To many outside North Korea, Kim Jong-il was a dictator who starved his people and ruled with an iron fist.
To the hundreds of ethnic Chinese who flocked to pay their respects in the border city of Dandong, however, he was a great leader whose death on Monday has left them devastated.
'We grew up in North Korea and stayed there so long ... When we heard the news ...' said a Ms Li, stopping short as tears welled in her eyes. 'I felt very sad,' she continued. 'He was very kind to us foreigners and he was a great, great man.'
Li is among a steady stream of Chinese with links to the isolated nation who have visited the North Korean consulate in Dandong, in Liaoning province, to mourn for Kim this week.
Dressed in dark clothes and holding yellow or white chrysanthemums, many of these ethnic Chinese were either born in the North or were raised there. They have been visiting the consulate since Tuesday in pairs and groups, queuing patiently for their moment to bow in front of a portrait of the late leader on the 20th floor of Jiadi Tower.
Dandong, a city of 2.5 million people, is the main portal for trade with impoverished North Korea, which depends heavily on its wealthier neighbour for oil and food.
