At high tide on the Yalu, you can almost get within arm's reach of North Korea.

NPR: Unequal, Uneasy: Life on the China-Korea Border

Hwanggumpyong is a sandy island at the mouth of the Yalu river that divides North Korea from China.

ECONOMIST: An opening for Chinese investment in a benighted country

On the west side of the Yalu is the Chinese city of Dandong.

NPR: Unequal, Uneasy: Life on the China-Korea Border

Much of it goes over a bridge on the Yalu River, which marks part of the border between the two nations.

NPR: Unequal, Uneasy: Life on the China-Korea Border

After their capture, Kapaun and wounded soldiers able to walk were marched to a prison camp near Pyoktong, just south of the Yalu River in North Korea.

BBC: Medal of Honor for US Army chaplain Father Kapaun

"This side of the Yalu is beautiful, " he said.

NPR: Unequal, Uneasy: Life on the China-Korea Border