Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s motorcade journey through Pyongyang’s newest housing districts highlighted just how much North Korea has changed since his last visit seven years ago, as well as how much bilateral ties remain the same.

Xi received a grand reception from the moment he stepped off an Air China jet at Pyongyang’s Sunan International Airport on Monday, where leader Kim Jong Un and his wife Ri Sol Ju welcomed him and First Lady Peng Liyuan on a red carpet.

After being presented with bouquets by North Korean children, the Chinese leader set off for central Pyongyang in his Hongqi