Blogs from Dandong, Liaoning, China, Asia

Contrary to what I had previously thought UK citizens are allowed into North Korea....well in this case at least Korean Waters! We took a boat ride out between a Korean island and the mainland. It was a surreal experience, enhanced by the foggy conditions! We were not allowed to take pictures of military personel or buildings, which is understandable, but Max and James did take a few. At one point a soldier pointed at us and I half expected loads of boats to come out of nowhere, board us and take us away! This morning was when people really started asking to take photos of Jess, she looks a bit like Tayler Swift, some not even asking and just grabbing her! We then went to the Eastern terminal of the Great Wall and the "1 metre ... read more

Après presque 9 mois passés à 250 des frontières de la Chine avec la Corée du Nord, je ne m'étais pas encore aventurée du côté de ce pays qui défrayait les manchettes il n'y a pas si longtemps. Mon retour au Canada approchant à grands pas, j'ai décidé de remédier à la situation et d'organiser une visite à Dandong, une ville frontière à la limite entre la Chine et la Corée du Nord. Pas grand chose à voir...mais quand même le sentiment que le Canada est un beau pays.... read more

To many travellers, visiting North Korea is a surreal and yet irresistible dream. However, to most people, visiting North Korea remains a dream because of the extremely high cost. (North Korea cannot be visited independently. All visitors must join a pricey tour and be accompanied by 2 guides throughout the tour.) For me, I decided to make my dream a reality while keeping the cost affordable, and the best way to do this was to join a tour in Dandong, China. Dandong is a bustling city on the China-North Korea border and serves as the gateway between the world and the hermit nation. Starting my trip in Dandong not only allowed me to save a substantial amount of money (a 4-day tour costs 2400CNY for Chinese nationals or 3900CNY for foreigners like me), but also allowed ... read more

Today, work consisted of touring. Love this job. After arriving at work at the usual 7 am, Director Ai and I hopped in his car and headed North along the border to do a little sight seeing. The area was richly diverse in scenery with fields of corn along the riverside set off my by the gently rolling hills, blanketed in beautifully dense greenery and peach orchards. The area reminded me a lot of California and Ohio put together which brought back warm memories of home. The first stop on the road was the Hushan Changcheng or Tiger Mountain Great Wall. It's location about 25-30 km northeast of Dandong makes it an incredibly less frequented section of one of China's greatest national treasures and thereby lets you get a good luck at a testament to the ... read more

Today was a good time, I finally got to meet boss man and was he ever nice! We basically just chilled in his office for tea for like 45 minutes and talked about the city and how I liked my place. He flat out told me that I can have anything I ask for, but I will be sure not to ask for much out of respect. My office was also moved to the 14th floor from the 16th to be right next to Mr. Huang, Dir. Ai, and the secretaries. A good change given that the A/C is usually on down here and I have walls around my workstation for a little more privacy than just being in the middle of a big room. Mr. Huang had me taken home by his driver today that ... read more