The Yalu River promenade runs for several kilometres along the Dandong waterfront, and walking it is the simplest way to absorb the border experience. At night the Chinese side glitters with neon and riverside restaurants; across the water, Sinuiju is dark except for a few streetlights, the contrast so stark that visitors sometimes assume the North Korean side of the river is uninhabited.
The promenade has the usual Chinese riverside-park infrastructure — benches, exercise equipment, souvenir stalls selling North Korean banknotes and stamps — but the North Korean view keeps it from feeling ordinary. Binoculars stalls operate at intervals, and boat trips on the river are available from several departure points, bringing you to within a few hundred metres of the North Korean bank. The evening promenade, when the contrast between the two sides is most dramatic, is worth planning for.