General Info

[Intransit]

This is very interesting, good observations. Even though most Chinese people I meet claim they can tell the nationalities apart, they can't--they're not even close.

No one ever guessed that my Mongolian ex was not Chinese, and even my Filipina ex--who would have passed as Latino in LA or SF--was mistaken as Chinese, which was not even close.

The interesting thing is that in Hong Kong, these mistakes are extremely rare. HKers are quick to pick out Japanese, Koreans, Thais, Filipinas, and Chinese mainlanders, which may bolster the argument that it's about experience with various Asians, not some inherent racial ferreting sense.

[Cute_Tsinito]

Actually, IMHO and experience, most overseas Asians who have spent time traveling throughout Asia can pretty much spot regional differences btwn Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Filipino, Thai.....etc. Don't know how we can but we can.

As far as your local chinese friends, one reason why they are not as perceptive is because most of them have never traveled enough or had wide contact/experience with enough other asian nationalities to spot the differences. Local chinese often can't even tell differences btw provinces of China whereas overseas Chinese often can!

T1234

PS - it's funny but the difference btw Korea vs Chinese is so stark, except for some very classy high end women that have had cosmetic surgery...so your friends must be very local and never been out into the real world.

I would have to agree. Facial characteristics of the different asian nationalities are noticeably different. It is not difficult to tell what country someone is from when you know what to look for.

[Traveler1234]

No offense traveller, but my guess is you can not tell the difference "a mile away" and often not at all. I have seen my Chinese friends in China fail time and again to tell the difference between Korean and Chinese. Of course, if they start speaking then they know right away.

Actually, IMHO and experience, most overseas Asians who have spent time traveling throughout Asia can pretty much spot regional differences btwn Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Filipino, Thai.....etc. Don't know how we can but we can.

As far as your local chinese friends, one reason why they are not as perceptive is because most of them have never traveled enough or had wide contact/experience with enough other asian nationalities to spot the differences. Local chinese often can't even tell differences btw provinces of China whereas overseas Chinese often can!

T1234

PS - it's funny but the difference btw Korea vs Chinese is so stark, except for some very classy high end women that have had cosmetic surgery...so your friends must be very local and never been out into the real world.

[Intransit]

According to Koryo Tours, Americans will be allowed to visit North Korea again in the autumn of 2006. For more information, visit www.koryotours.com.

Regarding US passport holders, there is no visa stamp made in North Korea. However, if you're flying from the US to Beijing and then NK, and if you don't travel frequently, US Customs officials may notice that there is a gap between when you left China and when you returned.

[Miclac]

No offense traveller, but my guess is you can not tell the difference "a mile away" and often not at all. I have seen my Chinese friends in China fail time and again to tell the difference between Korean and Chinese. Of course, if they start speaking then they know right away.

[Traveler1234]

Just read more reports underneath. I think Dandong is it. I'm gonna go this spring!

By the way, any way to tell a Korean from a Chinese?

Hey dude - not sure by what you meant with the question 'korean from chinese'.

For most asians that grow up in Asia, we can spot the difference between someone from japan, china, korea, etc. a mile away....and 99% of time we're on the mark. But to be able to articulate in writing how we do it...well, can't answer that.

[BJtemp]

Just read more reports underneath. I think Dandong is it. I'm gonna go this spring!

By the way, any way to tell a Korean from a Chinese?

[Baby Huey]

You can not go to North Korea with a U.S Passport. If your passport is stamp that you have been to North Korea, you will have major issues in the U.S. You have to get doc's from the State Department to go there proir to going, when North Korea allows American into the country. But remember, there is no protection or help from the State Department, if some thing happen while you are there.

It is the same way with Cuba. There are ways around it in Cuba with a U.S. passport, but you are on your own again, if some thing happens, no help from the state department.

They do allow American during the Mass games, which were this year. But the door has already closed on Americans visiting, and it probably won't reopen until the next Mass Games, which will be in 3 or 5 years, I'm not sure which. However, there is no reason anyone else reading this board who isn't a US citizen can't visit. Tours can be booked through www.koryotours.com.

[BJtemp]

Last night my wife and I were talking about communism, and the conversation led me to want to go to North Korea to see a society under the real communism (and maybe bang a few communists babes).

How easy is it to go to North Korea? Is it just the regular Visa plus Plane ticket?

I use US passport, will my looking for babes be mistakened as looking for spying?

Where is the safest place to go? Chinese border or Pingyang? Thanks.

