Hao Hao ReportThe best China news and blog posts

For the avid river swimmers of this Chinese border city, North Korea is 10 minutes' brisk freestyle away and yet a world apart.

Each day in the warmer months in Dandong, hundreds of Chinese swimmers plunge into the narrow Yalu river dividing their country from the North and dozens kick 500 meters to the opposite side for a rest and a glimpse of the poor, withdrawn communist state.

"I go to North Korea every day without ever needing a visa," said Cui Wenbin, a 55-year-old office worker, drying off after his latest visit.

The swimmers despair at what they see of their neighbor, said Lin Senping, a brawny, tanned man in his 50s, who added he "swam to North Korea" most afternoons.