Arty Day

 Back in Beijing my main aim is to see the Art Districts. They are away from the city centre and require subway and bus connections. I had been worried about the bus part due to being unsure about communicating where to alight - and imagining myself miles out into the countryside and lost - but actually the buses had English digital signs and announcements so it all went smoothly.

 First stop was 798 District - this is a large area of decommissioned military factory buildings that became an artist community. Now it's more of a tourist community - there are galleries but also a lot of shops and restaurants. Good photo ops though...

 Further out is Caochangdi - a newer and quieter art district.

Ai Weiwei, perhaps China's most noted artist, moved here a few years back - and I preferred it.

Looking back

Now that we had left North Korea we seemed to spend our first day looking back at it.

 This is part of the river that forms the border between China and North Korea - with both countries having rights to use it freely

 Looking across at North Korea

 We visited the East Gate of The Great Wall - from the top we could look back down on the river and see one particularly narrow bit where, apparently, you could jump across.

 Strawberries in bulk

 Last night's first bar

 A visit to the War Museum. We had a great guide for the day and he gave a superb overview of the history and wars of the area - no easy feat.

 In the afternoon we took to the river...

 Above is the Chinese side and below is the North Korean side

Of course we mostly looked at the North Korean side

 Chinese sightseeing jaunt

 And above is a North Korean wedding party that went and cruised the other side of the river looking at Chinese things

 And the cost guard - of course

 As we headed to the station for our overnight train to Beijing it was good to see that they too had their statues and heroes.

All Aboard

As we head to the Train Station I manage to get a photo of this trolley bus - what isn't immediately obvious is that the backlights are just painted on - I kid you not!

And at the station we see the only big screen in the country

I think I must have had enough of photos because after we left Pyongyang I didn't take any more pictures. Actually we weren't supposed to take any photos from the train and our memory cards were thoroughly vetted by the border guards so I was keen not to arouse any suspicion in case they launched into my laptop.

Once in China, at Dandong, a group of us had elected to spend an extra day there. We were met by Simon, from Koryo Tours, all of us a little dazed by the sudden freedom and seeming luxuries of shops and supermarkets.  The good thing was that Simon knew where to go - and after dinner we started at the Ho Bar - which was fairly hip and cool.

But what we were really hanging out for was True Love (nightclub)- that didn't get going until late.

This place was famous for being staffed by dwarves but sadly by the time we hit town the dwarves seemed to have moved on.

The music was pumping - the kind that reverberates right through your body. The light shows probably used more electricity than all of Pyongyang. There was a great 'sprung' dance floor - where you could bounce and bob along quite happily.

And Hite - South Korean beer

 Back at the hotel, much much later,  I couldn't resist a shot of the Room Service extras - hadn't seen anything like this in a while either

Back in Pyongyang

Pyongyang has started to feel like home now - I must have been here too long.

First up today is the Mansudae Art Studio. We had high hopes of seeing the Propaganda Posters being made or the Bronze Casting but no such luck.

 We did see an oil painter who came from the coast and really liked to paint boats...

... and another painter who works with water colours

 Some vase decoration

 I was interested in seeing the kiln after noting the size of some vases however it turned out that all the firing was done out of town (less pollution) so I think a lot of what we saw was really just for show.

 The signs above recorded the usual visits of Kim Il Song and Kim Jong Il and, for the first time, there was also one of the new Supreme Leader, Kim Jong Un

 There was a shop selling artworks - I think these shell pictures took the cake. I left empty handed.

 Some downtown transport options

These women are the equivalent of traffic lights. They were all young and attractive and impeccably turned out.

 Lunch was at the one hamburger restaurant in town - the food was good but it took them two hours to process us all. The washing machine below was in the washroom - reminded me of the old twin-tub Hoovermatic that I once had. It was pretty rough on clothes and on its spin cycle it would dance/thump across the floor.

 Next up was a trip to a middle/high school...

 ...and the age-appropriate posters

 A young Kim Jong Il

 The poster above wasn't quite on our trail but it was worth the sneaky side trip - click to enlarge

The tour culminated with a concert...

...and endless photos.  All points to the students for relentlessly smiling and being patient with snap-happy tourists

 In the image below you can see that two of our group (far left and far right) had purchased their own Kim Jong Il jackets.

 Back downtown we wandered around the Workers Party Monuments

 ...and the Juche Tower. Most went up the tower but I passed on that as I really don't like heights

 Plaques as the base of the tower