[Dude #1]

Yes, there is a service provider (one regularly) at the Yanggakdo Hotel. The Yanggakdo is the hotel most western tourists are obliged to stay at while in the workers' paradise. The lady is located in the massage rooms - like the casino also on the basement level of the hotel, run and staffed by Macau Chinese. Go to the massage rooms and you will offered a regular massage or, if you enquire further, a "special" massage for 132 Euro. The lady in question - I did not partake - is Japanese, attractive, in her mid-20s. I heard some incoherent stories about her. She supposedly went to North Korea voluntarily and wanted to stay at the Yanggakdo and was put up there courtesy of the DPRK government. Later she wanted to leave, but the government obliged her to pay back some of the government's largesse, which she does by the earnings from her current occupation. Well, that's the story. I wonder whether the Dear Leader's penchant for kidnapping Japanese nationals has some role here. Anyway, she is easy to spot in the hotel. She rountinely eats breakfast alone in the breakfast room and rountinely eats dinner alone in restaurant #1 at 7.00 p.m.

[Asia Rocks]

Gents,
Let me just weigh in with my opinion, influenced by a number of years in the shadow of the Juche Kingdom, that doing a NK waitress in a NK noodle shop in Beijing or a Chinese hooker in Pyongyang absolutely cannot qualify for one of the most revered awards in all of mongerdom. Anyone can do that; in fact I have already.
AR

[Socrates 13]

It is fairly easy to have sex with Nk girls, if it means that all you want is a one with a NK passport. Many of the Koreans in Japan and HK are technically North Koreans, although most have never been there. There are several of NK decent in Hawaii as well.

The reason for this is after the war those Koreans living abroad got to choose their nationality. Most chose the North.

[Intransit]

Not only were Lorenzo and I on the same trip to NorKor, but I just received a PM from another member, who was previously very active on another board, that he was also on the same trip. What does this mean? That ISG members are attracted to going to North Korea? Or that there are way more ISG members out there than we believe?

Freemasons, watch out, here comes ISG!

[Lorenzo]

I can verify everything that Intransit said, although, like him, my report is not based on personal experience. However, I have no reason to doubt the reliability of the report I received.

I was in Pyongyang last weekend on the very same tour that Intransit was. The North Korean government briefly opened its doors to Americans, who are usually banned from entering, to attend the 'Mass Games' that are held every few years. One of the evenings they allowed those members of the group who wanted to visit the Yanggokdo Hotel. One of the group members told me personally that he went to the spa and inquired about their 'special service,' which was priced at 132 dollars or euros, I forget which. He played dumb and asked what the special service is, and he was told 'sex.' The person who told me this told me that he didn't avail himself of the service. However, another member of the group did go in and have a massage. Whether he got laid or not, I don't know. I do know he was in there long enough to hold up the bus taking us back to our hotel, so there is a good chance that he did. Like Intransit, had I known this in advance, I would have made a beeline for the place myself. The problem is, if you do partake of this service, chances are that everyone in your tour group will know it, so you must be beyond embarrassment. (Group tours are the only way to visit North Korea as a tourist.)

The door has already closed on Americans visiting, and it probably won't reopen until the next Mass Games, which will be in 3 or 5 years, I'm not sure which. However, there is no reason anyone else reading this board who isn't a US citizen can't visit. Tours can be booked through www.koryotours.com. If you're interested in a truly different travel experience, I strongly recommend a visit to North Korea; it's unlike anyplace else I've ever visited. As Intransit said, it's the last remaining Stalinist state. If you do manage to get laid there, please post.

Lorenzo

[Intransit]

I'm very pleased to be the first to verify that you can in fact have sex with a prostitute in North Korea, although Intransit is also disappointed that this report is not based on personal experience.

Intransit visited the DPRK last weekend. One of our evening activities was a stop at the Yanggokdo Hotel, probably the capital's finest accommodation. Located on an island in the middle of the city, the hotel is off-limits to all North Koreans except the hotel's employees, tourist guides, and the highest level of government officials. Among its imperialist delights are a driving range, where golfers hit balls directly into the river; a casino; and a "health center."

The Health Center offers two services on a menu that includes English. One is "rubdown with a damp towel" US$8 (or perhaps Euros) and "full service" for US$150 (again, perhaps it's Euros, which is the DPRK's baseline foreign currency). Full service is explained as "fucking."

Had Intransit know this in advance, he would have made a beeline for the venue upon arrival. Another member of our group apparently did. But wait, it's not what you think. It is indeed fucking, but the Health Center's sex workers are all imported from China. So for those of you looking to be pussy pioneers and bang a North Korean, you are probably better off, for now, doing so in Dandong on the Chinese side of the border. But for those who want to claim they got laid in the world's last Stalinist state, it can indeed be done.