Claudia Rosett describes the North Korean/China border at Tumen, China.
Set on the northern bank of the muddy Tumen River, this Chinese border town has one of the saddest backdrops in the world. Just across the river lies North Korea. It is so close that from a room in a local hotel, you can sit by a window and watch North Koreans trudging around the scrawny town of Namyang below the rugged hills on the far side of the river.
To some extent freedom is relative…
And while China by most comparisons is no free country, next to North Korea it is a land of liberty and wealth. On the Chinese side, there are bright street lamps along a river promenade, neon signs in the town of 136,000; restaurants and shops, pedicabs and cars.
