Changchun - A group of 32 Chinese tourists on Sunday took a train from Ji'an City in north eastern China's Jilin province for a five-day trip to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
The opening of the train route makes Ji'an the second city after Dandong in neighbouring Liaoning province with such a service to the DPRK.
The train from Ji'an can take tourists to Pyongyang, Kaesong and Panmunjom in DPRK, according to Liu Jun, the deputy manager of the Ji'an International Travel Agency.
The distance between Ji'an and the DPRK capital of Pyongyang is 400 km, while that between Dandong and Pyongyang is about 200 km.
Chinese visitors with ID cards and passports can apply for the 2,980 yuan (about 480 US dollar) visit in Ji'an. The trip is organised every four days.
Zang Wanghong, the director of the Ji'an Tourist Board, said Ji'an will open a one-day tour to Manpo, a port city on the western coast of DPRK before May 1.
Ji'an, which boasts a UNESCO world heritage site of the Ancient Koguryo Kingdom, hopes to develop tourism based on its own resources and its adjacency to DPRK, said Zang. – SAnews.gov.za-NNN-Xinhua
