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Tuesday, March 2, 2010

VLADIVOSTOK, RUSSIA: The City Defined

Dictionary: Vla·di·vos·tok (vlăd'ə-və-stŏk', -vŏs'tŏk', vlə-dyə-və-stôk') pronunciation

Britannica Concise Encyclopedia:

Seaport city (pop., 2006 est.: 583,673), southeastern Russia, in Asia. Founded in 1860 as a Russian military outpost, it became the main Russian naval base on the Pacific Ocean in 1872. It became a free commercial port about 1900 and grew rapidly as a military base after the Russian Revolution of 1917. During the Soviet era it was the home of the Pacific fleet; its military importance was such that it was closed to foreign shipping from the late 1950s. After the collapse of the U.S.S.R. in 1991, it reemerged as a commercial port, with industries such as ship repair and fish and meat processing. A cultural centre, it is the eastern terminus of the Trans-Siberian Railroad.

Columbia Encyclopedia:

Vladivostok (vlă'dĭvŏ'stŏk, -vəstŏk', Rus. vlä'dyēvəstôk'), city (1989 pop. 634,000), capital of Maritime Territory (Primorsky Kray), Russian Far East, on a peninsula that extends between two bays of the Sea of Japan. It is the chief Russian port on the Pacific (kept open in winter by icebreakers), the terminus of the Trans-Siberian RR and the Northern Sea Route, the chief base of the Russian navy in the Pacific, and a base for fishing and whaling fleets. The city has large shipyards, railyards, chemical and engineering factories, fish canneries, and food plants. The Russians founded a military post on the site in 1860, and it became an important outpost for Russian expansion in E Asia. Vladivostok became capital of the Maritime Territory in 1888 and grew rapidly after the completion (1903) of the Trans-Siberian RR. It developed as a naval base after the loss (1905) of Port Arthur to Japan. In World War I the Allies used the city as a major supply depot, and after the Russian Revolution of 1917 they occupied it. Most of the occupying forces were Japanese, but there were also about 7,500 Americans and contingents of British, Italian, and French troops. By 1920, when Vladivostok was included in the newly proclaimed Far Eastern Republic, the Japanese continued to occupy the region and installed a counterrevolutionary Russian puppet government. By 1922 all the interventionist forces had withdrawn and the city came under Soviet control. In World War II, Vladivostok was a major port for lend-lease supplies. After World War II, the port was closed to Western ships, forcing foreign traffic for the Trans-Siberian RR to off-load at Nakhodka. In 1990 it was reopened to foreign shipping. The city is the chief cultural center in the Russian Far East. Among its many educational institutions are the Far Eastern branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Far Eastern Univ. (reopened 1956). Russians and Ukrainians comprise most of the city's population.

Wikipedia:

Vladivostok (Russian: About this sound Владивосто́к​ (help·info)) is Russia's largest port city on the Pacific Ocean and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai. It is situated at the head of the Golden Horn Bay, not far from Russia's border with China and North Korea. It is the home port of the Russian Pacific Fleet.

Names

The name Vladivostok (Владивосток) loosely translates from Russian as "rule the East" a name based on that of Vladikavkaz, at that time a Russian fortress in the Caucasus. The traditional Chinese name for the city is Hǎishēnwǎi (海參崴; literally "sea cucumber cliffs"). In mainland China (PRC), it is officially known under the transliteration of Fúlādíwòsītuōkè (符拉迪沃斯托克) today even though its original Chinese name Hǎishēnwǎi (海參崴) is still common in mainland China and Taiwan as well. The Japanese name of the city is Urajiosutoku (ウラジオストク; a rough transliteration of the Russian originally written in Kanji as 浦塩斯徳 and often shortened to Urajio; ウラジオ; 浦塩). In Korean, the name is transliterated as Beulladiboseutokeu (블라디보스토크) in South Korea, Ullajibosŭttokhŭ (울라지보스또크) in North Korea, and Beullajiboseu-ttokeu (블라지보스또크) by Koreans in China.

RUSSIA: On this day: 3 March

 Alexander II monument in Moscow
Alexander II monument in Moscow

On 3 March 1855 Alexander II “the Liberator” took the throne as the Emperor of the Russian Empire after the death of his father Nicholas I. He ascended in the midst of the Crimean War, a devastating conflict for Russia, and at a time when change was desperately needed for his country to survive. The new Tsar introduced numerous reforms, the most important being the emancipation of the serfs.

“It is better to abolish serfdom from above than to wait for it to abolish itself from below” is a famous quote from Alexander II.

Alexander had many mistresses during his marriage to Maria Alexandrovna, but fell passionately in love with Catherine Dolgorukova, a beautiful descendant of one of Russia’s oldest families. He moved his young mistress into quarters close to St. Petersburg’s Winter Palace with a secret staircase connecting her rooms with his. They exchanged erotic love letters to each other for over 14 years.

“I believe I have shown you, by coming to see you twice, despite your sulking… you know perfectly well what the only reason for it is and you cannot dare to doubt the being who belongs to you body and soul and who only breathes through you,” one letter from Alexander reads.

“I saw in your eyes that you wanted to throw yourself on me to forget everything and enjoy our 'bingerle',” he continues, using the word ‘bingerle’ as their secret code for ‘love making.’

Catherine already had four children before they were married in 1880, shortly after the Tsarina’s death. Their union lasted less then a year before Alexander was assassinated. Catherine later settled in France and died in 1922. A handful among thousands of letters they had written to each other was auctioned off in recent years in France and Germany.

Russiapedia: Alexander II the Liberator

http://rt.com/Russia_Now/2010-03-03.html

DALIAN (大连), CHINA: Binhai Lu (滨海路)

FROMMER’S

Dalian's seaside location is the major draw for Chinese tourists. Most of its beaches are pebbly and polluted, but the simple presence of the ocean and its attendant sea air provide respite from the rigors of travel. Binhai Lu meanders next to the coastline and gives breathtaking views of the sea. Start your journey by taking a taxi or bus no. 203 to Donghai Gongyuan (entrance fee ¥10/$1.30/65p), located about 5km (3 miles) east of downtown. In a nearby plaza at the north gate of the park, locals enjoy watching the sun rise.