Pictures of former North Korean leaders Kim Il-sung (left) and Kim Jong-il decorate the April 25 House of Culture Cheap Adidas NMD City Sock 2 PK , where the Workers' Party of Korea congress took place in Pyongyang on May 7. Global Times reporter Bai Yunyi reports at Kim Il-sung Square on May 10 as North Koreans cheer for the party congress.
During the seventh congress of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), more than 100 foreign journalists were invited to North Korea to cover the ruling party's first congress in 36 years. Global Times reporter Bai Yunyi was one of them. While her time there was strictly controlled, with her North Korean minders making sure she did not see or talk to anyone the government did not want her to, she was able to get a feeling for the mood in the isolated country - currently beset by wide-ranging UN sanctions due to its nuclear activities - during its most high-profile political event in years.


Like all foreign journalists invited to the country to cover its party congress, most of my time in the city of Pyongyang was spent on a coach provided by the North Korean authorities. There was no chance to walk the streets by ourselves.


However, what we saw made quite an impression on me. There were quite a few tall buildings in the capital with more than 20 stories, some even up to 40 stories.


We saw a few cars driving on the city's wide boulevards, including luxury brands such as Mercedes and Land Rover, though more were lower-priced Chinese models like BYD. A reporter who had been to North Korea multiple times told me that more vehicles are roaming the streets of the capital each time he visits Pyongyang.


The North Korean men I saw mainly wore monotone "people's dress" in grey, black or brown. But women seem to have greater choice. They wore trench coats, miniskirts, high-heeled shoes and even translucent thigh-high black stockings. Their dresses tended to be in bright colors and many wore makeup.


I was also surprised to see some people carrying smartphones, though North Koreans cannot connect to the Internet, only the country's intranet.


I also took a subway train which North Korean officials said was the country's first domestically-made subway train that came into use on January 1.


However, most of the clean city fell into darkness at night as a result of power shortages. Some residential buildings have no power to run their elevators or heat residents' homes during winters.


During the party congress that ended on May 9, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said that he would strive to solve the chronic power shortage problem. Kim stated earlier in his New Year address that the country will aim to improve its power plants' efficiency and expand its nuclear power supply. I hope these plans will add more lights to the dark night of Pyongyang.


Applauding the atom bomb


Before the WPK's seventh congress, the world speculated over changes that might be coming to North Korea's political direction, including whether Kim will change the country's military-first policy and shift his focus to economic reforms.


But from what I observed in Pyongyang, North Korea hasn't budged on its determination to build a stronger military, especially its nuclear capability.


On May 10 night, journalists watched a parade on Kim Il-sung Square held to celebrate the congress. The words spelled out by the torches carried by tens of thousands of North Koreans were "nuclear power state" and "military first."


On the afternoon of May 11 during a concert held to mark the congress, a giant screen repeatedly showed a rocket blasting off and the North Korean army marching, with the audience rapturously applauding.


Many North Koreans told me that they are proud of their country's nuclear weapons.


"We don't care about the sanctions. I'm so proud of my country possessing advanced nuclear weapon technology," a tourist guide surnamed Chae told me.


Another local made it simpler, "Everybody in North Korea knows that we can go without candy, but we cannot go without bullets."


I also saw a poster showing two children applauding a rocket on the wall of a bookstore at Pyongyang airport.


Many North Koreans told me that they want their children to join the army so that they can protect their country.


I could also feel North Koreans' strong desire to become an independent power instead of the ally of a big power. Slogans like "self reliance" and "self empowerment" were everywhere. A civil servant who was assigned to accompany me could not wait to point out domestically-made products.


"I'm proud of the DPRK's self-reliance power, we do not rely on any outside power, we develop on ourselves and become strong," he told me.


Although many North Koreans told me that they believe in the China-North Korea friendship, they were not willing to compare North Korea with China when talking about economic reforms.