
A visa-free policy (免签政策) was started between Heihe and Russia’s Blagoveshchensk on September 21, 2023. The two cities are only a few hundred meters apart. There lies the Heilong River between them. The Heilong River is known as the Amur River in Russia.
Now many Russian visitors come to Heihe City to have breakfast. At morning fairs (集市), people set up Chinese-Russian bilingual signs (双语标识).
“I started selling pancakes at the fair over ten years ago. During this time, many people come to buy my pancakes. They are popular among Russians. I love the visa-free policy,” a vendor (摊贩) said.