| Author |
Message |
skyline5k
Board Legend
Joined: Sep 06, 2004
Posts: 10033
Location: is behind you with a knife O_O
|
 Posted:
Aug 06, 2006 - 02:32 PM |
 
|
| Post subject: The Girls of Dandong & North Korea |
As my job takes me out of town quite a bit, I thought I'd share some of my experiences as I travel.
Dandong is up north in Liaoning province, right on the border of North Korea. All that's standing between me & 1/3rd the "axis of evil" is the winding Yalu River. Two bridges stretch across the border, though only one of them is actually complete. At night, you can see where the border is as only the Chinese side of the bridge is lit.
I've yet to attempt to cross the bridge, knowing all the warnings about shooting westerners on sight & such.
Dondong's local beer, also called Yalu River is okay, comparable to Suntory or most other local brews around China. There's a few expat bars in town. One right around the corner from the Aston English School is the Sunlight Bar. It's famed for having the coldest beer in Dandong, and rightfully so. Other than that, from what I've gathered so far, most foreigners here hang out at Korean bbq's & outdoor restaurants... when it doesn't rain.
It rains quite a bit here, but the weather is still mild, compared to Shanghai. Pullution levels are down, but the humidity can be a killer at times. The city itself boasts around 300,000 in the city limits, more than a million if you count the outlying areas. Right across the river is the North Korean version of Dandong, though I haven't gotten it's name yet.
Anyways, as promised... the girls of Dandong!
These images were taken from my mobile phone, hence the rather low quality.
I'll be adding Dandong to www.ChinaExcursions.com eventually, but since I still have an additional 10 days to go here, I'll wait till I finish the whole trip. I still have to sneak into North Korea & get some girls from there! |
_________________
http://www.terascape.net |
|
 
  |
|
LaVecchiaSignora
SuperStar
Joined: July 24, 2006
Posts: 1530
Status: Offline
|
| Posted:
Aug 09, 2006 - 09:27 AM |
|
|
This is excellent information Mr. Skyline. I think I recognise the first girl. |
_________________
I like walking in the rain because no one knows im crying |
|
|
|
|
skyline5k
Board Legend
Joined: Sep 06, 2004
Posts: 10033
Location: is behind you with a knife O_O
|
| Posted:
Aug 09, 2006 - 09:54 AM |
|
|
Are you sure? The two "girls" are performers at a club. They're basically the "famous" ladyboy acts at the "Sun Moon Star" club. They have nightly shows from 9 to 11 or so before the club closes & it's just a KTV afterwards. The pics are only a joke, and if they were better quality, it'd probably be more noticable.  |
_________________
http://www.terascape.net
Last edited by skyline5k on Aug 09, 2006 - 10:08 AM; edited 1 time in total |
|
|
|
|
LaVecchiaSignora
SuperStar
Joined: July 24, 2006
Posts: 1530
Status: Offline
|
| Posted:
Aug 09, 2006 - 10:03 AM |
|
|
I enjoy reading this. You might be one of the best posters here, together with yours truly. I do recognise the first 'girl'. I have been to Fushun. But they do look quite a-like. I would like to dance like a monkey while crossing the bridge to reach North-Korea, so they can capture me, keep my passport, copy them to make fake ones and release me while I take 50 refugees with me. It would make my day.
Keep writing. |
_________________
I like walking in the rain because no one knows im crying |
|
|
|
|
skyline5k
Board Legend
Joined: Sep 06, 2004
Posts: 10033
Location: is behind you with a knife O_O
|
| Posted:
Aug 09, 2006 - 10:09 AM |
|
|
Anyways, last night was one of China's Ghost festivals. All across the city, people were burning small yellow pieces of paper with chinese characters on it. Perhaps a local could enlighten us laowais about what's on the paper and a bit more about the tradition. Others were burning fake money. By about 11pm, the streets were filled with piles of burnt ash all around it.
Sabrina, one of the Chinese Teachers at Aston English here, went with me to the river bank. She was trying out a brand new camera, so again... I'm still hoping to get some of those pics to post here. North Korea was on the other side. Looking backward, Dandong was completely lit up. There was music playing at the park next to the river, with fountains throwing synchronized water everywhere. Old men & women were dancing with their flags, maybe about 50 or so as a crowd gathered to watch. Many people were playing badminton or playing with those feathery things that look like hackey-sack.
