Spent the last 2 weeks in China and was finally able to go to Dandong, the city on the border with North Korea. My wife and her friend didn’t understand the fascination to see North Korea from a distance but she ended up understanding once we finished.
It was very easy to tell the difference between a Chinese and North Korean while in Dandong. The Chinese looked at me with curiosity. Many will stop and say ‘Hello’ to me and ask if I’m an American. I had several requests to have my picture taken with them and one lady wanted me to hold their baby and take our picture.
I guess I should mention that I have blonde hair and blue eyes and stick out in China.
I could tell a North Korean because they looked at me with utter hatred. If looks could kill I would have died several times over. There was more than once it became uncomfortable.
We took a tour boat ride that takes you about half way across the river and along the coast. The Chinese people seem just as fascinated with the North Koreans. We actually saw two people and the cameras were going crazy.
There was a North Korean vendor selling ‘toys’ that included many toy machine guns and handguns. Once she saw me taking pictures she yelled something at me that I’m guessing wasn’t ‘May I help you?’
Some of the other shops had North Korean army toys and even a fighter jet made out of shell casings.
A friend bought me some North Korean beers, one was ok (gold can) the other was horrible.
My wife did have someone offer to take us on a tour to North Korea but she said no and didn’t tell me until the next day because she was afraid I’d want to go.
