Russian Street

Russia Town - Russian Street from a Russian Prospective

Once in Paris, walking on Monmartre, I heard some­ Russians singing. In taxi in Beijing, the driver asked me where I came from and then sang me a famous Russian folk song translated into Chinese!

I always seem to get exposed to Russian culture unintentionally. If you intend to see miniature version of Russia (very miniature and not the best one) in Beijing, you should go to Yao Bao Lu or also known as the Russian District.

A busy shopping street where you can use your Russian language skills, if you have any. Strangely enough, some foreigners also shop there. May be because it is near the Diplomatic District. If you purchase in bulk and then ship to say Moscow "C", this is a place to go.

Those of you who adore fur "C" hit it. Yao Bao Lu has the best choice. As winter is coming, I am thinking about it myself.

If you are not a bargainer and forgot your Russian, you should go for food. This street has an array of restaurants: all offering Russian cuisine, music, and good prices. You must try traditional Russian salads (like herring with special dressing), borsch, and stuffed pancakes (blini). Increase your waistlines with sweet stuffed rolls served with cream (ponchiki). The prices are surprisingly low, and atmosphere is amazingly warm.

Well, here is where Russia ends. Restaurants actually being the best part of the street. Bulk shoppers might create the unpleasant image, but that is the way people do business and earn their living. Yao Bao Lu is definitely not the best representation of Russian culture, but so far there is no other.

Ruble's Plunge Hits Business on Beijing's Russian Street

For tourists and businessmen from Russia, Ukraine and other former Soviet bloc countries, the significance of Yabaolu Street, also known as therussian , in eastern Beijing, can hardly be overstated. Russian Street, narrow but bustling, is a retail and wholesale market of clothes frequented by Slavic-spoken shoppers who each year buy about US$1.8 billion worth of garments here and ship them to Russia and Eastern European countries. Statistics from Tianjin Customs and the Chinese embassy in Russia show that Russian businessmen buy half of their textile imports from China from small vendors in the Russian street.


By: "Jane", an ExpatsInChina Staff Writer