At the end of the nineteenth century, most of monchuria was actually controlled by the russian empire. The beginning of the twentieth century, harbin was known as the mo cosmopolitan city in china. To day, there are no russians left, or chinese, working in all those russian shops. So it's more like a russian disney land now, because there is no real russia influence in china any more.
Tracing Russia’s vast border, which meets those of 14 other countries, helps tells the history of Russia itself. From its imperial past to Soviet-era expansions and contractions leading up to its current war of aggression in Ukraine today, the Russian border is a landscape of uneasy uncertainty for many of the country's immediate neighbours. Erika Fatland is a Norwegian writer whose work has focused on issues that range from terrorism to travel and cultural history. Her 2020 book, The Border, followed the path of Russia's border over thousands of miles in order to understand how countries approach being a neighbour to a temperamental superpower. Following the tragic events in Ukraine, the book is even more relevant and Erika joined our producer Catharine Hughes to talk about it.
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