On the North Korean side... nothing. No music, no park, no dancing, nothing. Only one large light and about 4 smaller lights eminated from the city on the other side of the river. The bridge that extends across has the border between North Korea & China clearly marked. The Chinese part of the bridge is all lit up with multi-colored flashing lights. The North Korean end of the bridge is dark. It was a very surreal scene.
Sabrina mentioned to me about crossing the bridge. The guards on the other side can get right nasty. They don't see the Chinese as Chinese. They see any foreigners crossing as animals. When one has to cross over to North Korea, the guards try to humiliate them as best they can, trying to get them to act like animals before they can get their passport back. You're much safer crossing over at night though, as if you do have to act like an animal, no one can see anyways, because the city across the river shuts down all power at 8pm. The only light left comes from candlelights where younger North Koreans study Chinese, Russian or English, secretly & late at night. |
_________________
http://www.terascape.net |
|
|
|
|
skyline5k
Board Legend
Joined: Sep 06, 2004
Posts: 10033
Location: is behind you with a knife O_O
|
| Posted:
Aug 09, 2006 - 10:10 AM |
|
|
Thanks, LaVecchia. Sorry for the split. Just wanted to keep the actual info separate from the "joke"!  |
_________________
http://www.terascape.net |
|
|
|
|
LaVecchiaSignora
SuperStar
Joined: July 24, 2006
Posts: 1530
Status: Offline
|
| Posted:
Aug 09, 2006 - 10:26 AM |
|
|
No joking here Mr. skyline. I do enjoy reading stories like these. I will tell you a little story about the fake money. The papers with Chinese characters on it will be explained another time. I do no not want to deviate too much from your lovely topic Mr. skyline.
| Quote: |
The use of spirit money (also known as hell money (don't call it this) or heaven money) in observing different rituals is deeply rooted in Asian culture. Archaeological evidence of “fake/spirit money” can be seen as far back as circa 1000 B.C. Imitations of money in the form of stones and bones (along with cowrie shells) were found in tombs. In the Spring and Autumn periods, archaeologists have found evidence of imitation metal money. The imitation metal money was thin and fragile, made of lead and bronze. There were also imitations in clay of gold plaques. Initially, archaeologists believed that imitations were for the poor; however, that belief changed when they discovered imitation money in the tombs of the wealthy
Spirit money itself has many different uses; however, it is used generally as a symbol of transformation, increase in reproduction, and payment of spiritual debts. The notes used as “money” are transformed to spirit money when they are used as symbolic offerings to ghosts, gods, and ancestors. The burning of spirit money allows for it to be transferred to ghosts, gods, and ancestors to be used as real currency in the other world. Furthermore, spirit money serves a vital role in association with the offering of food to some ghosts, gods, and ancestors. The offering of food serves to bring our ancestors and other beings in the other world closer to us. It serves as a bonding tool to bring both worlds together. This can be seen in cultures all around the world where feasts, dinners, and other social events use money to bring the community together. Spirit money on the other hand serves to separate the living world from the world of ghosts, gods, and ancestors. It is not natural to have both of these worlds in close connection with each other. The use of spirit money is very similar to how we use money in our society today. It is generally used as a tool to maintain a certain level of distance between two parties during a transaction. The concepts of food and money correlate directly to the offerings to ghosts, gods, and ancestors. We use food to bring them close to us and money to separate them from us.
Spirit money is also used in activities outside of funerals. Spirit money can used to cast away foul spirits that interrupt offerings to the gods or ancestors and create problems in one’s life. This type of ritual is performed by hoat-su. These are specialists in performing rituals for clients who seek their help with illness or other personal problems. The hoat-su writes, Heaven and Earth, the Lord of Thunder, and all the gods of China’s three religions command with all their power the god of the year and the gods of the months and hours to dispel whatever evil powers threaten here, on a paper charms in order to expel the evil spirits. The hoat-su then stamps the charm, burns it, dissolves the ashes in a cup of water, sips water, and spurts it out. Spirit money can also be used as a bribe to keep ghosts away. Burning spirit money serves as purification which separates the living from spirits.
|
taken from http://www.anthro.uci.edu/html/Programs/Anthro_Money/GhostMoney.htm
They were proabaly burning incense paper as well. Please keep posting, I find places close to the North Korean border very fascinating.
[thread modified to credit other sources for what appears to be from another sources but mistakenly not quoted- instead of deleting it, we have just added the quotes to indicate it may have come from elsewhere] |
_________________
I like walking in the rain because no one knows im crying
Last edited by LaVecchiaSignora on Aug 09, 2006 - 11:02 AM; edited 1 time in total |
|
|
|
|
skyline5k
Board Legend
Joined: Sep 06, 2004
Posts: 10033
Location: is behind you with a knife O_O
|
| Posted:
Aug 09, 2006 - 10:52 AM |
|
|
Thanks for the heads-up on the money. Like I said, I'm in Dandong until Monday, so I'll have more to write as I find out about it.
