HARBIN, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Sergey Mikhailov from the Russian Far East just concluded a medical tourism trip to Suifenhe City, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, where he had a general physical examination and received a prescription of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).
"I came here upon the recommendation of a Chinese friend. After the health checkup, a doctor explained to me about problems with my body. I then received TCM doses," said Mikhailov, who was upbeat that TCM treatment could help improve his health.
Mikhailov is among a growing cohort of Russians seeking treatment at Suifenhe People's Hospital. Liu Ximing of the hospital said many Russian visitors came in group tours for medical checkup. In the hospital, foreign people enjoy the same quality of treatment and medical prices as Chinese people.
Mikhailov said he did not experience any issues with a language barrier as professional medical translators are available for foreign patients, which meant he could communicate well with his doctors. After visiting the hospital, he enjoyed shopping and Chinese cuisine.
Trucks and tour buses cross back and forth through the busy highway port between Suifenhe, China's northeastern gateway, and Pogranichny in Russia's Primorsky Krai. Travelers from Russia are keen on shopping, and are often seen hauling heavy suitcases full of their purchases in Suifenhe.
Meanwhile, Russian commodities are also popular in Suifenhe. Ross Empire, the largest Russian commodity distribution center in Suifenhe, has become the city's landmark tourist attraction with its rich collection of Russian commodities and food.
"More than 220 foreign trade enterprises have settled in the center, which deal in more than 5,500 varieties of imported goods," said Zhang Jiaqiang, manager of the center's management company, adding it also boasts a cross-border e-commerce live broadcast base to promote online sales.
The bonded zone of Suifenhe has also played an important role as an economic driver for strengthening cross-border trade.
Li Wei, general manager of Heilongjiang Zinnbach Biotechnology Co., Ltd., said as the first Chinese craft beer brewery to set up workshop in a bonded zone, the company benefitted from "bonded entry and tax refund" policies, enjoying zero tariffs on all the company's imported raw materials such as malt, hops and yeast.
According to statistics from Suifenhe Customs, its highway border port registered a record high of 1.225 million tonnes of freight throughput in 2024. Since the beginning of 2025, the average daily number of vehicles passing through the highway port has remained at about 300, an increase of nearly 50 vehicles compared with the period of 2024.
Meanwhile, Suifenhe is also an important passage on the China-Europe Railway Express. Nearly 900 China-Europe freight trains pass through its railway border port annually, transporting about 88,000 TEUs of cargo.
Suifenhe's highway and railway border ports are among the 19 border ports between China and Russia in Heilongjiang Province, according to the website of the provincial government.
On May 7, after the ice on the Heilongjiang River fully thawed, the seasonal water traffic reopened in three ports along the China-Russia border river, namely the cities of Heihe, Tongjiang and Fuyuan.
"The annual water traffic has begun again, and the speed of passing through the customs was particularly fast, which is convenient for those of us who frequently travel back and forth between China and Russia," said Jiang Haibo, a traveler from the city of Jiamusi in Heilongjiang, who was at the waterway port of Tongjiang.
Boasting a minimum water distance of only 1 kilometer from Nizhneleninskoye port in Russia, Tongjiang has become a vital trade route between China and Russia with a capacity of handling 500,000 passengers and 600,000 tonnes of cargo annually.
"I am from Nizhneleninskoye of Russia. It takes at most half an hour by boat to get to my home from Tongjiang, and it is very convenient and quick to pass through the customs here," said Russian traveler Viktoriia Figol.
The railway network in Tongjiang has been connected to the Trans-Siberian Railways in Russia. Goods exported from Tongjiang passing through Khabarovsk of Russia can reach the hinterland of Russia directly and even further on to European countries such as Germany. This passage is 800 kilometers shorter than that via the Suifenhe Port. Enditem
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