HARBIN: For eight-year-old Timur and his family, crossing the border from Russia to Heihe, a city in Northeast China’s Heilongjiang province, to savor Chinese delicacies is a simple and frequent pleasure, thanks to streamlined cross-border travel policies.
Located on the China-Russia border, Heihe faces Blagoveshchensk city across the Heilong River. Since the resumption of visa-free group tours between China and Russia in September last year, Heihe has seen a surge in cross-border tourism, boosting the local economy.
For many people in Blagoveshchensk, a trip to Heihe’s morning market has become a routine part of their daily life.
“I come to Heihe very often because the food here is cheap and fresh,” said Nastya from Raichikhinsk in Russia, as she and her family shopped for snacks and local produce at the morning market to take back to their relatives.
Apart from the morning market, a renovated night market has also become a vibrant and bustling hub. With bilingual signboards in Chinese and Russian, many vendors are fluent in Russian, making it easy for international visitors to navigate. “I don’t speak Chinese, but we communicate without any barriers here,” said a Russian tourist surnamed Oleg. –The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
