A hotel banquet hall in Sanya, Hainan, China's southernmost province. On the eve of the 2026 New Year, hundreds of people clinked glasses in sync with Vladivostok, Russia, time. It was two hours ahead of local time in China. They chanted the names of their hometown cities in Russian and celebrated the New Year. On the 8th, China's state-run Xinhua News Agency and the New York Times (NYT) reported on Russians traveling in China.
Russian tourists who once flocked to Europe's beaches are now crowding into China. As Western sanctions shut down air routes to Europe and even card payments were cut off, Russians are turning to China—politically uncontroversial and cheaper—as a new refuge.
As of last year, Russians could visit 116 countries visa-free with a Russian passport. That is fewer than Korea, which has visa-waiver agreements with 190 countries, but far more than China (85 countries), Thailand (82), the Philippines (67) or India (58). In reality, however, the tourism barriers are far higher than in those countries. After Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, the European Union (EU) banned Russian aircraft from flying through its airspace. Direct flights from Russia to the EU mainland have since disappeared. To travel to Europe on a Russian passport now, one must transfer via non-sanctioning countries such as Türkiye, the United Arab Emirates, Serbia or Kazakhstan.
The entry screening threshold also rose. The old practice of getting a visa once and shuttling to Europe multiple times has been blocked. Payments infrastructure also became a stumbling block. As global payment networks, including Visa, halted operations in Russia, credit cards issued in Russia can no longer be used for payments abroad. In effect, visiting Western countries for tourism has become cumbersome in itself.
China seized on this opening. Starting in September last year, the Chinese government introduced a pilot program allowing holders of ordinary Russian passports to enter visa-free for 30 days. In response, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a bill in December of the same year allowing Chinese nationals to enter Russia visa-free for business purposes. The policy impact showed up immediately in the numbers. According to Xinhua, from Jan. 1 to Jan. 7, 2026, more than 10,000 foreign tourists entered and exited through Suifenhe Port in Heilongjiang province, bordering Russia. That was an 83% surge from the same period a year earlier.
Flights also increased sharply. In April 2025 alone, there were 1,903 flights connecting China and Russia, a 57% increase from April 2024. Sanya in Hainan, a resort favored by Russians, saw about 180,000 visitors in 2024, an elevenfold jump from the previous period. The New York Times (NYT) reported that "Russians are flocking to Sanya's beaches to escape sanctions and hostile stares."
For Russians, China overwhelms Europe on price competitiveness. Before the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the Russian ruble traded at about 75 rubles per $1. Now, three years on, it moves between 120 and 135 rubles per $1. With the currency's value nearly halved, the expense of travel to Europe is a heavy burden for Russia's middle class. By contrast, China has many direct routes, making airfares cheaper, and the cost of stay is about half that of Europe.
Psychological comfort is another factor that cannot be ignored. Unlike European countries, which show hostility toward Russians, China is creating a welcoming atmosphere. Sanya's Dadonghai area is already localized enough to have a dedicated Russian business district. Local restaurants and shops are lined with Russian-language menus and signs. Hotel staff are learning Russian greetings and stocking meat-centered meals and vodka favored by Russians. A Russian tourist told the NYT, "The Chinese don't spit at us like Europeans do," adding, "The Chinese don't care about the geopolitical situation, so we feel at ease."
Change is also evident in China's northeastern border regions adjacent to Russia. Russians are visiting border areas in Heilongjiang for day trips or overnight stays focused on shopping. They are buying up home appliances, clothing and auto parts that have become hard to find in Russia due to economic sanctions. For meals, they enjoy xiaolongbao, a Chinese dumpling, with beer, and they purchase large quantities of inexpensive consumer goods produced locally in China. As a result, the once-weak regional economy—formerly reliant on border trade and small-scale tourism—is showing signs of growth, fueled by short-term shopping and tourism demand.
Experts said this trend will accelerate the tightening of economic ties between the two countries beyond a simple increase in tourism demand. Russia is strengthening a "policy toward the East" toward Asia in place of Europe. China is also actively courting big-spending Russians to boost domestic demand. In major cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, overlapping demand for transit tourism and visits to relatives is driving a steady rise in Russian visitors.
Pavel Kiparisov, head of the Russia-China Chamber of Commerce, said in an interview with China Daily that "the visa-free policy is evidence of the high mutual trust between the two countries," adding that "it will serve as momentum to shift from traditional trade to deep technological and industrial cooperation." The Russian side predicted that if trade volume and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries increase this year, the number of joint venture incorporations would rise as well.