And, by the way, the name of the North Korean city across the river is Sinuiju. |
_________________
http://www.terascape.net |
|
|
|
|
skyline5k
Board Legend
Joined: Sep 06, 2004
Posts: 10033
Location: is behind you with a knife O_O
|
| Posted:
Aug 09, 2006 - 10:56 AM |
|
|
I found the name of the city in this article: http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/world/15219697.htm
| Quote: |
River journey shows stark differences between China, North Korea
By Tim Johnson
McClatchy Newspapers
DANDONG, China - Chinese tourists who come to this border city with North Korea often hop on boats for excursions to a virtual human zoo: They cross the Yalu River and motor along the other side to gawk at poor North Koreans.
The Chinese peer through binoculars, occasionally waving or drifting close. They return to shore grateful that China has chosen a capitalist path, long ago veering from the socialist totalitarianism that's still in force across the river.
"I feel sorry for them," Gao Feng, a visitor, said after a boat trip, launching into praise for his own country. "I feel proud to be a Chinese. Our country is developed, and people have become rich."
For many Chinese visitors, the river journey is a feel-good occasion that reaffirms the vast changes that have transformed their nation in the past quarter-century. They marvel at the stark contrasts along the Yalu River's two sides.
On the Chinese side, high-rise hotels and modern condos tower overhead. Huge outdoor plasma-screen monitors brighten the fronts of karaoke bars, massage parlors and bathhouses. Late-model cars ply the manicured streets along the riverfront, where boats with dragon motifs fill with tourists for cruises. On a recent day, a motorized ski sent a plume of water skyward as its rider whizzed up and down the river.
At nighttime, the Chinese side is ablaze in neon lighting.
Barely a light flickers on the North Korean side, a sign of dire energy shortages in the most closed society in the world. Some 350,000 residents dwell in the border city of Sinuiju, but smokestacks over dilapidated factories issue nary a wisp. Along the river, rusted fishing boats list, and residents squat, staring aimlessly. A Ferris wheel sits idle.
"When you compare the two sides, you see how prosperous China is," said Wu Zhanjun, 36, who's from Liaoning province, in China's surrounding industrial heartland.
"I saw their children catching fish," added Han Quanyi, a truck owner who was taking a vacation here. "They don't look like Chinese children. They are very thin. Their clothes are old and dirty. And the women have mud all over their bodies."
Dandong has long drawn tourists as the site where Chinese troops swept across the Yalu during the Korean War, 1950-1953, to aid ally North Korea. A partial span known as the Broken Bridge, because of wartime bombing, still juts into the river, and tourists can walk along its length reading posters describing wartime history.
For decades, North Korea has been the easiest foreign destination for the Chinese. Until last year, they didn't even need passports. Even today, it's easier for them to enter North Korea than Hong Kong, the prosperous British colony that reverted to China in 1997.
But many Chinese only look at North Korea from the riverboats, although dozens of travel agencies arrange three- and four-day tours in the country, and 100 to 200 tourists cross the border each day.
Those who opt for travel often bristle at the strict rules they must follow. Among the items that Chinese tourists are prohibited from taking to North Korea are mobile phones, binoculars, laptop computers, professional cameras and zoom lenses.
"They keep asking us, `Why shouldn't I be allowed to bring my cell phone? Even if I don't use it, I can't bring it?'" one travel agency owner said, requesting anonymity for fear that identifying her might hurt her business.
North Korea recently demanded that Chinese tourists stop posting impressions of their visits to the country online, warning that it may cut off the travel agencies' business.
"People have written that the North Koreans are good at intelligence but they aren't good at anything else," the agency owner said. "The North Koreans found out about it, and they've warned us."
With 800,000 residents, Dandong is the largest of China's frontier cities, and its economy has risen because of steady growth in trade with North Korea. Last year, China exported $1.08 billion worth of goods to North Korea - a 35 percent increase over the previous year - and received $499 million in imports, mainly minerals.
North Korea's launch of seven ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan last month hasn't affected that trade. Residents here offered bemused shrugs when asked about it, voicing equal concern about recent floods that wracked the nation.
But traders and businessmen in Dandong, awaiting eventual change in North Korea, do complain about the difficulties of doing business over the border.
