Chinese travel agencies began promoting North Korea tourism packages in June, capitalizing on Chinese President Xi Jinping’s first visit to Pyongyang in seven years to drum up anticipation for a resumption of cross-border group travel that has been suspended since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Multiple Daily NK sources reported Tuesday that agencies in Beijing, Nanjing and Shenyang have launched promotional campaigns for North Korea tour packages targeting July departures. Itineraries circulating on Chinese online platforms feature a seven-night trip using the international train line between Dandong, on China’s border with North Korea, and Pyongyang.
Proposed itineraries include stops at central Pyongyang, the Mansudae Art Studio, the Juche Tower (the official symbol of North Korea’s state ideology of self-reliance), the Arch of Triumph, Panmungak (a building on the North Korean side of the inter-Korean border at Panmunjom), and Mount Myohyang. Packages are priced at approximately 8,000 Chinese yuan (roughly $1,100).
Chinese tour agencies look north again
The packages closely resemble promotional materials that circulated in March, when Beijing-Pyongyang international train and air routes were restored for the first time since the pandemic closed North Korea’s borders in 2020. At the time, optimism about expanded cross-border movement generated similar excitement in the Chinese travel industry, but North Korea did not resume tourist visa issuance for ordinary Chinese nationals, and no group travel materialized.
The renewed promotional push reflects a broader expectation within the Chinese travel industry that Xi’s visit could produce concrete economic cooperation measures, with group tourism seen as a symbolic and practical step Pyongyang could offer as a goodwill gesture. Sources told Daily NK that agencies are moving proactively on the assumption that bilateral ties are heading toward a significant improvement following the summit.
One source said that talk of resuming North Korea tourism has surfaced and then stalled on multiple occasions in the past, only to be postponed or cancelled without warning. “Even so, with Xi making this visit, travel agencies are once again moving quickly to promote packages,” the source said.
A second source noted that optimism within the Chinese travel sector has revived following the summit, but cautioned that North Korea tends to make tourism decisions based on political calculations rather than economic incentives. “Whether actual tourism openings will follow is something we still need to watch,” the source said.
As of publication, North Korean authorities had made no official announcement regarding the resumption of tourist visa issuance for Chinese nationals. The current international train and air services between the two countries remain limited to business and official travelers, along with North Korean nationals.
Analysts and observers note that even if Chinese group tourism does resume, initial access would likely be tightly controlled, with strict limits on the number of visitors, permitted destinations and permitted routes within North Korea. North Korea has long used tourism as both a source of hard currency and as a tool of regime propaganda and image management, calibrating access to foreign visitors in line with political and diplomatic conditions.
One source noted that despite the flurry of promotional activity in March, no actual tourism resulted. “Travel agencies are circulating itineraries again, but whether visas will be issued is an entirely separate question,” the source said.
The outcome of the Xi-Kim summit, and specifically what economic cooperation measures the two sides announce, is expected to be the clearest indicator of whether North Korean tourism will reopen to Chinese nationals in the near term.
Reporting from inside North Korea
Daily NK operates networks of sources inside North Korea who document events in real-time and transmit information through secure channels. Unlike reporting based on state media, satellite imagery, or defector accounts from years past, our journalism comes directly from people currently living under the regime. We verify reports through multiple independent sources and cross-reference details before publication.
Our sources remain anonymous because contact with foreign media is treated as a capital offense in North Korea — discovery means imprisonment or execution. This network-based approach allows Daily NK to report on developments other outlets cannot access: market trends, policy implementation, public sentiment, and daily realities that never appear in official narratives.
Maintaining these secure communication channels and protecting source identities requires specialized protocols and constant vigilance. Daily NK serves as a bridge between North Koreans and the outside world, documenting what’s happening inside one of the world’s most closed societies.
June 10, 2026 at 03:18AM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)