In Heihe, Heilongjiang province, Russian tourists are enjoying local snacks in the outdoor morning markets, while Chinese customers are filling up their carts with chocolate, vodka, and signature Russian violet candies at the Russian goods supermarket.

The scene has become a fixture of daily life in the small Sino-Russian border city.

Most of the stalls in the city have bilingual signs in Chinese and Russian, and the owners can communicate using basic Russian words and phrases.

He Yiran and Huang Wanru contributed to the story.