Dandong

Visitors come to Dandong for one reason: to see North Korea. Situated on a bend in the Yalù Jiang (Green Duck River) and connected by rail bridge to the North Korean town of Sinuiju, the city has built a robust economy around the thousands of geographical voyeurs who rush to the border every summer. For all its wealth, Dandong remains a Chinese city, with crowded tenement buildings and a new riverside development area already stained by pollution, but it gleams in comparison with its neighbor.