DANDONG, China - After a passenger train service linking China and North Korea resumed in March following a six-year hiatus, hopes for an early resumption of cross-border tourism have been growing in Dandong, a northeastern Chinese border city.
The train service operates daily between Dandong and Pyongyang, but passengers are currently limited to diplomats, businesspeople and students, as North Korea has yet to resume issuing tourist visas.
A local tour guide in the Liaoning Province city, located on the Yalu River bank opposite the North Korean city of Sinuiju, said tourism industry workers in Dandong have been eagerly awaiting the neighboring country's reopening to tourists, calling it "a matter of life or death" for them.
Chinese nationals accounted for the largest share of foreign tourists before Pyongyang curbed international travel in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. NK News, a website focused on North Korea, has estimated that some 350,000 Chinese tourists visited the country in 2019 and spent some $175 million there.
The guide said he had frequently led Chinese tour groups to destinations across North Korea, including not only Sinuiju for day trips but also the capital Pyongyang, the northeastern city of Rason, which hosts a special economic zone, and the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas.
"Dandong used to attract North Korea-bound tourists from all over China," he said. "Chinese tourists were most interested in observing the everyday lives of ordinary North Koreans."
In late March, Kyodo News reporters saw tourists in Dandong gazing curiously across the river from bridges or sightseeing boats, with some using binoculars to get a glimpse of North Korean locals going about their daily lives.
Young North Korean women were seen enjoying a river cruise on a pleasure boat, while local people were spotted riding bicycles and motorcycles.
Several travelers in Dandong bought souvenirs such as a set of North Korean bills and cigarettes, and wore traditional Korean dress known as "hanbok" near the Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge over the Yalu River.
While North Korea faces U.N. sanctions over its missile and nuclear programs, tourism is exempt. Expectations are rising for closer people-to-people exchanges between the two Asian neighbors with recent high-level visits.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un traveled to Beijing in September last year and held his first in-person talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping in over six years, marking an improvement in bilateral relations that had apparently been strained by Pyongyang's deepening military cooperation with Moscow.
In April, Kim met with China's top diplomat Wang Yi in Pyongyang and called for more high-level exchanges and closer strategic communication between the two countries.
While North Korea has yet to fully reopen to international tourists after the pandemic, having accepted only a small number of Russian tour groups, it appears keen to develop its tourism industry for economic growth.
Last summer, the Wonsan Kalma tourist area, a new beach resort with hotels and leisure facilities, opened on the country's east coast.
In February, Kim proposed creating large canola flower fields in Sinuiju. According to North Korean media, tens of thousands of workers were deployed, and sowing was completed in late March. Diplomatic sources said the fields will likely attract many Chinese travelers once cross-border tours resume.
With the improvement of bilateral ties, observers are closely monitoring whether the New Yalu River Bridge linking Dandong and Sinuiju will finally open after its completion in 2014. A top Dandong official said in January that the local government would fully promote the project so it could become operational by the end of 2026.
North Korea has been constructing several buildings near the new bridge, with the sources pointing out that they are customs facilities.
China is North Korea's largest trading partner and longtime economic benefactor. The opening of a new bridge is expected to boost two-way trade.
