A man gazes across the Yalu River Bridge, which separates China's Dandong and North Korea's Sinuiju, on May 29. Photo: Liang Chen/GT

In late March, Tian Wenlong (pseudonym), a Chinese man who was born and lives in Pyongyang, capital of North Korea, hopped on an international train heading for Dandong, China's Liaoning Province. Tian brought along very few possessions: only some articles of clothing.

Tian was agitated on the train, as he had no idea what was waiting for him in Dandong.

Tian had been to China several times before. In 1985, he went to visit his aunt in Yantai, Shandong Province, the first time he stepped his foot in his strange ancestral home. He then returned to Shandong several times.

This time, however, it was totally different.

"I used to visit relatives in China, but this time, I came to find a job. Everything is uncertain," Tian, 58, who has a wife and two children in Pyongyang, told the Global Times.

Tian is not alone. There has been an increasing number of overseas Chinese based in North Korea, who are trekking to China to find jobs and try to settle down in bordering cities, including Dandong and Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in China's northeast.

"With the worsening economic situation, more and more overseas Chinese in North Korea are returning to seek their fortunes here," Da Zhigang, a professor of Northeast Asian studies at Heilongjiang Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.

Compared with their Korean peers, Chinese in North Korea enjoy a relatively low social status.

For instance, they are excluded from becoming government officials or soldiers, because of their special identity - they are treated as foreigners.

"They can neither take posts in the government nor in the army. However, their economic situation is much better than ordinary people in North Korea, because they can earn extra money by doing border trade or working in China," Da said.

For most Chinese in North Korea, coming to China provides a good opportunity to earn money in a short time. On average, they can earn around 1,500 yuan ($244.5) per month working in Chinese cities, equivalent to a common yearly income in North Korea.

However, they also have to face a hard choice of whether or not return to North Korea after they open their eyes to reality in China.

Lonely lives

Five and a half hours later, the train carrying Tian and other passengers pulled into Dandong. Having neither friends nor connections in Dandong, Tian went to a nearby labor agency, registered his name, skills and desired salary and lived in a motel while he waited.

A majority of Chinese from North Korea find work in private-run shops, restaurants and factories in China.

Without any communication tools, Tian went to the labor agency every day to try his luck. Three days later, he was recruited as a dishwasher by a Korean-style restaurant in Dandong.

Tian has to wash dishes for 12 hours a day, earning a monthly salary of 1,600 yuan, more than making up for the trip.

He has to wash hundreds of dishes every day in a room packed with two washing basins and crockery, which makes it difficult for him to stretch his arms.

Tian is satisfied as the restaurant owner provides him with free accommodation. This allows him to send almost all the money back home, keeping back 100 yuan a month for the cheapest cigarettes.

"My wife is retired. My son and daughter are factory workers but the factories have stopped work for years. They cannot make money in North Korea. It all depends on me," Tian said, taking a deep drag of his cigarette.

He usually goes back to the nearby dormitory after work. Occasionally, when he misses his family, he takes a walk along the bank of the Yalu River, looking at the opposite North Korean shore.

"Returning to China is half good and half bad. I can earn money here but the long distance has separated me from my family. I don't think I belong here," Tian said.

Historical factors

Tian's ancestors were sent to North Korea as factory workers in the 1880s when a large number of Chinese people fled into North Korea due to the drought and famine that plagued Shandong Province.

According to the Wuhan-based News and Information Journal, the disaster in Shandong drove thousands of people into North Korea which used to have a comparatively good economy at the time.

Tian's ancestors worked diligently in factories and made ends meet little by little. Years later, Tian was brought to the world and the family is growing bigger and bigger.

During that period, early immigrants were made to perform low-status tasks, such as farm or factory work. Like their North Korean peers, their children can get free education in Chinese schools where they learn Chinese and Korean.

China's reform and opening-up policy then accelerated the development of economy, resulting in an exodus of Chinese in North Korea returning to their home country. Official statistics showed there are now around 5,000 Chinese in North Korea, most of whom live in Pyongyang and Sinuiju.

Due to their long-time alienation from Chinese culture, overseas Chinese in North Korea find it difficult to blend in when they return.

After three months in Dandong, Tian had not made any real friends. Other Chinese returnees are shy and closed-off. Many refused to speak about their lives in North Korea.

"They have been brought up in an enclosed society, so they are on high alert when they communicate with the outside world. They are not allowed to bad mouth North Korea. It may cause trouble if they speak ill of the country," Cui Zhiying, director of the Center for Asia-Pacific Studies at the Tongji University, told the Global Times.

Compared with their elders, young generations - the third generation of Chinese who were born in North Korea - have adopted a more open attitude in their life. They are inclined to accept new information and keep pace with the times.

Huang Enhui (pseudonym), 18 years old, came to Dandong in March along with two other girls, working as salesgirls in a commodity shop run by a South Korean. She works eight hours a day and earns 1,500 yuan a month. In high-heel shoes and a pant suit, Huang looked stylish. She uses an iPhone 4S, a gift from her boyfriend.

"I like both North Korea and China. Here, you have beautiful clothes. But I will return to North Korea someday. I am not getting used to life here," Huang, who plays hacky sack along the Yalu River after work, told the Global Times.

Huang's parents who live in Pyongyang sent their daughter to Dandong, in a bid to let her "have a look at the outside world." Huang said she can decide on her own whether or not to stay in China, but she prefers to go back.

Cleaving bureaucracy

When the Chinese government allowed people in North Korea to visit their relatives in China back in the 1980s, it opened a door for Chinese in North Korea to start border trade by using their new-found freedom to travel. This played a significant role in improving the economic situation of Chinese in North Korea.

"Taking advantage of China's reform and opening-up policy, a lot of Chinese in North Korea make a comparative fortune by actively participating in the border trade," Da told the Global Times.

One such tale has been widely circulated in Dandong: that back in the 1980s, a Chinese in North Korea made a fortune overnight by selling dough sticks he stuffed into his cotton-padded overcoat after he completed his visit in China and returned to North Korea.

But life in China is also fraught with uncertainty. Normally, Chinese in North Korea can apply for a six-month work permit from the North Korean government and work freely in China.

They have to go back to North Korea and have their permit extended every six months. If they failed to do so, their North Korean nationality would be annulled.

"Preserving their nationality is important for most of the Chinese in North Korea. The nationality has given them certain privileges," Da said.

Like Huang, they are uneasy whether to settle down in China and become a Chinese citizen. Chinese law regulates overseas Chinese in North Korea and states they must get hukou (household registration) if they want to be a Chinese citizen. To get it, they have to live in China for more than three years and be capable of buying a house.

"I want to stay in China. But I have no social insurance and no relatives here. My children are still in North Korea," one middle-aged Chinese returnee, who refused to give her name, told the Global Times. In recent years, China has adopted several preferential policies to simplify the procedure for Chinese in North Korea to get their hukou.

In 2000, the Dandong authorities granted hukou for overseas Chinese who had been living in Dandong for more than five years.

However, 500 more returnees remain stranded in China, having had their North Korean citizenship withdrawn but not having been granted Chinese citizenship yet.

For these stateless denizens, the future looks bleak on either side of the Yalu River.