Society

Chinese tourists can now drive to DPRK

By Gao Qihui (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2011-06-09 13:43

A tour motorcade departed from Changchun city, Northeast China's Jilin province Thursday, headed to the border city of Rason, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), becoming the first tourists from China to drive across the border into the DPRK, China News Service reported Thursday.

The tour motorcade, composed of 24 vehicles carrying 90 tourists, left Changchun at 7 am and is due at Quanhe Port in the afternoon?- a border port to DPRK，said Jiang Hao, manager of CYTS Tours Corp Jilin Branch, which organized the tour.

The tourists, including entrepreneurs and representatives from travel agencies, will cross the border river to Rason in the afternoon, a tourist spot frequently visited by Chinese.

According to the schedule, they will visit some other sites, including Rajin Port, Rajin Bay and a village visited by the former top leader of DPRK - Kim Il-sung (1912-1994), and then return to Jilin on the afternoon of June 11.

The DPRK established the Rajin-Sonbong Economic Special Zone in 1991, its first such project. The zone was later renamed Rason. Since May 2011, Chinese tourists have been allowed by DPRK to drive across the border to Rason.