Visits to China and North Korea

I am very excited to say that I will soon be visiting both China and North Korea. My flight leaves Haneda Airport at 9.10am tomorrow morning (14th March).

Because I'm an aviation junky, perhaps one of the biggest highlights for me will be to travel to Beijing on a Japan Airlines Boeing 787. The 787 is a relatively new aeroplane, so this flight will be a new experience for me. The seats are supposedly bigger, the air quality better, and the cabin better lit (with larger windows). I'll report my impressions of the 787 from Beijing or when I return to Japan on the 23rd March.

JAL 787

In addition, I will probably fly to Pyongyang on a Russian made Tupolev or Ilyushin. The rough itinerary for my trip is:

14th March - 9.10am flight to Beijing
15th March - flight from Beijing to Pyongyang (staying at the Ryanggang Hotel)
16th March - Pyongyang (staying at the Jangsusan Hotel)
17th March - Pyongyang (staying at the Ryanggang Hotel)
18th March - Pyongyang and Kaesong (staying at the Minsok Folk Hotel)
19th March - DMZ, Kaesong, and Pyongyang (staying at the Ryanggang Hotel)
20th March - Pyongyang AM and then train to Beijing (25 hours)
21st March - Arrive Beijing
22nd March - Beijing
23rd March - 4.40pm flight back to Tokyo

I am very interested to see North Korea - a country hardly ever seen or visited. There are no safety concerns, although there are obvious ethical arguments why people should not visit the country. Some places that I will visit on my travels in North Korea will be the mausoleum housing the two previous rulers, Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, Pyongyang Metro, a beer factory, a food factory, the Juche Tower, a junior high school, and the DMZ (looking south).

More updates to follow soon, perhaps when I arrive in Beijing tomorrow evening.