Word: dandong
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...first glance, the city of Dandong seems a peaceful, bustling symbol of Chinese prosperity. Brightly dressed townspeople stroll along the tree-lined promenade near the Yalu River, teenagers mixing with office workers and young families, many of them fresh from nearby malls, shopping bags at their sides. As the light fades, neon signs illuminate the city's numerous hotels and karaoke bars. Smaller lights also begin to blink on in the rows of brand-new apartment buildings that line the riverbank for miles. Behind one of the buildings, a fountain of noise and color erupts as firecrackers and exploding rockets...
...Sanctions Don't Bite on the North Korea Border On Scene: It's business as usual on the Chinese border town of Dandong, which continues to trade briskly with 'those stupid bastards' across the Yalu
...Look a little closer, however, and it becomes evident why Dandong (pop. 2.4 million) is anything but a normal Chinese city--and why it's a crucial front in the world's struggle to contain a nuclear North Korea. A few hundred yards across the river lie the dilapidated low-rise buildings of the North Korean city of Sinuiju, many of which seem deserted, their window frames empty of glass, their doors agape. A few peasants dressed in blue jackets and trousers can be seen laboring in the fields in front of the town, but otherwise an eerie stillness pervades...
...proximity of such desolation goes to the heart of China's quandary about how to deal with North Korea and its leader, Kim Jong Il. Dandong is the main crossing point on China's 880-mile border with North Korea, making it the most active hub for the $1.6 billion in annual trade between the two countries. That trade is critical to the survival of Kim's regime: some 90% of Pyongyang's daily oil supply and just under half its food imports come from China. Although the U.S. believes that tightening the financial squeeze on Pyongyang is necessary...
...China doesn't like being told what to do in its own backyard by the United States. But neither its leaders in Beijing nor the ordinary working people of Dandong hide their frustration with the North Koreans. Squatting by the side of the road and smoking a cigarette, a young Chinese man clears his throat and spits. "Those stupid bastards, look how far they are behind us." He gestures to the other side of the river where the trucks crossing the bridge disappear into a solid wall of night, the electricity-starved North Korean town bathed in blackness. The flashily...