We left the hotel to go to the train station to buy tickets to Dalian. We also bought 6 kuai tickets (roughly one dollar) to get to the Great Wall. Dandong is the start of the Great Wall in China, and it was especially cool for me to visit there because 1) I’ve now seen the Great Wall in five different places; 2) I’ve visited the farthest west part of the Great Wall (the fort of Jiayuguan), and now the farthest east (Dandong).
One of my American classmates made a very interesting observation about China. He said that he found it intriguing that the biggest attraction in China is a giant wall, considering China’s colored past with foreign invaders and China’s current attitude towards foreigners: a combination of fear and fascination. In comparing itself to other nations, China has at times raging nationalism, and other times raging insecurity. A giant wall seems like a perfect symbol of a country caught between a pre-North Korean-like era and the liberalizing reforms it is currently experiencing. It hops back and forth over the wall quite a bit.
We took a 40-minute bus ride to the border, and I was amused to find a couple of small Mao statues greet me from a vendor’s blanket as I stepped off the bus. My group of five was a bit hungry, so we stopped by a vendor on the side of the road to eat bird eggs from a stick. We watched him carefully crack the small blue eggs on the side of the table, and slowly pour the yolk into the small holes of a burner. The eggs sizzled and cracked, and I made sure to document most of this via video.
At one point when I circled around to film the scene around us, he cracked one of the eggs wrong and said in Chinese, “Crap, I made a mistake in front of foreigner friend.” My roommate told me this later, after I was halfway through my strangely delicious bird egg treat on a stick. My Chinese friends are constantly amused and curious about how other Chinese people treat me. They find it entertaining to travel with a foreigner because with me they are noticed, rather than just another group of Chinese tourists.
The night before was a perfect example of this—we sat outside in the chilly autumn weather, crowded around a table with a small open charcoal flame, slowly roasting clams, chicken wings, hot dogs, lamb, green peppers, and squid (which is actually delicious, I’ll have you know). We went to pay, and the lady was so delighted to see me that she asked me to speak Chinese. So I asked her in Chinese why she wanted me to speak Chinese, and she responded, “Because I like you,” and proceeded to give us a 10 kuai discount. My Chinese friends were very amused.
We bought our tickets and started our ascent up the Great Wall. Visiting the Great Wall so often has definitely taught me to appreciate elevators (not to mention that I lack an elevator in my dorm building and live on the fourth floor). We huffed and puffed up the stairs, occasionally taking a moment for breath. Our goal was a fort that looked like it was at the top of the mountain (named Tiger Mountain), and the more we climbed, the closer we got to North Korea. At one point I looked over the Great Wall and saw that we had crossed over the river that defines the border of North Korea and China. Technically I was in North Korean territory now.
We reached the top of the fort and I immediately sighted a few North Korean faces. They were in a small group with a white man who could speak Korean. They flocked around him, seeming to dote on every last word he said. The North Korean men were dressed in a plain brown uniform, and the woman had bright makeup on her face. They looked like they were from a different era. They didn’t stay long and I was too wary to ask why they were there, so I just watched them walk away with burning curiosity.
They left but the picture taking opportunity had arrived. Here I was on the Great Wall caught between North Korea and China. I took a moment to compare. The China side was hillier, with many buildings demonstrating a booming tourist industry. The North Korean side was flat and wide and so obviously an agricultural economy—the expanse consisted mostly of crop fields and a few distant rows of dilapidated housing.
I was shocked by the beauty of the country, but also by the emptiness. I felt like I was looking at a ghost. My roommate commented to me, “China was North Korea yesterday, and North Korea is hopefully China tomorrow.” I asked how my roommate how Chinese people feel about North Korea. She said they are very curious, and when I asked her why she explained it was because of North Korea’s secrecy, and also because of the Chinese government’s good relationship with them. I asked her if she thought it was also because China used to be like North Korea. She said yes.
I climbed down the fort, inching closer to North Korea. A couple of people with American accents sat on the stoop. The area was humming with ladybugs. When I unknowingly flicked one on the American woman, she made a passive-aggressive comment about having bugs flicked at her. I definitely don’t miss that kind of American attitude.
We turned back and walked down the Great Wall, having gotten our fill of the sight of North Korea. At the bottom, we walked past the group of North Koreans and I wondered how they ever were allowed to cross the border and keep company with a foreigner. Perhaps North Korea will be like China someday after all.
Before we boarded the bus my Chinese friends looked over and saw a two-inch long green slug, just chilling on a vendor’s finger. They screamed in amused disgust as the vendor lifted his finger towards them. My roommate came up next to me and said, “They are for eating.” I raised my eyebrows and sighed, entirely unsurprised. Yet another distinctly “China” moment.
To read my third post about my travels in Dandong, as I visit the Memorial in China to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid North Korea, click here.
