First bike group completes trip to DPRK

A bike travel group consisting of 35 Chinese cyclists entered DPRK from Tumen, Northeast China's Jilin province on Friday, amid increasing fervor for tourism to the mysterious country.

The group, first of its kind, visited the railway station of Nanyo and the statue of Kim Il-sung during their three-hour trip.

The port city of Tumen has also resumed its special railway line to Mountain Chilbo in DPRK on Wednesday, after it was suspended in 2012 for renovation, reported the China News Service.

"There were more than 2,000 tourists in 2012 and the number is estimated to rise to 7,000 this year," said Zhang Weidong, manager of the agency responsible for the special train that runs once a week during peak tourism seasons.

Chinese motorists are also expected to be able to take on road trips from Dandong, a port city in Liaoning Province in June.

"Besides passports and ID cards, tourists also have to present their driving licenses. They need to book their trips via travel agencies," You Zejun, director of the tourism bureau of Dandong, was quoted as saying by local media.

People were allowed to travel within 70 kilometers across the border on road trips departing from Hunchun, Jilin province since 2011, and the distance may grow to 200 kilometers for drivers leaving from Dandong, a manager from China International Travel Service told the Beijing Times.

However, all routes will be closely monitored and approved by local authorities and travel across the whole country is unlikely to be allowed.

Traveling to DPRK has been an attraction to some Chinese tourists, while many others shun the idea of such trips out of safety concerns. "What if my car gets damaged on the road? I don't want to get in trouble by breaking the local rules," said a travel-enthusiast surnamed Hou.

A manager surnamed Xu at a local travel agency in Dandong told the Global Times that all kinds of digital apparatus can be carried on a four-day trip to Pyongyang, but only a camera is allowed on the one-day trip to Sinuiju.

"There are no specific rules, but we often forbid tourists from talking to or taking photos with ordinary DPRK people," Xu said.

DPRK leader Kim Jong-un is believed to be taking tourism as a way to boost the economy as he has done several inspection tours to the symbolic Masik Pass ski resort, which was officially completed on December 31, 2013.