🇰🇵🇨🇳 The Peoples Republic of China shares borders with numerous countries along its vast territory. However none of its borders are as notorious or as mysterious as the one it shares with North Korea. With my trip to North Korea called off at the last minute I decided that instead of just returning home I would instead head to that border to take a look around and get a glimpse of the Hermit Kingdom. Join me...
My blog can be found at: mrbaldandbankrupt.com
Instagram @realbaldandbankrupt
My blog can be found at: mrbaldandbankrupt.com
Instagram @realbaldandbankrupt
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PeopleTranscript
00:00On March 17th 2025 I was supposed to enter North Korea from mainland China.
00:06However, the day I landed in Beijing North Korea suddenly closed the country
00:10to outsiders without any explanation. I decided to go to the border anyway.
00:17This is what I saw there.
00:21Well we're here at the massive, like every railway station seems to be in China,
00:27Beijing South Railway Station. You look for a train heading south to the
00:32province of Shandong and I've been studying some Chinese in the last few
00:36weeks. I've got some new words to use. Well there's Lionel Messi. Let's go and look for our train.
00:45Hello friend, thank you. I don't know. Okay, thank you.
00:51Wow it is like checking in for an airplane whenever you come to a railway station in China.
00:57And up here these Chinese characters, which I haven't studied, are going to show us,
01:03well hopefully, the platform for our train. One of these.
01:08Heading down to a city called Yantai on the Yellow Sea. Yantai. But which one is Yantai?
01:15Hello friend. I like this. I don't know where this is.
01:23Thank you. What is this?
01:251083.
01:26Let me see which carriage.
01:29Which carriage? No.
01:30Okay, this one.
01:32Okay, thank you friend. Thank you.
01:34Goodbye.
01:35Bye bye. Wow, my Chinese is better. I've now got the word pengyou, which means friend.
01:41Look at all the Chinese people. Where are they all going? Look at them all.
01:44Hundreds of Han Chinese heading south.
01:51Do you have red bull?
01:53Red bull.
01:54Red bull.
01:55Yes, yes.
01:56This is not red bull.
01:57What is this?
01:58This is also a kind of horse. It's the same as red bull.
02:00It's a speciality of Dongpeng.
02:01Oh, I don't understand. I don't understand Mandarin.
02:04Your Mandarin is great.
02:06Okay, thank you.
02:07Right, I wanted a red bull to wake me up so I can bring you my, the best of myself at this early hour.
02:16However, they've given me this, which isn't a red bull, but it might be a local red bull.
02:20God knows what it is.
02:22But we're going to try it.
02:24Hopefully it's not whiskey or something.
02:27I have no idea. There's no seat number. I don't know where I'm going.
02:31Hello friend. I don't know where my seat is.
02:35I don't know.
02:361085.
02:41Chinese?
02:44Very little. My Mandarin is very bad.
02:46Is there anything else? This is just a screenshot of a car. A screenshot of a seat number.
02:51This is mine. This is mine.
02:52Yes, this is a screenshot of a seat number.
02:54I don't know.
02:56Then you can sit here for now.
02:58Okay, okay, okay.
02:59This one, right?
03:00Okay, thank you.
03:02This one?
03:04You can sit here first.
03:05Okay, okay, okay. I'm going to wait for you.
03:07Okay, okay, okay. I understand. I understand. I understand.
03:09Oh, what a lovely lady.
03:11You can sit here because I've got no idea where you're meant to be sitting.
03:18Oh, it smells just like Red Bull.
03:21Maybe it's stronger. Let's see.
03:30It's like flat Red Bull.
03:32I like it, whatever it is.
03:34By the way, let me show you my jacket that I'm wearing on this trip.
03:38If I'm going to be accused of shilling for the country,
03:43I might as well dress like a real Chinaman.
03:47A cadre.
03:49I like this drink. It's lovely.
03:52So I've still got no idea if I'm in the right bloody suit or not.
