Personal experience, things to pay attention to when traveling to North Korea

Although North Korea is our neighbor, many Chinese people have always been curious about this "hermit" around them.

North Korea also has a very early understanding of tourism. They joined the World Tourism Organization in the late 1980s. Currently, the largest travel agency is North Korea International Travel Agency, which has offices in Shenyang, Beijing, Dandong, Yanji, etc. There are offices everywhere. In 2008, China opened North Korea as an outbound tourist destination for Chinese citizens. Up to now, more than 2,000 foreign tourists come to North Korea every day, 80 of them from China.

Due to too many people, the "Global Times" reported in March 2019: North Korea will "limit the flow" of foreign tourists, allowing 1,000 tourists to enter every day. The reason is simple. North Korea has limited hotels and transportation facilities and cannot bear too many tourists.

There are many things that Chinese tourists need to pay attention to when traveling to North Korea. Here is a brief introduction:

First of all, Chinese tourists can currently only go to North Korea in the form of group tours.

There are regulations: when foreigners are in North Korea, travel procedures must be assisted by the North Korean reception unit. If you go to the embassy or consulate alone, they will not accept you.

Currently, there are many cities in China that can handle North Korean tours. You need to apply for the relevant tours to the travel agency about 10 days in advance and apply for a group visa in one go. The most convenient ones are Dandong and Yanji, because these two cities are close to North Korea.

Secondly, the things you carry are actually very loose.

When traveling to North Korea, only high-powered telescopes, professional cameras, video cameras, etc. are not allowed. There is no problem with other ordinary mobile phones and cameras.

When eating in North Korea, every meal in the group includes meat. The key is that the white rice is delicious, so you don’t need to bring instant noodles or compressed biscuits.

At present, Chinese aunts like to go to North Korea the most. They are more willing to go to North Korea to experience nostalgia or history.

Third, when foreign tourists come to North Korea, they must comply with travel agency regulations when purchasing food, accommodation, and travel.

North Korea has been improving its tourism reception capacity. The Yanggakdo Hotel, which mainly receives Chinese tourists, also cooperated with China and was once operated and managed by Chinese people. There is also a high-end foreign-related hotel, the Koryo Hotel, which mainly receives European and American guests.

North Koreans don’t like you visiting their homes, so don’t offer to be a guest at home. In the past two years, some travel agencies in North Korea have launched Pyongyang citizen home visit programs in response to the curiosity of Chinese tourists. You only need to communicate with the tour guide in advance, and it will not cost any money.

When visiting Kim Il Sung Square, I met several children walking by from time to time, wearing red scarves. When they met us, they would say "hello" in Chinese and bow politely

Fourth, North Koreans don’t like you taking photos of others.

When you walk on the streets of Pyongyang, you will see neat and clean things. You will not see any strange clothes, no ragged clothes, no people begging, and no people spitting at will. . Looking up at the residential buildings along the street, there are small flowers on the windowsills, and no quilts or clothes are hanging to dry.

Chinese tourists feel curious everywhere they go in North Korea, so they like to capture people’s expressions. This is not allowed. In the Triumph Youth Paradise, when we were photographing children playing games, two male parents looked at us warily. It felt wrong, so we walked away immediately. Unexpectedly, the two parents followed us for more than ten meters before turning around and going back. We didn’t dare to tell the tour guide about it.

Fifth, North Koreans don’t like to be judged.

This is a characteristic of Chinese tourists. They comment as they go. Just comment if you want. The key is always pointing, which makes the tour guide keep reminding and discouraging. The tour guide told us that Pyongyang’s beautiful female traffic policeman was shy when being photographed by Chinese tourists. Now when she saw the tourist bus approaching, she immediately turned around and refused to take a picture of her face.