(Yanji, China)

Yanji is the capital of the Yanbian Korean autonomous prefecture, a part of China with a high density of ethnic Koreans. The province borders North Korea and given the high ethnic Korean population here, North Korean refugees find it easier to blend in. My main purpose in this city was to visit the Yanbian University of Science and Technology (YUST).

(Yanji, China)

YUST is founded by South Korean missionaries as a means of spreading the Gospel in China to ethnic Koreans. Backed by church money, it has a rather well-equipped campus. My interest is in their project to set up a similar university in Pyongyang – the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST). PUST was scheduled to accept admissions last year but the project has run into financial problems, and its opening remains uncertain. I suspect that the DPRK government has been trying to milk the PUST construction for all the money it can, leading to the funding difficulties and delays.

I was interested in teaching at PUST. However, meeting with the professors at YUST convinced me that my wish is unlikely to be fulfilled as they only accept Evangelical Christians. A lady professor describes PUST as a “battle against evil [i.e. non-believers].” Only those deem worthy (aka Evangelicals) can engage in it. Oh well, me of little faith.

(Tumen River, China)

In Shenyang, I came across a Liaoning Choson Cultural Society. Peering inside, I saw a banner advertising a North Korean Art Exhibition. I walked in and was told it was on the third floor, but could not find it. The place was so secretive that the friendly lady working opposite the exhibition did not even know it existed! Eventually, we called a number written on the door of the exhibition room and someone (presumably North Korean) came to open it. The North Korean was happy to hear that I speak a smattering of Korean.

(Shenyang, China) A North Korean-run restaurant.

It was a North Korean bookstore/art store and I ended up buying a comic book. This North Korean version of the Hardy Boys tells the story of comrade Kang Yong Nam, a patriotic anti-imperialist student, who solves the mystery of dying animals in Africa. In a short 30 pages, the books managed to include the panoply of imperialist villains including an evil American capitalist, his European thuggish crony, a former Nazi Scientist and a Japanese scientist. They were drawn in the stereotypical style: big noses for Westerners, ugly Hitler-style hair for the Nazi, and buck teeth, round glasses and big mole for the Japanese.

The Imperialist Americans/Europeans were in Africa testing biological weapons developed with the help of Japanese and former Nazi scientists. The weapon was initially developed by the Nazis (tested on Jews) to cause the intestines of subjects to burst open. Kang and his professor discover this and tries to stop the Imperialists. Kang was captured but he managed to turn the tables with his North Korean Taekwondo skills. Kang manipulates the weapon and uses it on locusts, causing their intestines to burst open, ensuring a bountiful harvest.

On the way back, Comrade Kang and his team learn of a volcanic eruption on a small pacific island and divert their place to their next adventure.

Edit: Will put up scans when I find a scanner

(Shenyang, China)

Shenyang is famous as a tourist destination for its Qing dynasty tombs, as well as their palace before they conquered China. Outside the tomb of Huang Tai Ji (a Qing emperor), I saw an advertisement for an attraction that read (in Chinese) “Have you ever seen carps drink milk?” I don’t think I want to. Although smaller than the palace in Beijing, the palace here was far less crowded and I found it more enjoyable.

(Shenyang, China)

The Chinese tendency to shout into their phones continues to perplex foreigners. Even if they do not mind the ruckus, I wonder how they feel about having others listen in on their conversations. On a crowded bus, a lady was saying “Fuck your mother…that person called me a whore…”

(Beijing, China) Yeah…wish they could read that too.

As an Asian reading an English book to while away the hours I spend on the train, random strangers keep coming up to me to ask if I can read the entire book. When I tell them my mother tongue is English, they nod their heads and ask me (again) how long I have studied English. On the trip back to Beijing from Dandong, an overly concerned parent, hoping to send his son to the United States, cornered me and asked me to explain the entire US admissions system. My advice was to give his son room to develop his passions in life.

Since most of the hostels I stayed at had standards so poor as to prevent them from legally accepting foreigners, I always use my Tsinghua student ID instead of my passport when asked for identification. It is like a country-club membership: once, the owner of the inn called her entire family out to look at it. Bringing the card out is always followed by the question: “what did you score for the exam?”

(Shenyang, China)

Shenyang is a city where North Korean government-run restaurants sit across restaurants bearing the name Daejanggeum, the popular South Korean drama. My fellow traveler and I decided to herald the start of our journey with a dinner at a North Korean restaurant. The performance at the restaurant started with innocuous songs (Bangapsimnida) that soon gave way to the surreal scene of Hanbok-clad North Koreans playing an electric organ, electric guitars and a western drum set. My friend noted that the North Korean played the drum set with in the traditional Korean drumming style.

