China National Day Extended North KoreaTour

North Korea China National Day Tour - If you are travelling around China during this time of the year and would like to have a break on the golden week, this is a great chance. The application deadline for this trip is September 1st. You are kindly asked to apply by the application deadline. If you apply after the application deadline we will be able to notify you within 24 hours if your transportation means can be booked on time.

Please bear in mind that the Mass Games usually officially take place from August to September 9 (National Day). In the past they have been extended until mid-October although the past two years they have only been extended until the end of September. If you definitely do not want to miss the Mass Games then we recommend you to go to North Korea before September 9th.

It is possible for non-US travellers to enter by train. Please contact us if interested in this option.

Day 1 - October 3 (Saturday)

• Depart from Beijing at 13.05 flight JS 152 Terminal 2, Beijing Capital Airport

• Arrive in Pyongyang at 16.00 (Pyongyang time)

PM

• Fountain Park

• Arch of Triumph – gigantic marble structure that marks the arrival of the Eternal President back to Korea after fighting for the anti-Japanese struggle

• Brief walk around the area, see the enormous mural of President Kim Il Sung's speech upon arriving in Korea after the liberation from Japan

• Fountain Park
  

• Mansudae Grand Monuments - giant bronze statues of the Leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il

• Hotel check-in: Yanggakdo Hotel

• Welcome Dinner: KITC Restaurant, Pyongyang

Overnight: Yanggakdo Hotel, Pyongyang

Day 2 - October 4 (Sunday)

AM

• Breakfast: Yanggakdo Hotel

• Kumsusan Memorial Palace - Mausoleum of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il. The most sacred place in the DPRK, you are kindly asked to wear formal clothing. We will fully brief you regarding your travel to North Korea

• Revolutionary Martyrs' Cemetery - dedicated to National Heroes of the DPRK. It has views of the whole skyline of Pyongyang

• Grand People's Study House - see the biggest study institution in the DPRK with great views of Kim Il Sung Square

PM

• Kim Il Sung Square - this is the square we usually see on TV when parades and mass rallies are held in Pyongyang
  

• Moran Park - tends to be busy with locals on Sundays and holidays. Do not be surprised if you are asked to join in any dances that may be taking place!
  

• Juche Tower - chance to go up 150 metres and have a panoramic view of Pyongyang or to relax by the Taedong River if you would rather not go up the tower

• Pyongyang Metro (extended ride) - the deepest in the world. Ride with locals for several stops
  

• Party Foundation Monuments - we will see
  

• Mansudae Art Studio - see where DPRK paintings, statues and propaganda posters are produced. You will be able to meet the artists while they work and it is possible too to purchase artwork.

• Evening departure to Kaesong - We will have a break on this 2.5 hour drive. As we drive on the empty Reunification Highway, our guides will give us a detailed explanation of the DPRK’s Reunification principles. It will become dark as we approach Kaesong. Riding across the pitch-black highway as we chat with our Korean guides is an interesting and a little surreal experience. When we arrive Kaesong we will be able to see the giant lit up bronze statue of President Kim Il Sung at a distance overlooking the whole city, once capital of the Koryo Dynasty
  

• Check-in: Minsok Hotel - The folk hotel is a traditional courtyard hotel located in the old part of Kaesong. Given that there is a clear night, which should be the case this time of year, walking around the premises at night allow you to see countless stars which is a stark contrast to the skies from Seoul only just 70 KM south (you can see the difference from Kaesong as you look south). The statue of President Kim Il Sung can also be seen from the courtyard hotel.
  

• Dinner: Minsok Hotel. If you would like to try some dog soup this is optional (€5) as is the ginseng stuffed chicken (€30, one chicken serves two people). Please let us know beforehand if interested in the chicken a few hours before our arrival to Kaesong as it will have to be prepared beforehand.
  