"They have no electricity. We have to bring our own generators. There are no roads. We have to build roads. The workers have no food. So we have to bring food, too. And there's no equipment," said a local consultant who works with Chinese mining companies eager to exploit North Korea's copper and zinc deposits and who spoke only on the condition of anonymity.
Merchants visiting North Korea also must grow accustomed to demands that they lay flowers before portraits of Kim Il Sung, the deceased founder of North Korea.
"The North Koreans lead us to the pictures and we have to offer flowers," said the consultant, who said he'd been across the border "countless times."
North Korean agents entrusted to cross the border into China to shop for the Stalinist state sometimes can be seen in Dandong's streets, usually in groups of three, always wearing lapel pins with images of current strongman Kim Jong Il, the deceased Kim's son. Local merchants said the agents sometimes passed bogus U.S. dollars.
Washington has accused Pyongyang of printing counterfeit American $100 bills of such high quality that they're called "supernotes." Last year, it imposed sanctions on a Macau bank that it accused of helping to move the North Korean notes.
"I just say that my shop doesn't accept dollars," said An Jize, an ethnic Korean who owns a shop that sells brightly colored traditional Korean costumes.
Along the waterfront, Han, the truck driver, scanned the North Korean side and reflected how North Korea and China once had similar systems and levels of development.
"They are still going along the old road," he said, signaling across the river. "Before the reforms, China was like that. But with the reforms, it's changed a lot. The gap is so huge." |
|
_________________
http://www.terascape.net |
|
|
|
|
dfoo
Post Roaster
Joined: Jan 19, 2005
Posts: 4693
Status: Offline
|
| Posted:
Aug 09, 2006 - 11:00 AM |
|
|
Thanks for sharing! Great stories. |
|
|
|
|
|
LaVecchiaSignora
SuperStar
Joined: July 24, 2006
Posts: 1530
Status: Offline
|
| Posted:
Aug 09, 2006 - 11:38 AM |
|
|
Great article to read Mr. skyline. Thank you. |
_________________
I like walking in the rain because no one knows im crying |
|
|
|
|
skyline5k
Board Legend
Joined: Sep 06, 2004
Posts: 10033
Location: is behind you with a knife O_O
|
| Posted:
Aug 09, 2006 - 02:47 PM |
|
|
|
|
|
|
shinpath
Seeker
Joined: Aug 05, 2005
Posts: 60
Location: Osaka Japan & Shanghai PRC
Status: Offline
|
| Posted:
Aug 09, 2006 - 10:11 PM |
|
| Post subject: North Korean girls in Dandong |
Reports I have heard say you can find and meet N.Korean girls working as waitresses on the Chinese side in Korean restaurants. You DON'T want to sneak over to the N.Korean side, trust me. |
|
|
|
|
|
wolfy
Fire-eater
Joined: Sep 13, 2004
Posts: 2510
|
| Posted:
Aug 10, 2006 - 01:57 PM |
|
|
|
|
|
|
skyline5k
Board Legend
Joined: Sep 06, 2004
Posts: 10033
Location: is behind you with a knife O_O
|
| Posted:
Aug 11, 2006 - 05:48 PM |
|
|
I finally got to North Korea yesterday... sort of. I went on one of those boat trips mentioned in the article I posted above. It was just that. Chinese gawking at the North Koreans along the beach. One thing Sinuiju has that Dandong hasn't is a good sandy beach! There must've been a few hundred kids on the beach yesterday. Close to the beach is a school where they learn about their "beloved leader". Down river a bit more were a few rusted out boats, and a couple of what I imagine is their military vessels. Every so often on the shore, you could spot one of the guards, rifle in hand. Inside the city of Sinuiju itself, the women supposedly have to wear a certain kind of outfit. White & blue striped shirt with a blue skirt, probably similar to what some of the schoolkids in China wear.
The boat tour in total lasted about 15 minutes. Back on the shore, sellers were selling North Korean money. I managed to buy 115 RMB's worth for 15 RMB. It could be fake, but as Sabrina explained to me, it could be real because no one here wants North Korean money, and the North Koreans themselves have no real use for it.
