mali1989's blog: "mali1989"

Business was booming for flower sellers in the Chinese border city of Dandong on Wednesday as mourners gathered at the North Korean consulate to pay their respects to late leader Kim Jong-Il.Scores of stoney-faced mourners clutched bunches of yellow and white flowers as they entered the consulate, where large flat-screen televisions had been put up to show Wednesday's funeral.Another 100 people crammed into a North Korean restaurant across the street -- which along with scores of others had been closed since Kim's death on December 17 -- that reopened its doors for people to watch the ceremony. Dandong, a city of 2.5 million people in northeast China, marc jacobsis the main portal for trade with impoverished North Korea, which depends heavily on its wealthier neighbour for oil and food.The city usually has a large temporary population of North Koreans, most of them traders, but Pyongyang has reportedly ordered its nationals to return home for Kim's funeral.One Chinese national surnamed Xu, who was born in North Korea but moved to Dandong with his family as a teenager, said he had a "heavy heart" after Kim's death from a heart attack at age 69. "I am very sad because the great leader who showed kindness and mercy to my whole family has died," Xu, 25, told AFP as he left the consulate. "If I have the opportunity I will go back to North Korea."As preparations for the funeral were under way on Wednesday, an AFP reporter briefly gained access to the consulate, but was later ordered to leave, and security guards were stationed outside the building. On Tuesday, dozens of mourners entered the consulate where they were allowed to linger long enough to leave their flowers and bow deeply before a portrait of a youthful-looking Kim and record their names in a book of condolences.Flowers were still arriving at the consulate on Wednesday morning, shortly before the funeral ceremony began.marc jacobs bags A man riding a bicycle with a cart delivered a large wreathe of yellow and white flowers. A consular official said many people had visited to offer their condolences since Kim's death.Yang Minshi, a North Korean living in Dandong with her Chinese husband, cried after paying her respects."I'm very sad," Yang, 39, told AFP, her eyes filled with tears and her lips trembling. "I'm North Korean. marc jacobs bags cheapHe was our president."Her husband Gao Zhigang, 35, said he would never forget the late North Korean leader whom he described as the "son of a socialist country"."I am very sad but my heart will never forget him. Kim Jong-Il will live in our hearts forever," Gao, who owns a processing business, told AFP.