Day 3 - October 5 (Monday)

AM

• Breakfast: Minsok Hotel, Kaesong

• 38th Parallel (DMZ) - chance to enter the famous blue negotiation rooms where talks between North & South Korea have taken place. We will tour Panmunjom, always escorted by KPA soldiers as is mandatory. We will see where the Korean War Armistice was signed. The KPA soldiers tend to be keen on seeing what travellers views on the Korean War and the Korean peninsula are and a visit here presents us with a unique chance to interact with North Korean soldiers.

• Koryo Museum, Kaesong - we head to the city of Kaesong which was not destroyed by the Korean War and boasts an old part of town, to visit what initially was a university during the Koryo dynasty. We will be explained what life was like in Korea in the medieval ages.

• Kaesong Stamp Shop - chance to purchase stamps, postcards (you can actually send these from North Korea to your home country) and artwork.

PM

• Lunch: Tongil Restaurant - reunification restaurant. You will be served 12 different dishes in covered up golden plated small bowls.

• Tomb of King Kongmin and his Mongolian wife. We will see tombs of generals on the way there too. These tombs have undergone very little restoration and therefore remain close to their original state.

• Drive back to Pyongyang

• Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum - see the North Korean version of the Korean War. This museum exhibits original weapons and vehicles used during the first Cold War conflict. It was moved to a much bigger building in 2013 and is now a truly impressive and detailed museum fully explaining the DPRK version of the Korean War.

• USS Pueblo - US spy ship captured in 1968. The only US vessel in possession of another country and is proudly shown by the DPRK as a trophy

• Dinner: Local restaurant, Pyongyang

Day 4 - October 6 (Tuesday)

AM

• Breakfast: Jangsusan Hotel, Pyongsong

• Drive to Mt. Myohyang - "Fragrance Mountain" is located in a beautiful quiet area of Korea. Chance to see a variety of landscapes when driving there

• International Friendship Exhibition Centre - see where thousands of gifts have been presented to the Leaders Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il and Mother Kim Jong Suk (wife and mother of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il respectively). There is now too a new section for the Leader Kim Jong Un.

• Pohyon Buddhist Temple - initially built almost 1000 years ago (it has undergone restauration several times), this used to be the centre of buddhim in this region of Korea
  

PM

• Lunch: Chongchon Hotel, Mt. Myohyang

• Drive back to Pyongyang

• Children’s Palace - see the children taking extra curricular activities and then assist a truly amazing performance put on by them

• Dinner: Pyongyang Number 1 Duck BBQ Restaurant, Pyongyang

• Local evening funfair - we ask for a visit here to be arranged not so much for the rides (which are great fun!) but more so because it is a great chance to mingle with North Koreans. If you decide to take a ride rates vary from 1.5 to 5 Euros per ride.

Overnight: Yanggakdo Hotel, Pyongyang

Day 5 - October 7 (Wednesday)

AM

• Breakfast: Yanggakdo Hotel

• Pyongyang Film Studios - see where movies in North Korea are filmed. If lucky we might see a movie being filmed!

• National Embroidery Institute - absolutely stunning artworks are produced here. We'll be able to see the workshops where these are produced while the workers are making them. You can also purchase sewn pictures. The other interesting aspect of the embroidery institute is that is right by the Ryugyong Hotel and it is then when you realise how gigantic this building is!

• Kim Il Sung University - chance to visit the top university in DPRK
  

PM

• Lunch: Restaurant in Pyongyang

• Drive to the port city of Nampo located on the west coast of the DPRK. We will drive on the Youth Hero Highway, a highway built by university students at the end of 1990s. Some of the guides that we have now worked with for many years were actually involved in helping construct the highway. We believe that knowing the local guides as well as their personal stories and views on life in North Korea as well as on the rest of the world are a vital part of the trip and truly believe that our long lasting and trusting relationship with our Korean partners as well as our small groups help this to be attainable.