03:55I've just been sat here in this restaurant car
03:58as we pull out of the northern capital, Beijing.
04:00That's what Beijing means, northern capital.
04:02Past the high rise of the workers.
04:08As we head south to Shandong province,
04:12whose name means east of the mountains.
04:14Chinese provinces have great names.
04:16Shandong, east of the mountains.
04:18Heilongjiang, black river province.
04:23Don't get that in the UK.
04:25Anyway, the journey's begun.
04:27Right, I've been told where my seat is.
04:29In second class.
04:31Let's go and look for it.
04:37Hi mate, what are you doing in China?
04:39You're smitching, right?
04:41Oh my god, it's a bald YouTuber.
04:43You're smitching.
04:45We're just passing through villages and farmland.
04:48A little fat truck.
04:50We're going to see what's going on.
04:53We're just passing through villages and farmland.
04:56Little factories building the things
04:58that were used in the west.
05:00You don't have to go very far from Beijing
05:02until you see,
05:04I don't want to call it the real China
05:06because Beijing and the big cities are also the real China.
05:08But it's definitely a different China.
05:10It's a China of small little villages,
05:12little mud houses.
05:14One I would like to explore.
05:22Where are you from?
05:24China.
05:26China?
05:28Oh, the babushka just told me
05:30we're getting to China.
05:42He's flirting with my babushka.
05:44He's already saying she's beautiful.
05:46I was going to say that.
05:48He's making moves on me.
05:50He's making moves on my babushka.
05:52That was my Chinese babushka.
05:54I was going to help her.
05:56He's saying she's pretty and stuff.
05:58She was going to be my thumbnail.
06:00He's probably in her thumbnail.
06:02I was going to call it
06:04I met a Chinese pretty babushka.
06:16Welcome on board.
06:18Massive giant railway station
06:20in the middle of China.
06:22Just think how many billions
06:24and billions of
06:26renminbi yuan, their money here,
06:28is used to build the infrastructure
06:30here in Jinandong
06:32railway station.
06:34Jinandong.
06:36Wow, it's so incredible seeing China
06:38at this point of its development.
06:40In some respects, so far ahead
06:42of Europe, but in other respects
06:44when you pass through the villages and the fields
06:46and the houses, somewhat behind Europe.
06:48Here we go.
06:50Here are some officials.
06:52The Zhonghua Party people.
06:54Yes.
06:56There we go.
06:58Communist officials.
07:00They respect me because of my little badge and my outfit.
07:02In Europe,
07:04we tend to think that the only victims
07:06of Genghis Khan was us, the Europeans.
07:08However, in 1211,
07:10long before the nomads rode into our cities,
07:12Genghis himself
07:14rode an army down here to this part of Shandong
07:16slaughtering the Chinese
07:18in their hundreds of thousands.
07:20You can only imagine the battles
07:22that this land we're passing through
07:24witnessed. Fields
07:26and blood.
07:34These guys do not respect the transport system
07:36of China. They're just like smoking an Ecos in the hallway.
07:38At least we respect the women
07:40of China.
07:44Welcome to
07:46very sunny
07:48Yantai.
07:52What's this?
07:54What's this?
07:56What the fuck is this?
07:58I thought he was a bloody
08:00well-travelled Jew.
08:02He's got a flipping suitcase on wheels.
08:04It's like he's going to Disneyland
08:06with the family.
08:08Coastal wonderland. Remarkable
08:10Yantai.
08:12And we've made it.
08:14Let's go and check it out.
08:16Coastal wonderland.
08:18Exciting.
08:20Well, we've come
08:22to this town, the port city of Yantai
08:24because there's a ferry from here I've heard
08:26that goes to Dalian on the other side
08:28of the Yellow Sea.
08:30I need a ferry ticket. Let's see if they've got one.
08:42100 meters.
08:44Where is it? I don't know.
08:50I have no idea what she said, but I need a
08:52ferry ticket. And she said the ferry
08:54tickets are in that direction.
