About 70-80,000 Chinese tourists are visiting Rajin each year, a northeastern North Korean special economic zone that borders China and Russia, a trip report released on Thursday by the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI) suggested.

The number – which is notably high for the region given growing sanctions against the North – was calculated based on anecdotal data gained from a trip the report author took to the region in July, 2017.

“Judging by the number of Chinese spectators at the children’s concert in the Palace of Pioneers, it appears that about 500 Chinese tourists visit Rajin each day,” said