North Korean women love their high heels
by Tina Cheung High-heeled ankle boots, stilettos, kitten heels, wedges and platforms cover the streets of Pyongyang. Nearly every woman in Pyongyang wears high heels. A young female tour guide said the rumour that heels are required on the main roads that tourist buses travel on is untrue. “We think wearing heels are beautiful, so we all do,” she said. High-heeled shoes either made in Korea or imported from China are in supermarkets...
Portraits of locals
by Viola Zhou I tried to interact with local people. Most of the time they walked away with a poker face when I pointed at my camera and smiled, indicating I wanted to take a photo. But some people gave very friendly responses. The tour guide said people in North Korea study English as their second language beginning in primary school. After entering college, they will learn a third language such as Chinese, Russian or Japanese. I...
The Korean countryside
Only recently have tourists been allowed to take photos out of the bus window. These are photos on the Reunification Highway between Pyongyang and on the Chongsan-ri Co-operative farm just outside of Pyongyang. by Viola Zhou Children play at a school on the Chongsan-ri Cooperative Farm. by Crystal Tse Greenhouses on the Chongsan-ri Cooperative Farm are open to tourist visits. by Alice Wan A North Korean walks with goats outside...
Agriculture up but still not enough
By Siqi Tian On the 175 kilometer Reunification Highway from Pyongyang to Kaesong, the bus passes empty fields with the occasional scarecrow. There is no modern farm machinery or equipment, no sign of mechanization at all. A few scrawny cows roam near the road and in the distance small herds of goats pass. Mostly mountainous, only about 18 percent of North Korea’s landmass is arable. And much of that is what the Chinese call cinnamon...
Entertainment exists in Pyongyang
By Cheung Man Huen At two entertainment spots in Pyongyang, locals seemed to be enjoying themselves. At the Ryugyong Health Complex, including the People’s Open Air Ice Rink and the Pyongyang Skate Park, which opened last year, the ice rink was busy on a Sunday at 6pm. Along the sides, people played table tennis. Men mostly wore hockey skates and women figure skates. Some were clearly advanced and practiced in the corners. Another...