08:56When you don't know what they're saying
08:58you just go, oh cool.
09:12Dalian, Dalian, which one?
09:14Dalian.
09:16Hold on, hold on, hold on.
09:18We've paid 1 yuan, which is like
09:2010 pence
09:22to get to the ferry port.
09:24China is a first world country
09:26with third world prices.
09:28Let's hope he understood
09:30where I want to go.
09:32Come on, I know what you're doing.
09:34Backpacker is not here, so now you need to bully someone.
09:36And you pick me
09:38because you know me better than him.
09:40I still love you.
09:42See, this is a thanks idea.
09:44I translate, get them to the ferry port.
09:46And you owe me.
09:48I owe you.
09:50You're alive because of my sponge.
09:52Oh, please.
09:54Trump card.
09:58The bus has pulled up into
10:00the centre of little old Yantai.
10:02This is real China, check it out.
10:04Little messy streets.
10:06This isn't Chongqing. I'm having a walking stick.
10:08Look at it.
10:10Writing everywhere, restaurants.
10:14Babushka is walking around.
10:16Oh, there's one here, it's a little babushka.
10:18Come on then, babushka.
10:22There we go.
10:26Careful as you go.
10:28There we go.
10:36She refused me a leaflet.
10:38Racism.
10:40Right, here we are.
10:42On the streets of Zhongguan.
10:44You want to walk up the hill with your bag?
10:46I'll just jump in the bush.
10:48What?
10:50What do you mean?
10:52I'll just chuck it behind the car or something.
10:54What, throw it away?
10:56I'll just chuck it down somewhere.
10:58China, is that safe?
11:00Absolutely.
11:02So we want to walk back up the hill
11:04where there's some little restaurants.
11:06And Conor's saying, because he's got a big suitcase,
11:08he's just going to chuck it in a bush
11:10and leave it here and it'll be okay.
11:12Really?
11:14Go on then, prove it.
11:16I've got to find a good spot first.
11:18We're going to see how safe China is.
11:20Is it safer than Dubai?
11:22He's going to literally chuck all his belongings
11:24in a bush now and go for dinner.
11:26The CCP's paying for this video.
11:28I've got to make them look good.
11:30Choose a bush.
11:32He's literally leaving his suitcase in a bush.
11:34We're going to go and look for a restaurant,
11:36find some content,
11:38and then we're going to come back in an hour or two.
11:40Hopefully his suitcase is still here.
11:46There you go.
11:48That's it?
11:50Cover it up?
11:52This is the China I wanted to find.
11:54I mean Chongqing was cool
11:56last time and everything,
11:58but look at this.
12:00Real little China here on the streets of Yantai.
12:02I don't know what these are.
12:04They're not houses, surely.
12:06Are they toilets or garages?
12:08And here look like little Soviet Khrushchevkas.
12:10Little communist apartment buildings.
12:12What are these?
12:16I don't know.
12:18They don't smell too good.
12:20And here is someone's apartment building.
12:32Buildings like this, built,
12:34I was going to say in communist times,
12:36but it's still of course communist times in China in a sense.
12:38Run by the Communist Party.
12:40How many, many, many Chinese people live
12:42still to this day?
12:44These little apartments
12:46and the little, I presume these are like
12:48little outdoor toilets or something.
12:50The fact that there's flannels here and towels
12:52hanging up to dry, I don't know.
12:54But it's good that we finally found some real China.
12:56Real China.
13:16Just finding a restaurant
13:18in this town is
13:20quite the adventure.
13:22You have to be quite dexterous with your
13:24language here, let's put it that way.
13:26But I need to cross the road. There's a restaurant over there.
13:28Let's cross the road and go.
13:30Little street people.
13:32Little street babushkas.
13:34We're looking for a restaurant.
13:38What do you want to eat?
13:40Rice, meat.
13:42Beef, rice.
13:52Which one? Over here?
