Beijing is not a pleasant place to be in mid-July, though during my recent trip to the Chinese capital the present author had little time to enjoy the scenery or suffer the weather. Most of the time was spent talking with Chinese scholars interested in matters of North Korea and Chinese policy toward this peculiar place.

Due to obvious reasons, it might not be a good idea to go into excessive detail or name names: After all, North Korea is a sensitive issue, especially in China, and frank talk is only possible when confidentiality is respected. Nonetheless, it will not do any harm to share a few interesting things that I noticed while in Beijing recently – and sorry if you, esteemed reader, consider the following remarks somewhat vague.