Vladivostok

Vladivostok is located around the Golden Horn Bay, not far from Russia's borders with China and North Korea. The city is the home port of the Russian Pacific Fleet and the largest Russian port on the Pacific Ocean. During 35 years of the Soviet era (from 1958 to 1992) Vladivostok was off-limits to foreigners and finally was re-opened for tourism. The city center, at the edge of the water, has sweeping boulevards of ornate, century-old buildings; magnificent, decaying, and in dire need of a scrub. Further out, on the steep hills overlooking the bay, similarly decaying Soviet blocks dotted with new high-rise buildings provide accommodations for most of the city's residents.