Near the Sino-North Korean border crossing at Quanhe-Wonjong, tourists on a trip around the northeastern Chinese region of Yanbian are peering through binoculars at the opposite bank.

“Can you see any beautiful North Korean ladies?” asks one of the local vendors supervising the binoculars and selling various ‘Korean’ and ‘Russian’ trinkets which he displays on a low table. The levity of his tone, characteristic of much of the discussion of North Korea in Yanbian, speaks of a local approach to the country over the river which continues to diverge from how it is seen in much of the rest of the world.