The Museum of American Aggression

Here I am, freezing my tail off, standing on half a bridge. The other half is at the bottom of the Yalu river, sent there by a few well-placed bombs dropped by American jets during the Korean war. The bridge used to extend from the Chinese city of Dandong to North Korea. Since then, they've rebuilt a bridge (to my right), but left the old one, with remaining edge all twisted and gnarly like the day it blew up, as a monument.

At the end of the bridge was a little hut with an old lady selling north Korean money and junky souvenirs. And for 30 cents you can look through some binoculars across the river and try and spot citizens of the hermit kingdom. Oppressive regimes and abject poverty weren't enough to drive the locals outside on a day like this...only the big American (and his reluctant driver) were dumb enough to leave the shelter of their house or car. I'm surprised my eyelid didn't freeze to the binoculars, Christmas Story-style

It was interesting, though. On the Chinese side, the riverfront of Dandong has modern glass and steel highrises. On the North Korean side, single story, dumpy looking buildings. And, for some reason, a ferris wheel. Bizarre

And while the bridge serves a reminder to the locals of what the Imperialists are capable of, the museum on the tallest hill in the center of town gives the rest of the details of the victorious resistance against American aggression

Lots of murals and dioramas depicting war scenes, US pilots surrendering, and pieces of American jets that were shot down. It was fascinating to see the other side of the story. A large carving that my driver translated for me described how the American army has only been defeated twice, and both time it was when the Chinese military intervened in the conflict.


Here's the piece of the downed US jet

And here's a quick video panning across a field full of equipment left over from the war.