I'll try to get the pics online on Monday when I get to Shenyang. |
_________________
http://www.terascape.net |
|
|
|
|
man
FooJay
Joined: Mar 30, 2006
Posts: 1788
Status: Offline
|
| Posted:
Aug 12, 2006 - 01:28 AM |
|
|
theres a good article from some dan guy who ccycled round china. think its linked toi shanghaiist.com. good read, great punchline |
_________________
http://uk.gay.com/ |
|
|
|
|
skyline5k
Board Legend
Joined: Sep 06, 2004
Posts: 10033
Location: is behind you with a knife O_O
|
| Posted:
Aug 12, 2006 - 08:34 AM |
|
|
|
|
|
|
man
FooJay
Joined: Mar 30, 2006
Posts: 1788
Status: Offline
|
| Posted:
Aug 14, 2006 - 08:48 PM |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Confucius
Squeeker
Joined: Sep 07, 2005
Posts: 13
Status: Offline
|
| Posted:
Oct 11, 2006 - 06:06 PM |
|
|
Dandong is one of the best places in China to meet North Koreans. You can easily spot them at the wholesale markets by their Kim Il Sung pins and also at the truck queue near the bridge.
It is also possible to sneak across the border onto North Korean soil north of Dandong near the reconstructed Great Wall at Hushan. I did it twice!
See my Dandong page at Virtualtourist.com for photos and travel tips:
[http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/46443/f9828/] |
|
|
|
|
|
skyline5k
Board Legend
Joined: Sep 06, 2004
Posts: 10033
Location: is behind you with a knife O_O
|
| Posted:
Oct 14, 2006 - 01:51 PM |
|
|
But chances are, the North Koreans won't be telling you anything significant. They don't care to talk about conditions in the "Fatherland" and they certainly don't care to be gawked at. Finding them is one thing. Meeting them is something else.
I knew a girl there when I was there who swam across the river, grabbed a handful of grass & swam back. I'd have tried it for myself, but I'm no swimmer. |
_________________
http://www.terascape.net |
|
|
|
|
Confucius
Squeeker
Joined: Sep 07, 2005
Posts: 13
Status: Offline
|
| Posted:
Oct 19, 2006 - 02:42 AM |
|
|
Gawk all you want! They don't care. I found them to be quite talkative if you can find one that speaks Mandarin or English. I walked right up to their trucks and handed out American baseball cards. You can talk about anything, even politics! They are really friendly!
Was the girl Chinese? At Hushan, just north of Dandong, you can walk across a creek onto North Korean grass. Why bother swimming across the river if all you want is a handful of grass? Did she smoke it or what? |
|
|
|
|
|
oohaah54321
Reacher
Joined: May 15, 2006
Posts: 220
Status: Offline
|
| Posted:
Oct 19, 2006 - 05:11 AM |
|
|
Wolfy what an uptight knob you must be. At no point did it seem that that article was being passed off as LVS personal work, and who gives a **** about the source. Lighten up chief. |
_________________
Keep it close poker. And no one will know about the Stress card you having. |
|
|
|
|
skyline5k
Board Legend
Joined: Sep 06, 2004
Posts: 10033
Location: is behind you with a knife O_O
|
| Posted:
Oct 23, 2006 - 10:09 AM |
|
|
| Confucius wrote: |
Gawk all you want! They don't care. I found them to be quite talkative if you can find one that speaks Mandarin or English. I walked right up to their trucks and handed out American baseball cards. You can talk about anything, even politics! They are really friendly!
Was the girl Chinese? At Hushan, just north of Dandong, you can walk across a creek onto North Korean grass. Why bother swimming across the river if all you want is a handful of grass? Did she smoke it or what? |
I spent a total of 2 weeks there, most of the time working my ass off for the Aston school. Perhaps given more time, I'd have met more talkative ones.
The girl who swam across was Australian actually, and an avid swimmer. I've heard about Hushan, but I think she did it purely for the swim. Dandong is one of the few cities I've been to where the western population is genuinely quite cool. |
_________________
http://www.terascape.net |
|
|
|
|
therockinshanghai
Talker
Joined: Mar 06, 2006
Posts: 75
Status: Offline
|
| Posted:
Dec 22, 2006 - 05:43 PM |
|
|
|
|
|
|
wolfy
Fire-eater
Joined: Sep 13, 2004
Posts: 2510
|
| Posted:
Dec 27, 2006 - 05:19 PM |
|
|
| oohaah54321 wrote: |
Wolfy what an uptight knob you must be. At no point did it seem that that article was being passed off as LVS personal work, and who gives a **** about the source. Lighten up chief. |
I’ll bet the author does. As a writer myself I don’t like to see people ripping off other people’s work. |
_________________
Good old English spirit! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MG27BKwjaI |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Forum FAQ
Search
Preferences
Watched Topics
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
