Khabarovsk, a border town with a fascinating history

🌊Located at the confluence of the Ussuri and Amur Rivers, Khabarovsk is the administrative center of the Far Eastern Federal District and the capital of Khabarovsk Krai. It has a population of 616,000 (2018). 📍Geographically, it is close to Fuyuan County in Heilongjiang Province, China, and is separated from it by the Ussuri River. The famous Heixiazi Island is nearby. 🏨We stayed at the "Sail" Hotel in the park area by the Amur River, which is the commercial, cultural, and administrative center of the city. The hotel is a red brick building with a large garden in the back, offering views of the river and historical sites in the city center. It was the first five-star hotel in Khabarovsk, opened in 1964, and was prepared for US President Eisenhower. 🚶We walked from the hotel to the Amur River, where there is a "Black Tulip" monument on the square by the riverbank, commemorating Soviet (Russian) soldiers who died in military operations. 🐢By the Amur River, there is a stone turtle next to the old building of the Khabarovsk Regional Museum of Local Lore. It is carved from granite in the shape of a turtle, similar to the stone turtles in Chinese temples, with an introduction plaque on the wall of the building behind it. According to the museum, the stone turtle is a thousand years old and was placed on a Mongolian tomb hill in 1193. In the mid-19th century, the village of Nikolskoye (now the city of Ussuriysk, known as "Shuangchengzi" in China) was formed there, and in 1895, the 6-ton stone turtle was sent to Khabarovsk, becoming part of the newly established Khabarovsk Krai.