Is Vladivostok safe?

Vladivostok is beautiful, but young people in Russia are very open-minded, so be careful when you go there. I have been abroad for several years. Vladivostok is charming, but the public security is not very good. The university is relatively safe, so don’t worry.

Vladivostok is the capital of the Primorsky Territory of the Russian Federation. The city is surrounded by the sea on three sides and consists of the Golden Horn Bay, the Ussuriysk Bay and the Amur Bay. It is one of the few natural ice-free ports in the world. It is a world-famous city and important port on the Pacific coast. Its geographical environment and topography are similar to Dalian in my country, but its population is only nearly 700,000, which is one-sixth of Dalian's population. Vladivostok has a history of more than 140 years. Vladivostok is the name of a Chinese place. Before 1860, this land belonged to China.

The finishing touch to the beauty of Vladivostok is the Golden Horn. Although it is located in the North, God has given the Golden Horn special favor, keeping it ice-free all year round. Looking down from above, under the reflection of the sun, the sea surface glows with golden light, and the bay stretches into the distance. It borders the Sea of ??Japan and its strategic location is particularly important. Therefore, this natural ice-free port has become a cradle of the Russian Navy and a famous military port. It was listed as a military fortress in 1898, and the Russian Pacific Fleet headquarters was established here. The "Peace Mission-2005" joint military exercise held by China and Russia from August 18 to 25, 2005 was held here. As an important military restricted area, Vladivostok did not become a Russian city open to the outside world until 1992.

Vladivostok not only attracts Chinese and foreign tourists with its natural scenery, but also forms "street museums" with its more than 250 historical monuments and sites scattered in the city's streets and alleys. Vladivostok Railway Station is the terminus of the famous Trans-Siberian Railway. The building, which is more than a hundred years old, is still in use today with almost no damage. The murals on the roof of the waiting room show the extremely high artistic taste of the Russian nation. The steam locomotive in the center of the station platform was designed by Soviet engineers during World War II, manufactured in the United States, and later shipped to the Soviet Union. Before 1963, this kind of steam locomotive was running on the Trans-Siberian Railway and made a huge contribution to the economic construction of the Soviet Union.

The train station is the busiest place in Vladivostok. It takes 7 days to take a train from here to Moscow, the capital of Russia, and the total distance is 9,288 kilometers. Tourists and passengers can enter the platform freely without purchasing a "platform ticket". There was no crowding or noise in the waiting room, and everything was in order.

Next to Alinuska Street in Vladivostok stands a five-meter-tall bronze statue of an old man. This is a bronze statue of Lenin. After the disintegration of the former Soviet Union, Lenin's bronze statues were almost wiped out in Russia. It is said that there are not many statues of Lenin preserved in the whole of Russia, and the locals call it the "Bronze Old Man". What is sad is that there are often flocks of birds flying in the sky above the Lenin statue. When we stand in front of the statue, we can clearly see a lot of bird droppings scattered on Lenin's head and body. The tour guide said that in the past, in order to prevent the great leader of the Soviet people from being insulted by bird droppings, the local government once hired a Russian veteran to drive away the birds with a shotgun every day. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the old man had to disappear because no one paid the veterans.

The Submarine Memorial Hall in Vladivostok is a Guards submarine numbered C-56 displayed on the street. This submarine had made great achievements during World War II. It sank ten enemy warships and severely damaged four in the Pacific Ocean. Made a huge contribution to the victory of World War II. At that time, the enemy headquarters ordered to destroy it many times, but failed until it was decommissioned.

In Vladivostok, everyone seems to know how to enjoy life. As the tour guide said, if a Russian man can earn 100 yuan for a day's work, then he will think that this money is enough for him to spend three days. Then, in the next three days, he would drink and gamble, and then continue working to make money after spending all the money. To sum it up in one sentence, the characteristic of Russian people's pursuit of life is "If you have wine now, you will get drunk now." During the few days in Vladivostok, every evening, we would see young Russians drinking and reveling on several major streets and beaches in the city, and pairs of lovers and couples kissing by the beach as if there was no one around. , groups of young people sat on the ground, playing guitars and mandolins, and enjoying the heat of vodka...

People living in the central city of Vladivostok generally have two houses - - One apartment in the city and a small villa with a vegetable garden in the suburbs. Of course, this villa cannot be compared with the newly built luxury villas in our country. The so-called villas are just small wooden houses that can only accommodate people. Every weekend or holiday, the man drives his car and takes his family to the countryside. On the one hand, you can put aside the pressure of work and the worries of life, and on the other hand, you can take care of your own three-thirds vegetable garden and live a leisurely country life of "looking at the Nanshan Mountain while hoeing".

When observing the lives of Russians, we cannot help but write about their ubiquitous private cars. The average family in Vladivostok basically has two cars. The income of local people is not high, 3,000 to 5,000 rubles, which is about 1,000 to 1,500 yuan in RMB. However, the Russian government's policy on automobile development is quite relaxed. Second-hand cars from Japan and South Korea can be bought in easily. Whether they have left or right steering wheels, they can be officially registered.

