To many Chinese, the place is a rust belt.
But to the few North Koreans lucky enough to make it, a visit there can be a mind-expanding experience.
One 58-year-old woman who came to visit her relatives says that on her first visit to China, the affluence and abundance she saw dazzled her. She and the other North Koreans NPR interviewed requested anonymity so as to avoid severe punishment back home.
"What I found here was unimaginable. So much food here is wasted. The roads, the cars, the electricity. It's always bright, whether it's night or day. I wondered, where is all this electricity produced? In North Korea, it's very dark at night, you can't do anything and it's very lonely," she says. "Even If you tell people, it sounds like a dream. They won't listen to you, or they'll wonder if you're telling the truth."
But in North Korea, she says, it's dangerous to talk too much about her experiences in China.
So when she returns home, she says she takes the amazement and envy she felt and hides them in her heart.
A Signal To China
On Monday, citizens in Pyongyang marched through the streets, pledging support for policies outlined by Kim Jong Un in a New Year's address.
In the speech, Kim said that the purge of his uncle had strengthened the unity of the ruling Worker's Party.
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