"All my friends praised the place after visiting this place, so I decided to take a look," said the female Russian tourist waiting to be clear customs in the city of Hunchun, in explaining why she and possible dozens of other Russian travelers had come to this city in eastern Jilin province, at the junction of China, Russia and the DPRK.

The unique location and favorable policies have drawn an increasing number of Russian tourists and the woman explained that many of her friends chose to spend their holidays here because of the clean environment and amiable locals. Hunchun is also an ideal place for people interested in traditional Chinese culture and architecture.

And, the growing number of tourists has been a great boost to Russian travel agencies, with one tourist agent commenting, "I've practically brought a tour group here every week for the past six years. The people here are nice and I've made many friends over the years."

The tour agent was very positive about the future of his travel business and said he believes that Hunchun will grow even more popular with the Russian people.