For views of the border, stroll along the riverfront Yālùjiāng Park that faces the North Korean city of Sinuiju.
The area’s most intriguing sight is the shrapnel-pockmarked Broken Bridge . In 1950, during the Korean War, American troops ‘accidentally’ bombed the original steel-span bridge between the two countries. The North Koreans dismantled the bridge less than halfway across the river, leaving a row of support columns. You can wander along the remaining section and get within the distance of a good toss of a baseball to the North Korean shoreline.The Sino–Korean Friendship Bridge, the official border crossing between China and North Korea, is next to the old one, and trains and trucks rumble across it on a regular basis.
To get closer to North Korea, take a 30- to 40-minute boat cruise from the tour-boat piers on either side of the bridges. The large boats (¥60) are cheaper than the smaller speedboats (¥80), but you have to wait for the former to fill up with passengers (on average 30 minutes). In the summer you can sometimes see kids splashing about in the river, as well as fishermen and the crews of the boats moored on the other side.
