Nostalgia drives Chinese tourists to North Korea: research

In this photo released by the North Korean Central News Agency, people take part in an activity held Tuesday in Jaeryong County, South Hwanghae Province to mark World Malaria Day aiming to raise global awareness of the deadly disease. The day actually fell on April 25. / Yonhap

By Kim Hyo-jin

Many middle-aged Chinese tourists visit North Korea because they feel nostalgic about the Chinese countryside they remember from their youth, according to a recent study.

Li Fangxuan, a Ph.D student at Waikato University, surveyed 50 Chinese tourists who recently visited North Korea about reasons for their trip to the isolated country.

Most said they were attracted because of feelings of nostalgia and curiosity about the real lives of North Korean citizens.

Elderly travelers, in particular, have a nostalgic view of life there as being similar to that of China during the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and ’70s. They have a higher level of satisfaction with the trip, the study found.

In contrast, young travelers showed a lower level of satisfaction as many limitations were placed on them while traveling. Complaints included restriction on movement, limited or no use of the Internet and a lack of entertainment.

Some respondents pointed out that North Korean tours cost less than those of other countries.

The four-day trips to the North in 2010 and 2014 cost about 600,000 won ($560) and 810,000 ($725), respectively, Li said. He grew up in the Chinese border town of Dandong.

Li’s study has been awarded a $1,000 prize for best paper at the 18th Annual Waikato Management School (WMS) Student Research Conference.

North Korea reportedly attracts about 100,000 foreign visitors a year, 80 to 90 percent of whom are Chinese.

Since 2008, observers argue North Korea has pushed to develop its tourist infrastructure to reach out to tourists from China and elsewhere. In addition to Pyongyang, the cities of Hamheung, Pyeongseong and Hoeryeong also opened to foreign tourism in 2010, 2013 and 2014, respectively.