A common Russian-made car is the military Jeep, which looks similar to the Beijing Jeep. In Vladivostok, you can buy a cheap second-hand Japanese car for US$1,000, and the more expensive one is about US$10,000. Most college students in Vladivostok drive cars costing US$10,000 to go to school. The cost of maintaining a car is not high, just a few hundred yuan a year is enough. All taxes and fees are included in the gasoline, so there are no toll stations for crossing roads and bridges in Vladivostok. What’s more interesting is that wealthy people in Vladivostok often drive stupid and expensive cars produced in Russia, such as Volga. This may be the patriotism of the Russians. And the average person drives a pretty good Japanese used car. Interestingly, when we returned to China and were waiting to pass the border inspection, at the Russian port, an old Russian man and his son drove a car and were selling watermelons loudly. We immediately sighed: "Russian people Vendors sell watermelons in cars, but our domestic vendors do business with tricycles, and their equipment is much more advanced."

Worrisome security and police quality

Vladivostok is beautiful! , but a few days of visits also allowed me, as a Chinese policeman and writer, to observe its worrying side.

As soon as our group set foot in Vladivostok, the Chinese tour guide repeatedly warned that "skinheads" are prevalent in Russia and often attack Chinese people. Don't go out casually at night. If you have to go out for something, you must do it together, because robberies against Chinese people often occur. In this way, at night, everyone is always a little scared, and no one dares to step out of the hotel door. In Vladivostok, the existence of pornography and gambling industries is legal. What surprised us even more is that "prostitution solicitation" advertisements can be openly posted in hotels. On the first day we checked into the hotel, we saw photos of bewitching girls with open breasts posted on the columns in the hotel lobby. From time to time, small cards with phone numbers printed on them were distributed to tourists. In Russia, prostitution and gambling are not illegal, but if you are drunk, it is illegal because alcohol is prohibited by law.

Gun control in Vladivostok is relatively loose. There is a gun store in the city center, which displays all kinds of guns, including pistols, rifles, and submachine guns. You can buy them without any documents. The security guards on the streets and in shops and hotels also wore various pistols and watched every passing pedestrian and customer with eager eyes.

In Vladivostok, if you go to any Chinese restaurant to eat, there will be a piece of paper posted at the door of the restaurant, which says in Chinese: Smoking is prohibited in the restaurant, and the fine for smoking is 100 yuan! Chinese and Russian tour guides have also repeatedly warned not to smoke or litter cigarette butts indoors. Once seen by the police or security, fines are not negotiable. However, the "unfortunate" thing eventually happened. One of the Henan writers on our trip was an old smoker. That day, just after dinner, he habitually lit up a cigarette. Walking from the second floor to the first floor, he saw that he had almost finished smoking a cigarette, but he was finally discovered by the security guard standing in the lobby: The security guard with a pistol in his waist quickly stepped forward and grabbed his arm, pointing with his finger. Holding the note "Smoking fine is 100 yuan", the flashing green eyes stared at him unblinkingly, not letting him leave even half a step. Seeing this, I quickly called for Chinese tour guide Xiao Song and asked him to intercede with the security guard. However, Xiao Song looked helpless: "Pay the money, it's useless to say anything." As a result, the Henan writer had to obediently pay 300 rubles (1 RMB to Russian 3 rubles). And when he wanted to ask the security guard for a receipt, the security guard immediately looked fierce and kept mumbling in Russian. Xiao Song quickly pulled the Henan writer over and quickly asked everyone to evacuate the restaurant. He said to the Henan writer: "You thought it was in China! A receipt will be issued to you for the fine, and the money goes into his own pocket. According to him, if you draw from the second floor to the first floor, you should be fined 600 rubles. , now you are being treated leniently."

Xiao Song said that "go around when you encounter the police" is a very useful "famous saying" in Russia. The police here charge more than security guards. The per capita monthly salary in Vladivostok ranges from 3,000 to 5,000 rubles, while the police's salary is only about 2,000 rubles. The difference may be used by the police to generate income through fines. Therefore, if you encounter difficulties, do not go to the police. Because maybe the police will take the opportunity to rip you off! But once you really encounter a police extortion, in order to reduce trouble, you will readily spend money to eliminate the disaster. But there is a lot of knowledge in how to destroy this wealth. Xiao Song said that when you are being ripped off, you can basically deal with it with 200 rubles, but the Russian police are very rigid. You must pay in two installments, 100 rubles for the first time, and another 100 rubles for the second time; If you give him 200 rubles at a time, then you must give him another 200 rubles. Ask why? Xiao Song said he didn't know. Perhaps, what they pay more attention to is the "pleasure" of the number of times. Of course, in future trips, due to everyone's caution, the police and security guards in Vladivostok did not take advantage of us. However, when returning to China and crossing the border, the director of the features department of a Sichuan newspaper was intercepted by the border police during the border inspection. He opened his luggage and checked it several times. After checking again and again, they finally said that there was something wrong with the commemorative coins and stamps he bought and they had to be seized. Fortunately, Xiao Song was familiar with these border policemen. After playing table tennis with them for a while, he finally got over it.

Xiao Song said that, in fact, they just saw that the director looked like a boss, so they tried to make him "mean something" at the last stop before leaving Russia.

From the "pleasure" of counting to playing table tennis, if you think about it carefully, the police in Vladivostok are quite unpredictable.