A series of signals since last week suggest that Chinese tourism to North Korea may be closer to resuming than at any point since the pandemic. 

A passenger train from Dandong crossed the Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge on March 12 for the first time in six years. Days later, Air China confirmed it will resume its Beijing-Pyongyang route from March 30, ending a hiatus dating back to Jan. 2020.

These developments restore two of the major arteries that carried an estimated 350,000 Chinese visitors into the DPRK in 2019 alone.

Chinese travel agencies are already advertising eight-day group tours