14:06What a great little
14:08restaurant we found. Look at it. Messiest
14:10restaurant in China.
14:12Let's be gentlemen.
14:14Let's represent the West with a nice glass.
14:16We don't drink out of bottles.
14:18Here we go. Cheers mate.
14:20Welcome to China.
14:30They think we're members of the Communist Party with our outfits
14:32and our little badges.
14:34They think they've got foreign
14:36dignitaries. That's why they're being
14:38so nice to us.
14:52So sweet.
14:54It's like their first date.
15:00Well, doesn't this experience
15:02in this little restaurant just go to show you
15:04that despite the media
15:06manipulation telling us what we should think about China
15:08that the reality is
15:10that China's just full of friendly little people
15:12running friendly little
15:14restaurants, cafes, shops.
15:16Friendly bus drivers.
15:18That is China.
15:20China's not the political system.
15:22China is the people. And we found lovely people here.
15:24Ganbei to Zhonghua.
15:26We're in China.
15:28We've decided we're not creating any more content today.
15:30Well, we're creating content and we're drinking.
15:32It's booze o'clock.
15:34Emergency meeting.
15:36That's right. It's an emergency meeting.
15:38We're drinking.
15:40The beauty of my career
15:42is that it's here.
15:44Suck on a fag.
15:46There you go. Suck on a fag.
15:48Amazing.
15:52This is the kind of service you get
15:54in the country.
15:56How much is it, my friend?
15:58How much is it?
16:00How much is it?
16:02How much is it?
16:04How much is it?
16:06How much is it?
16:08How much is it?
16:10How much is it?
16:12We're not saying it right?
16:14How they don't understand because my accent's not 100% Chinese.
16:16I'm saying, how much is it?
16:18What else could I be saying?
16:20It's really on her.
16:22How much is it?
16:24Right. Who's got a sponsorship on this video?
16:26I don't care.
16:28Even if we're broke, we pay.
16:30There you go.
16:32Drink some, Timmy.
16:34Brits go to the bathroom.
16:36Timmy was hoping we were going to step in and say,
16:38no, no, no.
16:40The Greeks are paying me, always.
16:42I've slept in a bench in the past.
16:44I had to pay for the girl, Pride.
16:46I slept in the bench.
16:48I had to get up in the morning to take the metro.
16:50Pay for the girl?
16:52Rich girl.
16:54All of this fucking risotto with mushroom.
16:56Right.
16:58We're back on the streets of
17:00Yantai.
17:02Now we're finally going to go to the ferry port
17:04and try and find a ferry to Dalian.
17:06Let's go.
17:08Ready?
17:10Yeah, man.
17:12Yeah, let's do it.
17:14Patriotic.
17:16I've got to get on their good side.
17:18Come on.
17:20There's a crazy Chinese guy.
17:22Hey.
17:24Hello.
17:26Hello, my friend.
17:28Why are you screaming in the street?
17:30How are you?
17:32Why are you angry?
17:42Where are you from?
17:44Greece.
17:46Look at that.
17:48The suitcase.
17:50Wow.
17:52As safe as Dubai.
17:54He left it there for about four and a half hours
17:56and it's still here in the bush.
17:58Congratulations.
18:00There you go.
18:02He left his bag in a flipping bush.
18:04Just left it in the bush.
18:06Four and a half hours later, it's still there.
18:08One of the safest countries in the world
18:10because there's these things everywhere.
18:12Watch it, whatever you do.
18:14Well,
18:16we've got a last minute disaster.
18:18Timmy has been taken sick
18:20and can't travel tonight.
18:22So we can't leave without him.
18:24So we're going to have to go
18:26to the hotel and hopefully
18:28we can jump on a ferry tomorrow morning.
18:30There's a ferry at 10 o'clock.
18:32Hopefully, Timmy's with us. We'll see what happens.
18:34Poor little Timmy.
18:36Right, that's it. I'll see you guys tomorrow morning.
