Some of you expressed excitement
at my travel plans to visit North Korea, but I would say most of you either
sent me text messages begging me not to go, or found comfort in the fact that
whatever bad life choices you’ve made pale in comparison to the idea of an
American in North Korea. Fear not, I didn’t actually
go, but I did take a boat from Dandong about as close as you can legally get to
the North Korean shore. The temptation to jump out and swim was overwhelming,
thwarted only by the pollution in the water. The only thing pollution has going
for it is saving me from my unwise impulses to break international laws.
Dandong is one of China’s most eastern cities, located at
the intersection of the Yalu River and the Yellow Sea. Unless you like buying
fake Korean money and kitschy “ethnic” key chains, Dandong doesn’t have much to
offer other than it’s location on the main land way between China and North
Korea. The boat ride on the Yalu River was simultaneously disappointing and
confusing. Disappointing because we could see North Korea but weren’t actually
able to go, and confusing because what we saw looked more like a movie set than
and actual country. Rusty out-of-use boats lines the shore, and I’m not exactly
sure why there were people on these boats and what they were doing. It was
clear by the rust and deterioration they these boats hadn’t been used in many
years. Picture the set from Pirates of the Caribbean, except add a bunch of North
Koreans randomly wandering around or hanging out on the docks and masts. Also,
why were there parts of an amusement park in the middle of the industrial
section? The roller coaster skeleton seemed to say, we used to have fun here back in the day. The other weird thing about
North Korea is that there aren’t any tall buildings -- only scary, boxy looking
government buildings that will probably become museums someday. I don’t even
want to know what happens inside those buildings. It will give nightmares.
North Korea also wasn’t entirely rural. What you end up with is a weird mix of visual
indicators of modernization (cranes indicating construction and big ships
indicating a harbor with economic activity), without the actual results of a
modern port. But it wasn’t entirely deserted either. The boats were out of use
and the construction sites looked like the dormant factories of Detroit and yet
there were people bustling about here and there doing who knows what.
Hiking along the great wall and getting a bird’s eye view of
North Korea was even more profound than the boat ride. Something about hiking
along the wall and slowly getting closer to the North Korean countryside was
both humbling and incredibly depressing. Of course we climbed over the barriers
of the great wall
(wouldn’t you? ) and had a moment of silence for all the people trapped
inside a country that was now only separated from us by a small creek.
Whether intentional or not, the Chinese government
instructional cartoons about how to behave near the North Korean border were a
great pick-me-up after the sobering experience of being in spitting distance of
the North Korean border. They will definitely be the stars of my “Chinglish”
album (I will post this as soon as I see enough ridiculous and funny
translations posted on Chinese signs).
Was it worth the 12.5 hour train ride from Harbin to almost
go to North Korea? Sort of. But at the same time it just made me want to
actually stand on North Korean soil. Spending half an hour on a boat and looking
sadly across a river at North Korean desolation just doesn’t do this terribly
fascinating place justice.
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