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Weather of today:
- Day: 28 degrees and cloudy
- Night 22 degrees
Sentence of today:
Can foreigners stay here? 外国人能住这里吗?
Do you have a single room? 有没有单人房?
I'll take it. 我订这间
Today's - Good to know:
The standard English-language newspaper is the China Daily (www.chinadaily.com.cn). China's largest circulation Chinese-language daily is the People's Daily (Rénmín Rìbào). It has an English-language edition on www.english.peopledaily.com.cn. Imported English-language newspapers can be bought from five-star hotel bookshops.
Today's tip:
Remember to bring enough money with you when you are going for a day trip, you never know how much you will spend, or if you need to settle for the night.
Dish of today:
Prawns, Beef, mushrooms and vegetables in chilli sauce.
Today's Historical fact:
It's no exaggeration to say that, without China, the North Korean regime would not survive. The DPRK relies on China for food, fuel and arms. For China, keeping North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un, in power is a way of maintaining the delicate power balance in Norht Asia, where South Korea and Japan are both strong allies of the US. Equally important, though, is the fact that the DPRK is a captive market for Chinese companies and one worth an estimated US$2 billion a year.
Dāndōng is the hub of Sino-North Korean trade. Local Chinese websites advertise business opportunities across the border, while North Korean officials come looking for raw materials and machinery, as well as access to Chinese markets. But there's a thriving black-market economy too. Everything from cigarettes and mobile phones to TVs and furs (a UN resolution bans the export of luxury goods to the DPRK) makes its way across the Yālù River.
This illicit trade is having a significant impact on life inside the DPRK. Mobile phones anable people to communicate outside their local areas and, in some cases, abroad (they are officially banned) while the Yuan is now an alternative currency to the inflation-prone won in many regions. If and when North Korea does open up to the outside world, China will be ready to take full advantage.
My day:
Today I started my day early, was determined on getting the bus for Dandong at 8am. So got up early, ate breakfast and went down to the road to take a cab to the long-destination bus-station down town. I arrive 5 minutes to 8, and the tickets for the 8am bus was sold out, so I got a ticket for an hour later, but luckily the driver was standing right behind me when I bought the ticket, and he said there was a seat left. So lucky me and very nice of him. I was sitting behind a mom with her little daughter. I was chatting with her a little, and the daughter, around 8 years old, could say her name in English and how old she was, very cute. It took 4 hours in bus to Dandong, I was sleeping the most of the way. When I arrived I had no idea how to find the bus for the Tiger Mountain Great Wall, which was the whole purpose of the trip. The lady with the cute girl, told me I should go over to the ticket office, and gave me a direction. I was really hungry, so first I wanted to find a place to eat, I walked for 5 min, found a little alley with some small local dinners, entered one, got a plate where I got 3 dishes on, rice and soup. Unfortunately the meat dish was liver, I really don't like that, but the vegetable dishes were tasty enough, I also bought some tasty bread to go.
I went over to the bus station, and tried to ask people where the bus to the Tiger Mountain where, because according to Lonely Planet, It was possible. But after trying my best in Chinese with the people around me, a young guy asked if he could help, finely one speaking English, he told be I should just take a cab there, it wouldn't be so expensive, so I did. Ended up paying 40 Yuan, which where okay, but could have got there for 3 Yuan with the bus, but never mind, the taxi driver was really nice, tried to explain me a lot of things, but didn't understand half of it, what I understood though, was that on the other side of the river was North Korea, he also stopped occasionally at points so I could take photos. When we arrived he asked if he should wait for me, but I told him I wanted to take the bus back, I could see the bus stop, so though it would be easy. And it later was.
I paid 60 Yuan for the entrance to the wall, and 10 Yuan to a little small museum. It was a really beautiful view, after climbing up for half an hour. There were almost no people on the wall, so had it almost for my self. I really like that. There was some seriously climbing where the steps went almost strait in the air. But getting on the top was amazing, fantastic view over North Korea and you can see it's a completely different life over there. Where on the china site, they are building and building, but the Korean site I could spot a little village with a factory, and a lot of maize fields. Climbing down on the other side I had a little break for two minutes, and then a beautiful butterfly landed on my one shoe, what are the odds?
Further down was a point where I could follow the wall down to the museum, or follow the river on a narrow dirt path. The path literally runs along the cliff face, and if it weren't for these Chinese made railings, it would have been impossible to climb this road, because there was a stretch with bare cliff. After walking for a while, I got to a point called Yibukua - 'one step across' - marking an extremely narrow part of the river between the two countries.
It was a great experience, one of the most exiting trips I have had in China.
I took the bus back to city and found out the last bus back to Dalian left at 2pm, so had to find place to stay for the night. First I walked down to the Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge, the official border crossing between China and North Korea, right next to it is the originally bridge, or what's left of it, because during the Korean War in 1950, American troops 'accidentally' bombed the original steel-span bridge. I walked a long the river side, on the Wharf, which also is a little park. Afterwards I walked to a nearby hotel I found in my lonely planet book, the receptionist couldn't speak English, so I used my little phrasebook to help me find the right sentence in Chinese. This hotel was the crappiest place I have slept at while being in China, but it was the cheapest I could find. I paid 128 Yuan for a single room. The toilet was out of function, and the bed was so uncomfortable I woke up many times doing the night.
But firstly I just checked in and left right away, just to be sure I had a room, still wanted to explore more of the city, first I went to a restaurant, where all the dished were displayed on a big table, wrapped in plastic. I choose one big dish, which contained of mushrooms, prawns, beef and vegetables. Very delicious but also a bit spicy. I wasn't completely sure about how much it cost, and after giving a deposit at the hotel, I didn't have much money left, so was a bit nervous that I didn't have enough money to pay, otherwise I would also have ordered rice and a beer to it. Everything worked out well, I had enough. After the dinner I took a taxi to the bigger park in the city, there should be a good view point on the top, but sadly it was to foggy to see anything, but had some good exercise climbing the many steps. Again :) Hehe. There were also a little amusement park inside the park, and different animal attractions, such as apes, birds, a wolf, tigers that I couldn't see, and a wild boar. But the conditions for these animals were so poor, especially for the single wolf put into a tiny cage.
Back at the hotel I watched some CCTV news before going to bed.
Goodnight!
Ps: I miss you Vince!
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