Chongsu (청수) North Pyongan Province, North Korea. Over at Dandong, you can hire the local Chinese boatmen to take you on a private cruise along the Yalu River. You’ll be able to get up close to the edge of the North Korean border. Don’t worry, the North Korean soldiers won’t shoot at you and if you wave to them, they will wave back to you. GPS coordinates for this place is: 40°26’56.2″N 124°52’38.8″E .
Part 2 of exploring Chinese towns at the border with the DPRK during the 2021 COVID-19 pandemic. We follow Minhye as she takes a trip to Tumen City (图们市). Tumen city is a small town that is part of the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, located in Jilin Province in northeast China. It has an ethnic Korean population of approximately 80,000.
Since January 2020, the DPRK has shut its borders due to the COVID-19 virus. China has also implemented strict border controls to maintain their zero-COVID strategy. It has been almost two years since tourism halted between these two friendly neighbours. With no more tours to the DPRK being offered, what is life and tourism like in the Chinese border towns during such times? Our resident contributor made recent trips to visit border towns along the Yalu River and Tumen River. Join Minhye on her journey as she explores the Changbai Korean Autonomous County