A train tour from northeast China to its neighbor the Democratic People's Republic of Korea began Wednesday as more and more tourists show an interest in visiting the DPRK.
The train, which will carry about 140 passengers, left Shenyang, capital of Liaoning Province, at 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, said Li Mingming, who works for a travel agency under the Shenyang Railway Bureau.
The train will reach Dandong City, a border city in Liaoning, in the early hours of Thursday. Passengers will then transfer to an international train that plies the Dandong-Pyongyang route. They will arrive in Pyongyang Thursday afternoon.
The tour takes six days and costs 3,000 yuan (491 U.S. dollars) per person.
There will be an estimated four to five tour groups taking the trip each month between May and October, totalling around 3,000 tourists, according to Li.
Dandong, the largest Chinese city bordering DPRK, has more than ten travel agencies that focus on trips to the DPRK. More than 10,000 people visit DPRK via Dandong each year.
