I can see China.

I walked out of my hotel this morning and found I could see China , it really is just the other side of the river, seemingly no more than a few hundred yards away.



 

 

[caption id="attachment_193" align="aligncenter" width="423" caption="China's version of the London Eye"][/caption]

As I walked along the waterfront I could hear music so I followed this and came to Lenin Place (every town has one) where it turned out some form of festival to celebrate the harvest  and local agriculture was being held.  Lots of very professional singing and dancing in traditional costumes, a few bad clones of western crooners, and lots of stalls selling produce.  All good fun for a few hours.

[caption id="attachment_194" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Lots of swirling skirts!"][/caption]

 

Blagoveschensk has  bussling feel and again looks like it suffered in the immediate post communist era but now is having a significant injection of money.  Lots of new "international" style highrise going up along the waterfront and just inland.

 

[caption id="attachment_195" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Beachfront Blagoveschensk"][/caption]

 

 

The city still has a fair share of older buildings and many of these are also being restored (but National Trust guidelines don't seem to apply - note the air conditioners on the wooden building, which is probably the oldest I have seen in town).

[caption id="attachment_196" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Walls are all solid logs- all joints caulked, just like a ship."][/caption]

 

 

Being the weekend and sunny the Russians are out enjoying the waterfont and parks in force.  When you know it will be in the minuses in a month or two you obviously don't believe in wasting any sunshine.  The partying in the streets and parks goes on well past my bed time.  The average age of the crowd out seems to be in their twenties with the split 45:55 boys to girls, with the girls as dolled up and beautiful as they were reputed to be - so Jack and Duncan if your reading this I suggest you start saving your pennies.  I tried to photograph it but most shots were a dismal failure - but below are a few more random shots of Blagoveschensk and China- day and night.  And for a first none feature a bike (a few cars instead)!

[caption id="attachment_197" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Russian version of a stretched limo."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_198" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="A "VOLGA" - they've gone upmarket."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_199" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Tsarist era building"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_200" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="Street sellers - selling excess produce from their Dacha's (often little more than an allotment)"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_201" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="China - in neon."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_202" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="and the Russian side is just as garish!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_203" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Saturday night - street party."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_204" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="Promenading."][/caption]

 

I've been here two days pondering my options for the next week or so and a rough plan has formed.  I'll head off again tomorrow towards my next major destination Ulan Ude which will take me somewhere between 3 and 5 days depending on what I find on the way.  I'll then spend a week or so exploring the region around the east side of Lake Baikal - reputedly it contains one sixth of worlds freshwater  and is relatively pristine.  After that I've just signed up for two weeks of language lessons in Irkutsk which is a city on the west of the lake.  All being well I'll then head into Mongolia for a week or two before back into Russia and steady progress east so I don't overstay my visa (and it might start getting cold around mid -september onwards).