North Korean women wash clothes by the river, a few meters away is a soldier sitting and relaxing in a book on April 16.
Dandong, a city in Liaoning province, China, is a destination for hundreds of tourists every day.
The boat stopped just a few meters from the North Korean shore, allowing people of the world’s second largest economy to get a glimpse of the impoverished, economically embargoed but constantly growing country.
Far to the south is the border area between North and South Korea, one of the most heavily guarded military zones in the world.
Restrictive measures are not very effective.
North Korean soldiers in Sinuiju, a small town on the Korean border with Dandong, China on April 16.
For weeks now, tensions have escalated when the US sent a group of naval ships near Korean waters.
However, in the border area with China, the atmosphere seems calm and nothing has changed.
That quiet world is completely different from the bustling scene on April 15, when thousands of soldiers and military equipment marched on Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang during the celebration of the 105th anniversary of the founding father’s birth.
On a green-painted wooden guard tower, a North Korean soldier held binoculars to observe a group of Chinese tourists sailing on the Yalu River on April 16.
A Chinese tourist suddenly mischievously took a slingshot and shot a stone into the river when the boat docked at Sinuiju, a Korean town connected to Dandong by the Friendship Bridge.
Standing on a green-painted wooden observation hut, a North Korean soldier held binoculars and intently observed the group of tourists.
Tourist trains are an important source of income for people in Dandong.
Meanwhile, out in the wider world, tensions continue to rise.
