Dandong

Sorry the blog's been quiet lately. April has been a busy month, with visitors, travel, and work. I hope you enjoyed Mom & David's guest posts while they were in China. I sure enjoyed their visit here and am so happy that they made the trek out to Shenyang to see my side of the world. Playing tour guide was a great opportunity to see China from a newbie's perspective, like when I first became enamored with this big country, the culture, and the language. After a consecutive year and a half in country, I'll be honest when I say that some of the charm has worn off and I've become a bit cynical about China. But deep down I will always have a fascination with the Middle Kingdom and its deep history. No better way to rekindle that fascination than showing family all the awesome things at once. The food, the sights, the sheer size of it all; China has a lot to offer. Thanks again, M&D, for coming out, spending time together with me, and being fantastic travelers. It isn't easy to travel in China and I give you lots of credit for sticking with it and staying optimistic when it got frustrating. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!!

A week or so after M&D's trip to China, a group from the Consulate headed to Dandong. For those who have never heard of this city before, Dandong sits at the China-North Korean border along the Yalu River. For most Chinese citizens, it's the closest they'll ever get to the DPRK and thus, a tourist attraction. Visiting Dandong has been on my list of things-to-do and so this trip was by all means a success!

We had a caravan of four cars heading down, some families and some younger officers like myself. The ride was quick (about 2.5 hours), simple (a straight highway shot), and scenic (as scenic as Northeast China can be). Once we got there, the amazement of seeing North Korea was fulfilling, as it was a grey, blustery, and rainy day, just about as desolate as I had imagined the border to be. The group stuck together for a good part of the day, touring the major sites. These included:

The Yalu River

The Broken Bridge (bombed by the US during the Korean War)

The Hushan Great Wall 

Yi Bu Hua (one step across)

After touring for a while, three of us headed to our hotel to check in. We were staying the night so we could experience Dandong nightlife and see the Museum of American Aggression in the morning. We met up again with the families at a fantastic Korean barbecue restaurant and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves to start the night. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of the dance club: Zhen Ai 真爱 or "Real Love," but I can summarize it in four words. LED Hydraulic Dance Floor. Simply awesome.

Oh yeah, Korean food.

The following morning was beautiful, with a bright blue sky and sunshine. It gave me hope that spring was coming. I took a run along the river walk, from our hotel in the southern part of the city back to the broken bridge. Being outside in the warmth of the sun was refreshing and it made me miss running along the streets of Philadelphia. After a decent brunch at the hotel, we checked out and made our way over to the museum.

I had heard from other officers that the museum was basically a propaganda show, filled with explanations of how the Chinese were peaceful big brothers to Korea and it was the big bad aggressive Americans who came in and ruined things. Well, a good deal of the museum was devoted to just that.

Click on picture to enlarge: it says, "She's happy because her husband is a POW."
Don't think that ever really happened.

Visiting the museum was in part a humbling experience, and the information presented there did give me pause to think about history from a different perspective. All in all, I am glad I visited and the memory of the museum and the city as a whole will stay with me for a long, long time. To all who plan to come to China: if you have the time, I strongly recommend a visit to Dandong.