Dan Dong - North Korea

Dan Dong is the city that I am currently in and tomorrow I am heading across the Yalu river to North Korea and then heading back to my home city. I've actually arrived in Dan Dong by train and pretty proud that I've gotten my way around the city.


I took a ride on the river in anticipation for the next day where I would cross over to the other side.



Walking around the pier, it seems people here are pretty relaxed.



The older folks just relaxing and enjoying life with an occasional dance festival.



The younger folks getting their wedding portraits taken along the river.



The north koreans were actually quite curious about this picture when they searched through my digital camera.

So I've actually managed to cross over into Korea, the following photo is from North Korea looking into China:



Yes me in my pink outfit get up with the Hello Kitty sanrio franchise from Japan. The East Asian triangle right here.

So this the picture I took in front of one of the museums in North Korea:



The following is one I took near Dan Dong's train station:



I think the difference between these two can pretty much sum up the difference between the two countries. The fact that there's a construction site right next to the statue of Mao Zedong really tells you that it's the currently rapid economic development that really makes China stand out from North Korea. Throughout the trip my fellow travelers commented on how similar it was to China in the 60s and 70s, that it was like a trip back in time for them. Since I wasn't born at that time I really don't know what China was like then.

Shenyang visit

I got these really yummy snacks from the mute who were selling them.  They smelled really good, I believe it is made of sticky rice.

I actually do wonder what people with disability do in China, a lot of them are beggars on the street but these are two sisters who I really admired for working so hard.



This was earlier in the day when I was at the city's central plaza. A lot of people are flying kites, dancing (street and traditional and ballroom), and also skate boarding. I really love these city plazas and wish we had something like that in the United States.



So we were walking around the square and I was fascinated by these men who were writing traditional chinese calligraphy with these huge brushes with water on the ground and the old man above gave me a brush to try it. I had to admit that I couldn't really write and that I was just visiting my family from America. He told me to not forget that culture and traditions of my native land of China. It was one of the most fascinating things happening that night.

Shenyang memories

So I visited my old childhood home of Shenyang.



This was the old apartment that I lived in for 10 years of my life, it's the 5th floor. I think this building is only one of a few in this area that has not been torn down to make way for new commercial and residential building. Perhaps it was waiting for me to get back.



My childhood friend, Ye Chen, who lived one floor above me. We used to go to school together and walked to our school together.



So yes, this was my elementary school that I attended until fourth grader at which point I came to the United States. I believe the school was not open at this time so we had to beg the door attendant to let us in.

Family visit

So this is one of the train stations in Shenyang, my home city in China. Apparently there are multiple train stations in the major cities as I realize this in Beijing by getting on to the wrong station to get to Shenyang.

The train holds many of my favorite memories as that was the way my family used to travel in China for our summer vacations to Da Lian.



This is my only living grandparent, my maternal grandfather who's an octogenarian. So he was telling me about WWII and about how the Japanese had already invented cell phones during that time. Although I do wonder about the acts of unit 731 at that time. The area of Shenyang is in the Manchuria region that was first to be occupied by thte Japanese during that time.



Another picture of my grandfather with little tiger, who represents my mother because she was born in the year of the tiger and very firece.

Tieling adventures

So Tieling was my father's childhood home. My father went to high school at the place where China's first premier diplomat Zhou Enlai also studied.



This is the land where Zhao Benshan was born also. A very rural region of the area.

I arrived here by bus from Shenyang, it was only around an hour ride.

My dad's brother arrived to pick me up:



They are such a nice family, my fifth uncle arrived in Beijing to pick me up actually at the end of may.

The main reason I went to Tieling was actually to visit the grave of my paternal grandparents:



It was a very interesting story trying to find this grave site, apparently even though it was only 2 years ago that I participated in the grave moving ceremony, we had a hard time remembering where exactly it was located as it was at a site that was around half an hour out of the town and a mass grave site where many people were buried there. It took us around half an hour to find the site itself and I was praying really hard that somehow I would be able to find it and thankfully God answered my prayers and I did find it.

Afterward we went for more mount climbing.



en route to the mountain



I believe it translates into the dragon head mountain.



My uncle and cousin at one of the pagodas along the way. Apparently a lot of people take walks after dinner time along this mountain.



See? I told you many people come on this trail. It somewhat makes me want to move back to China although I'm not exactly sure what america is quite missing. Maybe I dislike the exercise bikes that goes nowhere in the gym or that I'm missing the food in China.