YANBIAN –  Li Delin, an ethnic Korean Chinese businessman, lives in the small Chinese border city of Hunchun –– a seedy but quickly developing town full of Russian shoppers on weekend spending sprees looking for a cheap deal on Chinese electronics and clothes.

“Look at this road, it goes straight to Russia,” Li says. “If you turn right here you’re in [North] Korea. It’s great here, there are three border crossings –– two [North] Korean ones, and a Russian one. Everything’s close.”

But like many Chinese businessmen in the area, Li is looking towards North Korea, not Russia, to do