evidence: When my friends and I arrived in Dandong, the largest border city in China, our first destination was duanqiao: The Broken Bridge. The bridge, which connects Dandong and Sinujiu, North Korea over the Yalu River, is a relic of the Korean War. Bombed by American aircraft, it serves as a reminder—or proof—of "American aggression," and, according to the propaganda poster by the bridge, is a symbol of the "greatest achievement of [Chinese] voluntary army…to aid [North] Korea." [...] Suddenly, I hit a dead-end: A metal fence blocked my way. I leaned over the fence; just a few feet away the bridge ended abruptly, its jagged, splintered edge hanging awkwardly over the water. I tore my eyes off from the drop-off, and looked up. North Korea was just a few hundred feet away. Gray haze hovered over the shore, masking what was on the other end of the Yalu River. I reached out my arm then clasped my fingers, as if to grab and clear the fog away. [...] But this country—where the government imprisons ordinary citizens at re-education labour camps for "online speech crime," where officials drive around in BMWs while elementary school children, seeking warmth, crawl into a dumpster, light some matches, and as a result, die of carbon monoxide poisoning—is, for those on the other side of the Yalu River, a land of hope, prosperity, light, and freedom.