Commentary
The Visible Shift: Chinese Influence in Daily Life
Imagine walking through the streets of Blagoveshchensk or Vladivostok in Russia’s Far East. What catches the eye isn’t the Soviet-era architecture or the vast Siberian landscape—it’s Chinese everywhere.Shop signs, menus, hotel brochures, and even some traffic signs now feature Mandarin characters. Late last year, locals in Blagoveshchensk photographed new downtown direction signs in Chinese only, sparking questions that led to bilingual replacements near the cross-border bridge.
