If you have not read the first part of this post I recommend to read it before proceeding with this one.
Arirang
If you’ve looked up for North Korea outside of the the traditional news it is very likely that you saw some images of Arirang.
Arirang is a gymnastic performance where more than 100000 people (on the ground and on the stands). It is the largest coordinated activity on the world (World Guiness record) and it is IMPRESSIVE.
As you might expect being in DPRK, the performance is held at the largest stadium of the world (150000 spectators) at the outskirts of Pyongyang. The dates are not fixed but it usually starts on August and last for 1-3 months, with performances twice a week (as we were told)
Here you also have a panoramic view, I highly recommend to go full screen and zoom to see the students on the stands.
Around 2004-2005 Arirang started to be promoted to tourists as the country needs foreign money to finance their import needs.
The most particular detail of the performance are the kids from the various schools that sit at the stands in front of you. They have a folder with colours that use to display huge images in a coordinated way. They have some directors are the bottom and some speakers to help them. I think that won’t work anywhere else int he world. You can see the names of the schools and the “colour bars” used as warm up.
Warm up
There are various sequences during the performance that explain various episodes of the north korean story, the life of Kim Il Sung or north korean values in general. I was lucky to sit next to Alejandro who explained me about the meaning of the various sequences. Enjoy the pictures and videos! (the last two are available in high definition)
After two days in Pyongyang going around with the minibus one of the images that stuck into my mind was to see the amount of people moving on foot (some by bycicle) and carrying all kinds of bags and boxes.
This is consequence of not being able to purchase a car. The state has a “car pooling” system. When you need a car (I don’t know how you justify the need) you will be provided with a car for a limited amount of time and then you give it back. There are many models but a lot of them are Mercedes-Benz (seems these are reliable and not too complex to repair). I don’t know the details on who and how a citizen can access a car of the pool.
The colour of the plate helps to identify the type of car in the country:
– White: state owned
– Black: army owned
– Blue: Some international organization (NGO, UN, etc.)
– Red: Some international company operating in DPRK
– Yellow: private cars (given as a present for special achievements, such as a gold medal on an international competition). I did not see any of these.
To move people around there is a public transport system with an interesting mix of methods of transport (including metro). Vehicles range from very new ones to pieces for museum. The bus stops are usually crowded and in some of the lines the buses are really packed (as in any other city in the world). I would say the system is a little bit short for the needs of the Pyonyang citizens but it seems to work quite OK.
El tramvia més nou, prop del mausoleu de Kim Il Sung
The newest tram, nearby Kim Il Sung's mausoleum14-Aug-2011 10:25, NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D5000, 4.0, 18.0mm, 0.001 sec, ISO 400
There are also taxis (stated owned). You can not hire a taxi on the street and you need to call them in advance.
Tourists use modern minibuses (chinese use bigger buses)
The metro at Pyongyang
The metro at Pyongyang is said to be the deepest in the world (155 m deep) and it is designed as a shelter for the population during aerial attacks (at the entrance you can see very thick metal doors). Taking a metro ride is part of all the tours. The metro wagons are 2nd hand from Germany and the picture of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il is present in every signel wagon. The decoration of the stations is a show on itself.
Most of the tours run only between two stations (and that prompted rumors that only these 2 stations existed and passengers were actors). We took the metro for 6 stations (so at least 6 exist) and people were quite afraid of being close to us. In general north-korean people ignore foreigners (some documentaries mention that it is forbidden for them to speak to foreigners) but few of them seem more interested. Mark managed that an old lady touch his hairy arm and the lady was having a great time.
Shortly after arriving at DPRK it is clear that this country is “the best”: the largest stadium in the world with the largest performance, the biggest Arch of Triumph, the tallest monolith, the biggest children palace, the tallest hotel (before Burj Dubai), etc… Avenues, museums, squares, monuments… everything is huge and build to impress the visitor (and the people living there of course). Guides seem to have an obsession with the figures related to the monuments (size, radius, weight, etc.). Sometimes the figure has a significance (170m tall for the 70th aniversary of Kim Il Sung, 50m radius for 50th aniversary of the party foundation, etc.), somtimes it is just big or massive. I would also highlight the lack of asian style in most of the monuments.
In general, the buildings follow the “soviet style” and it is possible to find very old buildings but also very new constructions. Other than for the Korean propaganda attached, it would be possible to locate these buildings in east Berlin for example. In rural areas there are more individual houses.
L'hotel Koryo (les dues torres a l'esquerra) i l'hotel Ryugyong a la dreta
Koryo hotel (two towers on the left) and Ryugyong hotel on the right side12-Aug-2011 16:23, NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D5000, 5.6, 32.0mm, 0.008 sec, ISO 320
L'hotel més luxós del pais, a 3 hores de Pyonyang
The most luxurious hotel in the country, 3 hours from Pyongyang13-Aug-2011 15:19, NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D5000, 6.3, 18.0mm, 0.006 sec, ISO 200
Parc al costat del riu, com a Taipei :)
River side park, like Taipei :)14-Aug-2011 14:09, NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D5000, 10.0, 32.0mm, 0.003 sec, ISO 200
Poble prop de la Joint-Security-Area
Town close to Joint-Security-Area17-Aug-2011 11:55, NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D5000, 9.0, 29.0mm, 0.003 sec, ISO 200
Poble prop de la Joint-Security-Area
Town close to Joint-Security-Area17-Aug-2011 11:55, NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D5000, 8.0, 29.0mm, 0.003 sec, ISO 200
Els nous edificis de vivendes
Newly constructed buildings for housing16-Aug-2011 14:44, OLYMPUS IMAGING CORP VG130,D710 , 4.9, 15.4mm, 0.004 sec, ISO 80
Maybe you’ve noticed in some of the pictures that there are shops! (note: all of them belong to the state). As there is no marketing the shops are very functional and I liked the small icons on top of the door to indicate the type of shop (this is like in Zelda or other RPGs)
In my humble opinion the country could do better if some of the effort put on building these huge structures would be focused on more urgent needs of the country.
Television
At the hotel room we had a small TV and we were able to watch two channels. TV schedule was basically some news (a lot less than I expected), parties when some infrastructure is finalized (a damn for example), soap operas with miners as main characters and other shows with army people. On day there were some international sports news including a summary of a match from Barça.
Excellent! What i find noticeable is also no Ads anywhere, this is remarkable! People seem happy, too!
Albert
Aug 26, 2011, 15:29
Thanks! The only comment is to be careful with what you see on the surface … it would require more time to know what people really feel …
Sònia
Aug 27, 2011, 12:14
Sorry but I don`feel that people seems so happy…
anyway all is so awesome and a little bit stange ..I am scared to this pictures too ;)
Sorry for my english..
Sònia
Excellent! What i find noticeable is also no Ads anywhere, this is remarkable! People seem happy, too!
Thanks! The only comment is to be careful with what you see on the surface … it would require more time to know what people really feel …
Sorry but I don`feel that people seems so happy…
anyway all is so awesome and a little bit stange ..I am scared to this pictures too ;)
Sorry for my english..
Sònia