By Zhu Dawei, People’s Daily
Looking down from the skies above Yichun in northeast China’s Heilongjiang province, the city presents a boundless expanse of forest stretching toward the horizon. With a forest coverage rate of 83.8 percent, the city boasts the world’s best-preserved Korean pine forest ecosystem.
To the north, across the Heilongjiang River, lie Russia’s Amur Oblast and Jewish Autonomous Oblast. Nurtured by its forests and enriched by years of cultural exchanges, the city draws on its ecological treasures and cross-cultural ties to deepen understanding and cooperation with its neighbors.
At Yichun’s northernmost tip sits Jiayin county, where Yulia from Russia has been living for more than a decade. “This is my second home,” she said. A performer of Russian folk dance, Yulia met her husband, a Jiayin native studying vocal music, during a performance. The couple married in 2012 at the county’s first China-Russia international group wedding and have lived there ever since. Over the past decade, the county has hosted 10 such weddings, bringing together 436 Chinese and Russian couples in a tradition that has become a cherished local event.
Cross-border unions here trace back a century, as locals returning from work in Russia brought home spouses, weaving a shared heritage. Three ethnic Russian villages—Changjia, Qinjian, and Huashulinzi—preserve this legacy in Jiayin’s Changsheng township.
“I was delivered by Yelena,” recalled 69-year-old Cong Chengwu from Huashulinzi village, honoring one of the earliest Russian brides. Skilled in medicine, she delivered most of the village’s children. Today, about 40 percent of residents have Russian heritage, and a small lane honors her legacy, bearing the name “Yelena Alley.”
This “Forest Capital” has long embraced love across frontiers. For many young people from surrounding areas, the China-Russia group weddings have bestowed a “second hometown.” Now a mother of two, Yulia switches easily between Russian and the local dialect. The tradition of these weddings continues, telling warm stories of how friendship among people boosts relations between the two countries.
“Yichun’s winter scenery is more beautiful than a fairy tale!” marveled visitors from Russia, the United States, and Southeast Asia as they rode trains through the snowy landscapes of the Lesser Khingan Mountains.
“The mountains and waters here are breathtaking,” Yulia said. In recent years, Yichun has encouraged residents to share their love for their hometown. With nearly 300,000 online followers, Yulia became a local influencer, posting Russian-language videos of her son showcasing Yichun’s winter scenery to Russian audiences.
By launching international travel routes and expanding global media outreach, Yichun has leveraged its reputation for forests and winter sports to attract friends from around the world.
“Yichun is wonderful, its forests lush, its air fresh. I’ll definitely recommend it to my friends,” said Gianna, a member of a Russian curling club who developed an affection for the city through sports.
A curling tournament held in Yichun on June 28 saw participation from athletes representing Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and other countries. Following the competition, Gianna, like Yulia, became an ardent ambassador for Yichun. Today, an increasing number of international friends are discovering the city through such unique perspectives.
In recent years, Yichun has strengthened exchanges with its sister city of Birobidzhan in Russia. In Birobidzhan Square in downtown Yichun, a monument crowned with a globe adorned with Korean pine reliefs stands as a symbol of friendship. In Birobidzhan’s Yichun Square, a similar globe rests atop a sculpture featuring a dove of peace. These twin monuments, blending Chinese and Russian elements, stand as enduring emblems of goodwill.
Through platforms such as the cross-border group weddings and international curling competitions, Yichun, a city of forests, is charting a distinctive path that brings hearts closer together and nurtures lasting people-to-people connections across borders.
