Dandong and Beijing

A few days ago Spencer (friend from Vietnam) and I went to Dandong. Dandong is on the North Korean border. The Chinese we met there had a tough time understanding why we wanted to go. This curiosity about an inaccessible country seems natural to me. The incomprehension here made me recall a passage in Kapuscinki about question asking in Russia. It was surreal to look over the Yalu River and see the North. If you have looked on Google Earth or seen the photo spreads of North Korea taken from Dandong, then you have seen what I have. Perhaps more so than you realize, because the Korean side is as still as it appears in the photographs. I saw about 10 Koreans. Some were wading in the River, a police boat in the River, a few farmers, a girl walking a dog. The factories were quiet, and the windows were dark. You can get closer to the Korean side in two ways: walk as far as a ruined bridge will allow, or take a Chinese speedboat as close as you can. We walked to the end of the ruined bridge and ogled at the other side through binoculars. Chinese tourists were there too. Rumor has it that the Chinese speedboat will go so close that the North Korean guard will point his rifle at the tourists, then the boat speeds away. Rehearsed theater or real threat? I don't know. I enjoy being in places like this, because there are some things you just cannot know. We saw one other group of Americans there and smiled at them.

That night we ate at a N Korean owned and operated restaurant on the Dandong side (of course). We wanted to sit with some Chinese. Perhaps aware that our conversation might drift uncomfortably, the waitress pushed us to a table where it was only the two of us. It was entirely too big, but we needed room for the dishes, she explained. We spoke in Mandarin. I can proudly report that after three years of studying Chinese in college, I am able to order food in restaurants. I asked her if she was a Korean. I unwittingly used the word for South Korean. Exasperatedly, she told me that she was from "chao xian." I had no idea how you get Korea from that, but a few days later it hit me: Chosun. Chosun is the name of an ancient Korean kingdom. The regime uses the ancient word to establish its claim to represent Korea. The waitresses were wonderfully nice, they sang, and the food was excellent. I told them we were Canadian, but I think they knew we were Americans.

I look terrible. I haven't washed my clothes in weeks. The cleanest shirt I have is a Ho Chi Minh shirt I got awhile ago in Vietnam. It earns some stares. Though it was interesting when my hostel owner in Beijing started singing a Vietnam and China friendship song from the Cold War. Thankfully I am feeling pretty good and am swine flu free. I've had my temperature taken a few times. I am trying to trade my mild coffee addiction for a green tea addiction. I spent a few hours at a Houhai cafe today, drinking very good green tea. The waiter didn't charge me for it, because, he said, I didn't get wasted like all the other Westerners. It was a little weird. My language program starts in a couple days.