Manchuria-Siberia railway tourist route opens Aug 14

CHITA, August 10. /TASS/. Russia and China have finalised preparations of a trans-border project Great Tea Route and open on August 14 a tourist railway route between Inner Mongolia (northern China) and Russia’s Siberia, press service of the Transbaikalia territory governor said adding the first train from Manchuria will arrive in Russia’s Irkutsk on August 21. Between August 14 and 21, a tourist train will go along the route Manchuria - Chita - Ulan-Ude - Irkutsk - Manchuria. "Development and implementation of the Great Tea Route trans-border railway project is an important strategic instrument to develop the economic and cultural cooperation between Russia and China," the press service said. The Great Tea Route is a caravan route connecting Asia and Europe in XVIII-XIX centuries. It began in China’s Zhangjiakou, crossed the territory of present Mongolia to Europe via Moscow and St. Petersburg. Work on the Great Tea Route project began from the late 1990s, involving Siberia, China and Mongolia. Read more