18:38Hopefully, the three of us
18:40and not without sick Timmy, but we'll see.
18:42We'll see what happens.
18:44So it's goodnight from Yantai Ferry Terminal.
18:46Bye-bye.
18:58Well, fortunately, it's the next morning
19:00and Timmy's made a recovery.
19:02There he is, buying his ticket.
19:04And while they're buying a ticket,
19:06I want to show you something really cool.
19:08Well, is it cool? I don't know. That you see in China a lot.
19:10And that is the people
19:12capture machines. Look at this.
19:16Hello.
19:18Hello.
19:20These are
19:22the people catchers. They grab you by the throat
19:24if they think you've got some COVID
19:26and drag you along.
19:30People catching sticks.
19:32Anyway, get the ticket,
19:34jump on the boat, continuing our journey.
19:36All good?
19:38They're laughing.
19:40They're laughing.
19:42Well,
19:44we've got our tickets. We can now get on the boat
19:46as we look at some lovely Chinese guys
19:48singing. Look at them.
19:50There you go. Say hi.
19:52Hi.
19:54The people of Zhonghua.
19:56Let's look for our boat.
19:58Not one other
20:00passenger is here.
20:04Seems like Dalian is not a
20:06popular place to go to by boat.
20:08There's no one here.
20:14What I do like
20:16is that wherever you look in China, there's little
20:18communist signs.
20:20Look at this one. Little communist kid
20:22with his hat on.
20:24And over here,
20:26another one.
20:28Some communist dude.
20:30Maybe that's the name of the boat company or something.
20:32Who knows? It's China. It's
20:34mysterious. Nothing's understood.
20:36Well, what a beautiful day
20:38to be crossing the Yellow Sea
20:40on the Bohai-Mazhou
20:42Ferry.
20:44The Yellow Sea,
20:46which is a stretch of water
20:48that has played such an important part in Chinese
20:50history. Not just Chinese history.
20:52Japanese
20:54tried conquering it and fought their
20:56naval battles here. And Imperial
20:58Russia also suffered.
21:00Well, we'll talk about it later.
21:02We'll talk about it later.
21:04We'll talk about it later.
21:06Imperial Russia also
21:08had a naval battle or two
21:10on the Yellow Sea.
21:12And this is our ship. Look at the size
21:14of it.
21:16How's Connor going to cope
21:18going up these steps?
21:20Have fun.
21:22There's no lift up to the old
21:24Bohai-Mazhou, whatever
21:26the boat's called. You've got to carry your bags.
21:28We've got ourselves a cabin
21:30on the boat
21:32with some beds.
21:34Let's see what it's like.
21:36I've got high hopes. Everything else has been great
21:38in China. This should be too.
21:40Ni hao, Captain.
21:42Xie xie.
21:46Oh, we've got an internet bar.
21:48Cinema chess room.
21:50Anyone for a game of chess?
21:52Tourist class. Maybe they put us in
21:54tourist class.
21:56Are we tourist class or are we
21:58barbecue area? Where are we?
22:00Are we infirmary?
22:02That'll be Timmy later.
22:04That's Timmy when he gets sick later.
22:06Infirmary.
22:18Oh, look at this place.
22:20Oh my God.
22:22This is like being on a
22:24This is like being on a
22:26QAnon flipping around the world trip.
22:28Let's see what
22:30else it's like.
22:42We're not in the good one. We've obviously bought
22:44the cheapest ticket because the other cabin
22:46had a window and chairs and desks.
22:48We're in here. We've got a TV.
22:50We've got a lovely picture of Italy.
22:52Randomly.
22:54And our beds.
22:56I'm claiming this one.
23:12You can have a shower on here.
23:16All this for £30.
23:18If you want to come
23:20to my cabin later, we have a spare bed.
23:28Maybe she will come to my cabin.
23:34We're like a husband and wife.
23:36Come on then.
23:44Well, that's it.
