bag Factory. We tried on some trendy school backpack.
- Then spent some time at the Seaside Park 海岸公園 which is a popular place for local couples to hangout. We got to play with kids and bought some local snacks there.
- Visit to the very large Rason orphanage. A very new furnished one. With swimming pool, football field, volleyball court etc. Didn't manage to meet too many kids though. The guides said they were on holiday...
- The best time for me again. Met these students at the Rason Foreign Languages High School 羅先外語中學. And this time I taught some Cantonese such as Leng zai (handsome guy) and leng nui (pretty girl). LOL
- Then to Rajin Primary School 羅津小學. We watched the performance tgt with a tour group from China. These kids are just too amazing for their young age.
- Had a buffet dinner at the Grand Emperor Hotel 英皇娛樂酒店 which is owned by the famous Hong Kong entrepreneur Stanley Ho 何鴻燊. We had a walk in the casino where the Chinese came over to gamble.
- We stayed in the resort 琵琶別墅 of Kim Il-sung (different block).
//
Day 6:
- We left the resort around 8 and headed to the border. We passed through the immigration and custom check at Quanhe Port 圈河口岸 at around 11, then took a coach and crossed the Tumen River Bridge 圖們江大橋 into Hunchun 琿春 of China.
- Long train ride (5 hours I think) back to Shenyang 瀋陽. And stayed there for a night and flied back to HK the next day.
.
Music: 告白氣球 - Jay Chou
North Korea - New free market sees brisk trading
T/I: 10:00:30 (DSSA1)
T/I: 10:23:31 (DSSE2)
In June this year, the first open-air free market for private trade between Chinese and North Korean citizens was launched at the border town of Wonjong, North Korea, just across the Tumen River from China.
Since opening almost four months ago relatively brisk interest has seen operating times expand from three to four days a week. The North Korean vice manager of the market, Jae Dok, says North Koreans offer seafood, pottery and light industrial goods while the Chinese bring various food products, including grain, and industrial goods. Some goods are exchanged for money - Chinese renminbi, North Korean won and U.S. dollars are all acceptable - and others are traded by barter.
SHOWS:
Near Wonjong Bridge, North Korea
RECENT
WS view from the North Korean side: pan from the Wonjong Bridge (which crosses the Tumen River which forms the border with China) to the market;
trucks at market;
market stalls and traders;
traders with goods;
traders on backs of trucks;
people with goods;
more of people on backs of trucks and with goods;
SOT, Jae Dok, Vice Manager of the market, in Korean: At the beginning when the market was open there were not many people but recently between 1,900 and 2,500 (per month) are visiting.
woman unloading box from back of truck;
traders sitting on sacks on rear of truck;
more general scenes of market;
SOT, Jae: As for our country we bring unpolluted and good fish from the east sea, pottery and many kinds of light industrial goods. As for China, at present food is the major item and industrial goods are brought in together.
market stall area;
shoes;
traders with goods;
woman looking at clothing;
trader speaking to potential customers
SOT, Jae: Here after negotiating we barter or sometimes trade with money.
traders sitting on boxes;
more market scenes;
high wide shot of market with Tumen River and China in the background;
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Hope on China-NKorea border over Trump-Kim summit
(24 Feb 2019) Some Chinese residents of a city bordering North Korea expressed hope for a new era in relations between the neighbours ahead of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's second summit with US President Donald Trump.
The North Korean leader is on a train to Vietnam to meet Trump.
Late Saturday, an Associated Press reporter saw a green-and-yellow train similar to one used in the past by Kim cross into the Chinese border city of Dandong from the North Korean port of Sinuiju.
Many in this border city of over two million expect that if North Korea opens up, they will be among the first to benefit.
Dandong is the biggest border city in China, said Liu Yujun, a former trader from Dandong who says that real estate prices have been going up in anticipation of detente on the Korean peninsula.
Their economy could pull Dandong up along with it. If they open up, then we can invest a lot into their economy.
Strict UN sanctions on North Korea have hit Dandong's traders and shippers hard in the past few years, but the sudden thaw in tensions on the Korean peninsula has raised anticipation that the sanctions may soon be lifted.
Investors rushed in to snap up apartments, prompting the city government to enact new regulations on real estate in May.
For decades, the contrast between the two sides has been growing starker and starker.
Dandong does a roaring trade in tourism centered on China's neighbour across the river.
Street vendors hawk binoculars, boat tours and booklets of North Korean currency during the day; digital billboards light towering apartments at night.
Sinuiju, less than a kilometer away across the Yalu river, lays silent, with few signs of activity among its motionless cranes and squat, unlit apartments.
A 79-year-old retired farmer who only gave his last name, Shi, remembers a time when the economic gap between North Korea and China wasn't so large.
Shi says the reason why North Korea struggled while China surged ahead was because of Pyongyang's overemphasis on military spending.
They put so much effort into missiles and nuclear weapons research, Shi said. If they didn't focus on this research so much, they might not be so backwards.
In his upcoming meeting with Trump, experts say Kim will seek a U.S. commitment for improved bilateral relations and partial sanctions relief while trying to minimise any concessions on his nuclear facilities and weapons.
While Kim wants to leverage his nuclear and missile program for economic and security benefits, there continue to be doubts on whether he's ready to fully deal away an arsenal that he may see as his strongest guarantee of survival.
But Xiao Yue, a food seller in Dandong, doesn't care too much about the intrigue and politicking that will soon take place in Vietnam.
She simply wishes that one day, she'll be able to mingle freely with North Koreans.
It'd help us communicate, culturally and on other levels, Xiao said. I just hope they can come over here and have some fun.
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Russia wants to build a bridge to North Korea. Literally.
Russia wants to build a bridge to North Korea. Literally.
North Korea shares a border with three countries — South Korea, China and Russia. The one with Russia is just 11 miles, following the Tumen River and its estuary in the far northeast. There is one lon...