Not far from Dandong is the most northern and eastern section of The Great Wall. Dandong is about sixteen hours by train from Beijing and I found it mind boggling to reflect on the size of The Great Wall given that it runs not only to Beijing, but further west at least another twenty four hours of train journey! The question arises – Does the word 'Great' do it justice?
Rising quickly, The Wall provides a Great vantage point to survey the juncture of China and North Korea. The hills of the former falling to meet the flat farmlands of the latter, separated by the silver ribbon of the Yalu River.
The only North Korean settlement in sight was a small farming village and, at the crest of the wall, a local entrepreneur provided an old, possibly military, telescope to satisfy the inevitable curiosity of tourists. For a small fee of course. Though it felt a little wrong, I couldn't resist a peek and paid the 3 RMB to spy on the unsuspecting villagers below. It felt like I was looking back in time. The way the people dressed, the tools they used, no evidence of basic modern improvements like road surfacing or telegraph or power lines. I tried to capture an image using the telescope to assist my camera and though I didn't manage to photograph exactly what I'd just been looking at, I managed to get something:
Before I could take any more shots, the telescope owner spotted what I was doing and made a noisy display of disapproval, shooing me off his prize asset.
Sometimes even the ambitious engineers of The Great Wall can't improve on nature's natural barriers:
Walking back around the base of the hill takes you literally within a stones throw of North Korea. About as close as you can get without actually trying to cross the border.
I don't know what the sign says, but I could swim it from here.
Teasing those who might be tempted to try and cross, this boats bottom was so holy it would be about as buoyant as a colander!
At busier times, these small boats would be offering tourists a slightly closer view of their neighbours, but without some pretty good yarns to go with it, I doubt if the few feet of proximity gained would be worth it.