23:46The journey has begun as we say goodbye
23:48to beautiful
23:50Yantai. A city of 7 million
23:52people that I've never even heard of before.
23:54But there it is. Beautiful
23:56Yantai.
23:58Nothing but new
24:00buildings and apartment buildings and hotels
24:02and construction works.
24:04I call it China. The constructions
24:06that are taking place in this country that you see
24:08as you travel around is incredible.
24:12We're off to the city of Dalian.
24:147 hours across this piece of water.
24:16Bye bye Yantai.
24:24In 1904
24:26a Japanese fleet sailed up this
24:28body of water under darkness towards the city
24:30we're heading to. In the middle of the night
24:32the Japanese commanders opened fire on the Russian
24:34fleet that was unaware of the threat
24:36and moored up in docks. The attack
24:38started the Russo-Japanese
24:40War, which is a battle for who
24:42would control east of Asia.
24:44And that's because the city we're sailing to
24:46was once a part of Russia.
24:48It was called Dalmi.
24:52They're shaming us
24:54for wearing their badges. They're saying
24:56what have you done for the party?
24:58Did you do the long march?
25:00Go!
25:02No, we'll get a cup.
25:04Alright.
25:10What's it called? BJ?
25:12Baijiao.
25:24Come on.
25:26Hard.
25:30Zhongguan Nubei.
25:32Zhongguan Nubei.
25:34Zhongguan Nubei. Hopefully
25:36that's not something you shouldn't be saying.
25:50Do you think they snore?
25:52They look like snorers.
26:00You guys?
26:02No?
26:12And no masturbating.
26:14No masturbating or snoring, please.
26:16Kill me.
26:22Well, the weather's changed
26:24as we're heading north
26:26to the northeastern part of China.
26:28And behind us, people have come on deck
26:30to look at what is a
26:32North Korean ship
26:34passing towards China.
26:36Came out of the mist.
26:38It's a North Korean ship.
26:40It's a North Korean ship.
26:42It's a North Korean ship.
26:44Passing towards China.
26:46Came out of the mist.
26:48So I've come up to take pictures of it.
26:50We saw the North Korean flag flying
26:52in the distance of the yellow sea.
26:54Interesting part of the world.
26:56Hopefully the journey continues to be interesting
26:58as we go north
27:00towards the abandoned city, I hope.
27:02That's what Conor said.
27:04Let's see if it's true or not.
27:06North Korean ship.
27:08well that was an enjoyable little journey on the whatever the boats called
27:16I forget the name but now how do we get out of it there's some buses are we
27:19allowed on them are they free
27:23hello friends, Dalian? this one? ok thank you
27:28Wow and more friendly flipping Chinaman Chinese people so we want to go to the
27:36center of the old town down by the harbor but I think it's like 20 minutes
27:41away but I don't know I'm trying to find out I said Dalian they said yes
28:15Wanshan, Shenyang, Shenyang and there you go more friendly Chinese people even the
28:22touts are friendly in China who's not friendly in China show me an unfriendly
28:26China Timmy's the only unfriendly guy in China everyone else is friendly right
28:31we need a taxi so I want to show you something interesting
28:35Russian street, products from Russia, alliteration of Russia
28:46well you might be wondering why all the shops have Russian names
28:50торговый центр Москва well that's because Dalian is a city that for a while
28:55was part of Russia back then it was called Dalmi which in Russian means very
29:00far as in very far from st. Petersburg the trans-siberian train used to come
29:05down here from Vladivostok and then in 1905 there was a war with Japan and they
29:10took it off Russia Chinese took it and they changed the name of Dalmi to Dalian
29:16and so there's still little hints of the past here in the middle of China Russian
29:21hints of the past here in China
29:24Здравствуйте. Вы говорите на русском? Нет? Хорошо. Очень приятно, брат.
29:28Очень приятно.
