"On the border with North Korea" Dandong by pravit726

We visited Dandong in July 2006 for the same reason as most other foreigners who come here - to get a glimpse at North Korea. Dandong is a medium-sized city on the Yalu river, across from a North Korean town, Sinuiju. The two towns are linked by the Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge, closed to pedestrian traffic, but you can see a lot of North Korea just standing on the Chinese side. You can also get boat rides that will take you right up to the North Korean side for a better look. The most exciting part is taking a bus up to Tiger Mountain Great Wall to reach "Yi Bu Kua"(one step cross) and set foot into North Korea!

Here is my VT page about crossing into North Korea

I have some tips about Dandong itself on this VT page.

Dandong street scene. Notice how all the signs are in both Chinese and Korean. Dandong(and many cities in the Northeast) have a large Chinese Korean population. I thought everyone in this city was so friendly. People were inviting us to sit down and rest our feet as we checked our travel guides, the taxi driver back from Hushan was great company, and some bus drivers from Dandong really helped me out later on in Dalian. The city has a nice small-town feel - from the little restaurants that make baozi to the riverfront where locals hang out in the evenings and play hackey sack with shuttlecocks.

"Quan Da Lai" North Korean restaurant

There are plenty of North Korean restaurants in Dandong, one of which I detail in my restaurants tip, with photos. The proximity to North Korea seems to draw a lot of tourists, both Chinese and foreign - mainly South Koreans interested in taking a look at their Northern neighbors.

• Pros:North Korean border, friendly locals, great fun
• In a nutshell:Small-town charm on the North Korean border