(Shenyang, China)

On the menu were specialty dishes which in English read “Burn the Chinese cabbage” and “Burn the fish soup but not well.” We were charged for a plate of Kimchi (thinking it would be free) and a beer (passed to us by drunken Chinese at the next table). We pointed this out to our North Korean waiter, and she repeated it to the cashier. They both started at us blankly for a moment and we decided that this was not worth arguing over.

I pointed out to my South Korean travel companion that if North Korea wins a war against the South, the extra Kimchi money she gave them might be the tipping point.

(Enroute Beijing to Shengyang, China)

If you are not too much of a stickler for cleanliness, you can get a sleeper bus (Y80) from Beijing to Shenyang in lieu of a hard seat on a train (Y160) at the Beijing railway station. At first, I did not know what to expect of the bus. A tout pulled me a long way from the station and kept scolding and shouting to pressure me to pay up immediately. I ignored her until the minivan pulled in.

Not knowing what to expect, I thought this was the cramped van that would carry me for the next 7 hours. I was not the only lost soul. Ten minutes after we got in, the van came to a stop and we were told to get off. A peasant farmer asked out loud whether we had arrived. The driver answered in a serious tone that we had. Everyone laughed and the farmer got off bewildered. We transferred to a bigger bus with beds. As we got on, the driver again made fun of the farmer by telling the farmer that all the sits were taken and that he had to walk home.

(Shenyang, China)

The trip was largely uneventful, except for the smelly bodies, cigarette smoke and an unfortunate dousing of urine. I badly needed the toilet at one point. Gritting my teeth, I threw myself into the noxious urinal fumes of the on-board toilet and found relief. However, a creeping moist warm crept into my socks. I looked down and realized that the toilet floor was a puddle of urine from its previous users. I still have nightmares to this day.

(Yanji, China)

Over the past 2 weeks, I made my way across the Chinese border with North Korea, as well as over large tracts of China’s northeast. It has been an incredible adventure sleeping in ratty 20 Yuan motels, getting shouted at by North Korean soldiers, “infiltrating” Chinese military zones, and climbing down Mt. Changbaishan (Paekdusan) on a closed-off track to sit by the side of Heaven’s Lake.

I have made the following lists of border towns for other adventurers with an interest in North Korea. Just a note of caution: the region is moderately difficult to travel as transport networks are not fully developed(buses are your best bet) and some areas are closed off to foreigners by the Chinese military. Also, cross the river to North Korea at your own risk.

View NK Border Towns in a larger map

Tumen（图门）: The Tumen river here is famous for North Korean crossings as it is far narrower than the Yalu River. Other nearby towns includes Hunchun, from which you can get to Fangchuan, a piece of land bordering North Korea and Russia.

Changbai（长白）: The only town I missed. Definitely worth going as the North Korean town Hyesan is right across the river. From photos, Hyesan looks like a decent-size town and is far more easily observed than Sinujiu at Dandong.

(Ji’An, China/ Manpu (?), North Korea)

Ji’An（集安）: One of my favorite cities. Clean and incredibly well-lit with a huge military presence. There is a North Korea military base across the river, a bridge that connects North Korea and China, and a North Korean hydroelectric plant. Peeping-tom Chinese soldiers to be found here (more in later entries).

Hekou（河口）: A small North Korean village sits by the side of the Yalu River. There is a broken bridge here with a statue of Chinese Marshal Peng Dehuai sitting at its foot.

Dandong（丹东）: The most commonly visited “North Korea” sightseeing spot.

Other Places to do with North Korea:

(Changbaishan, China)

Changbaishan (长白山- Paekdusan): This mountain is shared between the Chinese and North Koreans. Kim Jong Il’s alleged birthplace.

Tiger Mountain Great Wall （虎山长城）: I was shouted at by a North Korean soldier here for taking pictures.There is a stretch of the Yalu river that thins into a narrow stream crossable in a single step.

Yanji（延吉）: The capital of the Yanbian Korean autonomous prefecture. Maybe I should come here to study Korean?

Other places I visited:

(Harbin, China)

Shenyang: Provincial capital of Liaoning and home to Manchurian palaces.

Harbin: There’s a Stalin park here, an East is Red district and Russian architecture…what more can I say?

Changchun （长春）: Home to Puyi, the second last emperor of China. Mao Zedong is the last emperor of China.

Baihe（白河）: Small town which acts as a staging point for trips to Changbaishan.

Tonghua: Mainly a transport hub. Not the most interesting place.