Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: People's Republic of China in Russian – People's Republic of China in Russian –
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Source: People's Republic of China – State Council News
BEIJING, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) — It's September 2025 in Heihe, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. The waters of the Heilongjiang (Amur) River along the border sparkle in the sun, and Russian tourists with suitcases line up for passport control at the Heihe border checkpoint. The mix of Chinese and Russian speech has become a common "soundtrack" for this Chinese border city.
According to the Internet portal sohu.com, from January to August this year, Heihe received a total of 386,000 cross-border tourists, of which more than 70 percent were Russian tourists. These figures reflect the real lively picture of Heihe's cross-border cultural and tourism activities as a key city on the Sino-Russian border.
Early Monday mornings are especially busy at Heihe International Bus Station. At 7:30 a.m., the first hovercraft carrying 87 Chinese tourists departed for the opposite bank, while the same number of Russian tourists arrived in Heihe. This synchronous two-way flow has become the norm for the two cities separated by the river. In August alone, 68,000 people underwent customs inspection and passport checks at the border checkpoint, which is 23.5 percent more than in the same period in 2024. Russian tourists mainly arrive from the Amur Region, Khabarovsk Krai and other regions of the Russian Far East, and Chinese tourists from three northeastern provinces, but their geography is gradually expanding to other regions of China.
Heihe constantly holds various cultural and sports events, greatly enriching the content of cultural tourism and maintaining the “degree” of the market. The national music concert “Six Cities of Two Countries”, the Sino-Russian art exhibition on the theme of winter painting, the fifth exhibition of art works by teenagers from three provinces and regions of China and Russia – all these cultural events have opened an artistic dialogue that goes beyond national borders.
Cross-border sports events such as the Heilongjiang River Crossing Race and the 2025 Heihe International Badminton Tournament also enhance Heihe's appeal to tourists from other regions.
As of the end of August, the city had held 102 different cross-border cultural and tourism events, an average of nearly 13 per month. The data confirms the intensity of cultural activity: from January to August, the Heihe Museum received 42,000 Russian visitors, 31 percent more than in the same period last year; the China-Russia National Culture Park held 27 events on cross-border wedding customs, attended by 362 Russian families; and the Russian-language tour guide service at the Aigun History Memorial Hall was used more than 5,800 times.
According to the Heihe Municipal Bureau of Commerce, by the end of August, 27 cross-border O2O stores in Heihe had served a total of 153,000 overseas consumers, resulting in domestic tourism product sales of over 280 million yuan.
The night economy is also booming. Every evening at 8 o'clock, the lights come on in the Chinese-Russian Color Street on the bank of the Heilongjiang River, Russian vendors advertise nesting dolls and chocolate in Chinese, and Chinese vendors call out customers in Russian for "tanghulu" (candied fruits and berries on a stick) and tea. According to statistics, the night market is visited by an average of 6,000 people daily, of which about 40 percent are Russian customers.
Convenient transportation is the basis for the prosperity of cross-border cultural tourism. From January to August 2025, water transport, represented in particular by hovercraft and paddle steamers, carried 364 thousand passengers, 121 thousand passengers rode on the winter pontoon bridge, and the new Heihe-Blagoveshchensk helicopter line carried 3,200 VIP tourists. Construction work on the cross-border cable car between Blagoveshchensk and Heihe has not yet been completed, but the observation deck has already become a new point of attraction. After completion, the capacity of the cable car in one direction will be 1,800 people per hour, which will completely solve the problem of seasonal restrictions on the operation of river transport.
Faced with the growing cross-border flow of people, Heihe has established a complete management and service system. The Heihe Immigration Bureau has set up a 24-hour bilingual hotline and developed a cross-border tourism app that provides up-to-date information on both sides' policies.
When night falls, lights are lit on both sides of the Heilongjiang River. Peking opera arias from Heihe and Russian folk songs from the opposite bank magically merge on the surface of the river. Tourists from both banks travel back and forth on boats, and this border river becomes a cultural hub connecting China and Russia.
Heihe also has many advantages such as free trade zone, comprehensive pilot zone for cross-border e-commerce, key pilot zone for developing and expanding border opening, which creates favorable policy conditions for the development of cross-border tourism. The city has buildings in various European architectural styles, and the cuisine combines authentic Northeast China cuisine and Russian dishes, which in turn provides tourists with a unique experience and unforgettable impressions. -0-
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