Ke was surprised to see Kim and couldn't keep her eyes off him. "He looked pretty much like what we saw on TV, only less energetic," she told the Global Times after her return to China.

She also spotted Kim Jong-un, the third son and successor of Kim, who sat next to his father so quiet that he "barely even moved."

"He has clean, pure white skin. He looked younger than I expected," she recalled, adding that the elder Kim stood up and waved to the performers.

Ke said when she got back to school her roommate, who had never seen her country's leader in the flesh, was more excited than she was and wanted to know all the details.

Ke tried to calm her roommate by telling her that she would surely get a chance to see her revered leader someday. Her friend was not consoled. "I'm afraid I won't get a chance in my lifetime," Ke said her friend told her, whose prediction proved correct.

China and North Korea established diplomatic relations in 1949 and signed a cultural agreement on educational exchanges in 1959. Since then, about 1,700 Chinese students have studied in North Korea, the majority of them are language majors.

About 5,000 North Koreans have studied in China and their studies mainly focused on medicine, science and technology, according to the Chinese Embassy in North Korea.

Some 60 Chinese students from different universities, including Ke from Tianjin Foreign Language University, spent seven months until October last year studying at Kim Hyong Jik Normal University and Kim Il-sung University in Pyongyang, the country's capital.

"I eventually got used to a quieter life without Internet. My life in North Korea was simple and pressure-free," said Ke. "North Korea is not as backward as we thought. Everything was in order. I kind of miss it."

Not a favored study destination

There are about 1.27 million Chinese students studying at foreign universities around the world, according to the Ministry of Education. The largest group is in the US where 128,000 students were studying in 2010, followed by other English-speaking countries like the UK, Australia and Canada. The most popular subjects include business, engineering and technology and social studies.

A survey conducted by Education International Cooperation Group showed only 1.66 percent of the 19,068 students surveyed said they would like to study in South Korea. More than 33 percent said they would like to go to the US.

Studying in North Korea, one of the world's most secretive nations, wasn't even on the survey list. Most who go are language specialists and prefer to attend school in South Korea.

Yang Liudai, 21, from Beijing International Studies University, decided to go to North Korea because she was fascinated by the country that allows few visitors.

"You can go to South Korea anytime, but the opportunity to go to North Korea is rare. I've always wanted to see that mysterious country."

Cui Zhiying, dean of the Center for Korean Peninsula Studies at Shanghai Tongji University, told the Global Times that studying in North Korea will give students a unique perspective they won't get elsewhere.

"Studying abroad in the US gives you a bigger picture of the world, and a better understanding of multiple cultures. Studying abroad in North Korea you get a better understanding of one country and one culture," Cui said.

Before arriving in the insular and mysterious country, exchange students are warned not to bring cell phones, video or books that might be deemed inappropriate by the authorities. At customs the students said their computers were checked, some had their letters and e-mails translated into Korean on the spot.

"We felt like we were smugglers," said Ke, adding that things got somewhat better after they settled down.

A degree of freedom

Chinese exchange students have freedom of movement in Pyongyang, and are able to take pictures of tourist spots and have fun at the entertainment parks.

"There was no North Korean staff accompanying us at all times. If we didn't have class, we could sleep in the dorm all day long," Ke said.

Although the Chinese students could move around the city on their own, it didn't mean they weren't noticed. What gave them away was their "inappropriate outfits" meaning jeans, T-shirts and short skirts. North Korean women have only been allowed to  wear trousers since August 2009, reported South Korea's Yonhap News Agency.

Students, workers and soldiers wearing red armbands were responsible for monitoring people's attire, said Ke. "They are everywhere, on the street, on the bridge, in front of the subway entrance and the supermarket."

Ke remembers the first time she was stopped by a monitor she was really scared. Not knowing what was happening she ran away. Later her Korean roommate told her it was probably because she was wearing tight jeans.

During her stay she was stopped from time to time but Ke said she would politely explain that she was a Chinese student and the monitors would let her go.

Still she found the constant scrutiny annoying. "No matter if they stopped me or not, every time I would go out I felt this huge pressure to conform. I hate being monitored," said Ke. 

Professor Yang Bojiang with the University of International Relations in Beijing said China's younger generation has never experienced a time when citizens were so closely watched. 

"Students involved in the program are mainly post-1990 babies, who have grown up after China's opening-up and reform policy. They might find it hard to adjust to life with less freedom of information and movement in North Korea. Still, they have to respect the rules and behave themselves, because they represent China's new generation," said Yang. 

Despite political and cultural differences, Dean Cui from Tongji University believes the Chinese students are well treated in North Korea. "It's a good chance for them to have a new life experience and see another culture," said Cui.

Each Chinese student received a $250 stipend from the Chinese government and 40 euros from the North Korean government each month.

Although their school cafeteria was free, Ke said she found the cost of living was quite high once she left her campus. She and her fellow students discovered cheaper prices at the No. 1 Shopping Mall but were disappointed that foreigners were not allowed to purchase items there.

Behavior monitored

Student Yang shared a room with two North Korean students and a student from another dormitory came to their room almost every night to "monitor their behavior."

"Sometimes she stayed for an hour, asking what we had done in the day. It seems that she had to report our daily behavior. We didn't care," said Yang.

Dong Haitao, 22, from Beijing's International Studies University, shared a room with a 30-year-old roommate who had been a solider before enrolling in university. He said his roommate took care of him like an elder brother, except when it came to watching movies or television. Dong said that's when they treated each other like strangers.

"He never watched a movie with us as it is a sensitive topic for them, especially when we watched a South Korean soap opera he would wear his earphones and pretend we didn't exist," Dong told the Global Times, adding that his roommate seemed very interested in China.

"He asked if China had subways or parks…at first we thought it interesting, then later we felt like he just wanted to figure out which country was better."

Ke said they had to be very careful when talking to Korean people and politics was not on the list of conversations. Yet in class some Chinese students could not help but challenge some of the assumptions their Korean teachers would make in history class.

"When the teacher said that unification of North and South Korea will happen soon, some Chinese students would ask what if the other side disagreed, and the teacher would say something like 'there is no problem that our great leader cannot solve,'" Ke said, adding that it was important to be careful not to hurt the feelings of their Korean hosts.

"Once I told one of my best Korean friends that I thought their economic development was 'a little bit slow' and I was surprised that she agreed," said Ke who was equally surprised and worried by her friend's answer.

"She said they can't really focus on economic development now, because they believe war might happen at any time and they have to continuously strengthen their defenses."

Yang Ping contributed to the story