29:29Not many people speak Russian but um yeah here we are in Dalian
29:34once known as Dalmi
29:43Good morning from my hotel room now I know a lot of you like to see the kind of
29:47places I stay in and this one it has to be says one of the fancier place I've
29:51been to let me give you a little tour of it there's a nice little chair here nice
29:55queen-size bed super comfy over here you've got a tea making area I thought
30:01this was actually a box of tea but it says on the side intimate cleansing for
30:05men so I don't know what goes on in these rooms in China but still here you
30:10got a TV and here you've got a lovely bathroom look you got a nice little bath
30:14beyond this window let's go inside nice sink area my shower the question is how
30:23much you think I paid for it hundred quid two hundred quid what would it cost
30:26in your in your country well I'll tell you for all this I paid 32 euros that's
30:33not because it's on a special discount or anything like that that's just how
30:36much hotels cost in China so China is the travel bargain of the world right
30:41now I think all right let's get out of here and finally make our way to the
30:47abandoned city if we can find it let's go let's go let's go we are someone's
30:55bloody done a greenie outside the five-star hotel the 30 euro five-star
31:02hotel right we're waiting for a taxi we're finally gonna go to the abandoned
31:07town that Connors brought us all the way across bloody China to see hope it's
31:11still abandoned
31:16I've traveled across China with diarrhea I've taken a Xanax and feel terrible and
31:22the drivers just told us through a translator that millions of people live
31:26in this abandoned city that Connors brought to have you got anything to say
31:29for yourself what a disaster man I mean China's on a completely different
31:34Internet I mean you can't blame me for it not being on Google so I will not
31:40take responsibility well supposedly this city is abandoned but I already
31:49nimble how nimble how him y'all young yeah wait wait wait wait an abandoned
31:58city with loads of pensioners knocking about what the hell oh actually there
32:02are some abandoned buildings there there's some abandoned buildings there
32:05there are some abandoned buildings wow it's kind of impressive toilet please be
32:12open please please please be open because I need I need to shit so badly
32:27no no no no no no no no oh come shit in a bush in China kicking out the country
32:37talking of ring pieces look at this one the giant ring piece of Shifu new town
32:44look at it massive well this place which I think is called
32:49Shinju new town Shifu new town was built as an overflow city and overspill city
32:57for all the people of the nearby city of Shenyang they built all these buildings
33:02but look as you can see many of them were never finished because no one
33:06bloody moved here and so now it's just crumbling look the infrastructure is
33:12just crumbling look at this even look bloody hell flipping holes in the ground
33:16whoa it's dangerous which is not like the China I've come to know over the
33:26last few days of my previous trip look everything's just being destroyed
33:35well what you can see is that despite the degraded infrastructure billions and
33:44billions and billions of the local currency was spent building this place
33:48look the big old tower block probably was going to house a bank or government
33:52offices completely abandoned the big old apartment building in the distance
33:59completely abandoned over there look half-built buildings I was probably a
34:06shopping center completely abandoned
34:11China is full of these mega projects developers come in they build these
34:17cities and then well people don't want to move to them they're quite happy
34:23where they are or they buy apartments to stick money in the apartment because
34:28it's hard to take your money out of China so what they do is Chinese people
34:31they buy apartments in buildings like that and then just leave them they don't
34:35actually live in them so these are the only locals some little kids playing
34:41mahjong and an old wise Chinese granddad lao shi lao ban oh oh my god I've chopped
34:54his arm off a little disabled kid now
35:06well supposedly there are tens or hundreds of such semi-abandoned cities
35:12all across China places that were built back in the time when China's economy
35:17was booming more than it is now places that were built people to move to
35:21overspill cities for industry to come to but um some of them like this one
