North Korea and China are only separated by a river, why is the gap so large? The Yalu River Bridge is brightly lit on one side but not much on the other, so what do North Koreans think when they look across the Yalu River to the mainland?
Yalu River Bridge
Technology lags behind
What is life like in North Korea today, think of China in the seventies and eighties of the last century. In North Korea, everyone will wear clean and simple clothes to travel, the style is very monotonous, most people are walking to work, many people will choose to ride a bicycle out, in North Korea can not see cars frequently, because only the upper class can afford to buy a car.
In China, transportation is everywhere, cars, buses, high-speed trains, planes, and even shared bicycles can be found everywhere on the streets. If you want to feel the life of your parents' generation, you can really choose to travel to North Korea for a few days, which is a trip to the past.
North Korean streets
In the streets of North Korea, there are no convenience stores full of goods like China, let alone the large supermarkets in our country, most of them are small shops like newspaper kiosks, which may only have two windows and occupy a very small area, but this is where the local people exchange food stamps and fuel stamps. Yes, North Korea still uses these bills to buy food.
In North Korea, the most profitable people are probably some teachers or doctors, and the wages of other occupations are generally low, but people living in North Korea are happy, although the wages are not high, but North Korea's national happiness index has been soaring.
Free Policy
North Korea
North Korea's per capita monthly income is only a few hundred, but the happiness index is very high, why is that? Don't look at the economic level of North Korea, but the pressure to live in North Korea is very small. For example, in the mainland, buying a house, treating diseases, and education are all big problems, and all three aspects cost a lot of money.
But not in North Korea, living in North Korea, housing, education and medical care and other areas of people's livelihood are all free policies, here, there is no need to worry about not having money to buy a house, no need to worry about medical treatment, let alone worry about not being able to afford the cost of children's schooling. Housing in North Korea is distributed free of charge, and the problem of repairing houses is also paid for by the government. North Korea offers free education for 12 years; In North Korea, medical treatment does not cost money, and the North Korean government is still making every effort to improve the standard of medical care.
It can be said that in North Korea, although the salary is not high, there is little pressure, and it is uncomfortable to live and work in peace, so it is no wonder that the happiness index of the people is rising.
Will the North Koreans envy Chinese?
North Korean girl
In the face of China, which is only separated by a river, will the Korean people envy the development of the mainland? China's friendship with North Korea began with the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and then the Yalu River Bridge was built between the two countries, although it was never opened to traffic, but this did not prevent Chinese tourists from traveling to North Korea, precisely because more and more tourists poured into North Korea, and accidentally drove the development of North Korea's tourism industry.
When North Koreans meet Chinese, they will sometimes marvel at the prosperity of China, they will be surprised by China's traffic, China's intelligent development, and China's economy. There are even North Korean tourists who have the opportunity to come to China, not only shocked by the surroundings, but also curious about many things, such as our current mobile phone payment.
Mainland uses mobile phone payment
Now the North Korean economy is still in a weak state, but the happiness index of the North Korean people is high, but after too long of isolation, North Korea has also begun to develop, although slowly, but also for the prosperity of the country, maybe in the future, the situation in North Korea will really improve. Do you think North Koreans can really get happiness if they only take a few hundred yuan a month?