• Chongsan Cooperative Farm - see how Koreans work and live in this model cooperative farm. We will have the chance to visit a farmer’s home and walk around the fields

• Check in: Ryongang Hot Spa Hotel - resort of cottages located in the outskirts of Nampo. Each room has it's own spa bath tub with natural hot water (which happens to be salty). It is said to be beneficial to one's health and the Koreans recommend not to exceed 15 minutes in a row soaked in the water!

• Dinner: Ryongang Hot Spa Hotel / optional clam BBQ. The clam BBQ is arranged after dinner. Petrol is used to BBQ the fresh clams. The cost is 5 Euros per person but optional so you can watch and enjoy the night in the open skies even if you are not a big fan of seafood!
  

Overnight: Ryongyang Hot Spa Hotel, Nampo

Day 6 - October 8 (Thursday)

AM

• Breakfast: Ryongang Hot Spa Hotel

• West Sea Barrage - 8 km long barrage that seperates the West Sea and the Taedong River; a source of pride in the DPRK

• Nampo Orphanage if opened. If a trip here cannot be arranged we may visit a local mineral water factory.

• Drive around the city centre and back to Pyongyang. Nampo is an interesting city and change can be seen here with an increasing number of Sino-Korean factories and warehouses. Being a major port city in North Korea it also has a lively vib to it.

PM

• Lunch: City restaurant, Pyongyang

• Kimilsungjia Kimjongilia Flower Exhibition Hall - flowers dedicated to the Leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il are exposed here and it interesting to see locals come. Sometimes the national media is there too interviewing representatives of workplaces who have donnated a bunch of flowers

• Walk by the Taedong River where many locals gather to play games, fish, etc

• Golden Lane Bowling Alley - chance to have a bowling and / or pool game and see locals enjoy their Sunday evening. For those feeling nostalgic of the 90s, it's also possible to play retro arcade videogames.

• Relax at the Diplomat's Club after a long trip around North Korea

• Farewell Dinner: City Restaurant, Pyongyang

Overnight: Yanggakdo Hotel, Pyongyang

Day 7 - October 9 (Friday)

AM

• Breakfast: Yanggakdo Hotel, Pyongyang

• 
• Drive to Pyongysong - referred to a satellite city given its proximity to Pyongyang (around 30 to 40 minute drive away) this mining city has only just been opened up to tourism (we have had travellers stay there overnight in the past but 2013 is the first year when our travellers have actually seen sites there).

• Paeksongri Revolutionary Site - this is where Kim Il Sung University was moved to in the Korean War

• Visit a local factory - you will either go to the Paeksong Food Factory or the Taedongdang Textile Factory. Not many travellers have had the chance to see a factory in one of the capital's "satelite" cities.

• Pyongsong Central Square - a bronze statue of a young Kim Il Sung overlooks the square whereas the local history museum holds the Party's symbol and the giant logo reads "One United (People's) Heart" referring to the unity of the country

PM

• Lunch: Jangsusan Hotel, Pyongsong

• Pyongsong Kim Jong Suk Number 1 High School - the headmaster of the school will show us around. You can join in the classes and speak in English to the students if you wish, a great chance for them to practice their English!

• Drive back to Pyongyang

• Three Revolutions Exhibition Hall - you will be able to see achievements made by Koreans carrying out the the Three Revolutions of ideology, technology and culture. There are halls showing works related to the Juche Idea (central to DPRK politics) heavy industry, agricultural and light industry machinery. There is also a planitarium.

• Walk around new street - Part of the new skyline built in 2012, you will be able to have an evening stroll and visit a supermarket which locals frequent.

• Dinner: Local restaurant, Pyongyang

Day 8 - Ocotber 10 (Saturday)

AM

• Breakfast: Yanggakdo Hotel

• 10.40 am train to Beijing - please inform us if you would prefer to fly out 

PM

• Stopover at Sinuiju train station bordering China

Overnight: train

Day 9 - October 11 (Sunday)

Arrive in Beijing at 08:31 am

End of our China National Day North Korea Tour