35:26just never took off there are some people knocking them out still living
35:30here like this lovely couple here but um not many but I like it you know what
35:36it's still better than Birmingham and I mean that it's not dirty it's not safe
35:41it's not unsafe it's not unsafe and it's not full of flipping illegal migrants
35:47causing trouble so there you go good old Chi Fang I think it's called New
35:54Town here somewhere in Northeast China
36:05well you may recall at the very beginning of this video I said that we
36:09can't visit North Korea because they recently closed the border unfortunately
36:13however that doesn't mean that we can't at least take a look at North Korea in
36:17some small way and for that reason I've come to the city of Dandong let's go
36:23down to a river and have a look about Mao Zedong in Dandong well I was on the
36:30street just now I met a lady who said do you want to come on a tour and see all
36:34this lovely stuff and I said you bet you that's what we're gonna do they've gone
36:39on a little tour with some Chinese people
36:43we're on the tour
36:45oh look at all the Chinese people on our tour
36:47there's even a dog on our tour
36:49illegal goods
37:03okay okay we can take a photo
37:05thank you
37:08this lady on the bus has said we can take a photo
37:10come on let's go and take a photo
37:12of North Korea
37:14wow it's the old bridge across North Korea
37:18wow it says
37:20blah blah blah blah blah blah
37:22oh and a dog just peed on it
37:24North Korean cigarettes
37:27North Korean cigarettes
37:37we got some North Korean fags I might raffle them off
37:39who wants to stick a North Korean fag in their gob
37:41if you do reach out
37:45and here beyond the border fence
37:47is the old bridge
37:49to North Korea check it out
37:51and over there those houses
37:53empty apartment buildings
37:56that's North Korea
37:58mythical, mystical
38:00mysterious North Korea
38:08of course all the barbed wire fences
38:10that we're passing
38:12isn't to stop Chinese people
38:14escaping to North Korea
38:16it's to stop many North Koreans
38:18that cross the river somehow
38:20from breaking into China
38:22wow
38:24they're all North Korean
38:28wow North Koreans
38:32what's happened to our careers
38:34we were doing dangerous things
38:36prison camps
38:38dodging the cartel
38:40we're now in a freaking
38:42tour guide group
38:44with a lot of Chinese babushkas
38:48we're going on the
38:50Chewang Hang Chewang Bogong
38:53to take a look
38:55at North Korea which is just over there
39:03this is it the culmination
39:05of the babushka secret North Korean tour
39:09as close as we're going to get to old North Korea
39:11look
39:13the old bridge into North Korea
39:23well it's so interesting
39:25being on this North Korean safari
39:27people with binoculars
39:29looking at it
39:31seeing it's some kind of zoo over there
39:33when in fact it's just a country
39:35with people that have
39:37the same wants and hopes
39:39and desires and fears as probably we do in the West
39:41maybe they're just as
39:43miserable as many of us are
39:45or just as happy or happier
39:47who knows
39:49maybe one day we'll go there and speak
39:52to some North Koreans and find out for ourselves
39:54at the moment
39:56just looking at them
39:58up on those rocks there
40:00the little houses that we're passing
40:02is as close as we're going to get
40:04and over there some North Koreans
40:06just farming in a little field
40:08see them
40:22interesting
40:24you like it?
40:26so we have people who came from
40:28Inner Mongolia
40:30came down here
40:32this is fascinating for people from other parts of China
40:34as well to see
40:36North Korea not just for myself and Timmy
40:38Westerners but Chinese are also
40:40fascinated by this nation
40:42that China spilled a lot of blood to defend
40:44about 3 million Chinese soldiers
40:46died in North Korea in the Korean War
40:48and so this is interesting
40:51this is part of also Chinese history
40:53over there on that little bit of land there
40:55wow look at it
40:57North Korea
40:59and the Chinese
41:07well guys
41:09that's all we've got time for
41:11for our journey across China
41:13please check out Small Brained American
41:15and Timmy Carter's channels
41:17to see their version of the story
41:20until next time
41:22Zai Jian from Zhonghua
41:24mate are you ready for the next adventure?
41:26mate I like China
41:28but I want to go to South America
41:30please
41:32yes
41:34Venezuela
41:36it's ok