Gathered on New Year’s Eve in the banquet hall of a beachside hotel in southern China, tipsy revelers jumped to their feet to toast the arrival of 2026 — two hours early.
在中国南部一家海滨酒店的宴会厅里，在新年到来前两小时，一群喝得微醺的庆祝者就已经跳起来为2026年的到来举杯祝酒。
They were not befuddled by too much drink but wanted to celebrate the start of the New Year according to the time in Vladivostok, a Russian city two hours ahead of China.
他们并不是因为喝多了而糊涂，而是想按照比中国早两个小时的俄罗斯海参崴时间庆祝新年。
Slurred cries went up, in Russian: “Happy New Year, Vladivostok! Happy New Year, Russian Far East!” Many of the partygoers — mostly Russians with a few Kazakhs and others from the former Soviet Union — drifted away from the hotel celebration before midnight, when the new year actually began.
带着醉意的俄语欢呼声响起：“新年快乐，海参崴！新年快乐，俄罗斯远东！”许多派对参与者——大多数是俄罗斯人，也有一些哈萨克斯坦人和其他前苏国家的人——在午夜真正的新年到来之前就离开了酒店的庆祝活动。
Unlike in many places in Europe, where Russians have learned to keep their voices down because of the war in Ukraine, the beaches of southern China offer a safe and sunny space for Russians to behave as they would at home without fear of sideways looks.
与欧洲许多地方不同——那里的俄罗斯人因为乌克兰战争学会了压低声音，中国南部的海滩为俄罗斯人提供了一个安全、阳光充沛的空间，他们可以像在国内一样放松，无需担心异样的眼光。
Police officers who were out in force to prevent rowdiness broadcast warnings along beaches that fireworks were forbidden. But they stood by as Russian revelers, wobbling drunkenly in the sand, unleashed a barrage of Roman candles into the sea.
为了防止滋事，警方在海滩上频繁广播禁止燃放烟花的警告。但当俄罗斯狂欢者们在沙滩上摇摇晃晃、醉醺醺地向海中发射罗马烛火烟花时，警方也没有干预。
尽管地方当局广播警告称禁止燃放烟花，但俄罗斯游客基本无人理会。
前往中国热带岛屿的俄罗斯游客数量激增，推动了当地经济向迎合俄罗斯游客口味的方向发展。
The number of Russian visitors to Hainan, a Chinese tropical island east of Vietnam in the South China Sea, increased 11 times between 2023 and 2024, making them by far the biggest group, buoyed by a visa-free policy and a hospitality that ignores the war in Ukraine. The Chinese authorities, perhaps fearful of alienating tourists from countries hostile to Russia, last year stopped releasing Hainan visitor figures by country. During the winter high season, the island receives eight or more flights each day from cities across Russia.
前往海南的俄罗斯游客数量在2023年至2024年间增长了11倍，成为岛上迄今为止最大的外国游客群体，这主要得益于免签政策和对乌克兰战争置若罔闻的热情接待。或许是担心疏远来自对俄罗斯持敌对态度国家的游客，中国当局去年停止公布海南岛的游客国别统计数据。冬季旅游旺季期间，每天有至少八个航班从俄罗斯各地飞往海南岛。
Too polite — and wary of losing good customers — to mention the rising death toll in Ukraine, Chinese whose livelihoods depend on serving Russian tourists work hard to make their guests feel comfortable and welcome, gushing about the friendship and shared interests of the two countries.
既出于礼貌，也担心得罪重要客源，依赖服务俄罗斯游客为生的中国人绝口不提乌克兰日益上升的伤亡数字，他们竭力让客人感到舒适自在，热情洋溢地赞颂两国友谊与共同利益。
To make money and also make Russians feel at home, locals have opened fake copies of well-known Moscow restaurants like Chaihona No. 1, a popular, fairly high-end chain known for fusion food that blends Central Asian and Slavic cuisines. The knockoff version here is called Chaihona No. 9.
为了赚钱，也为了让俄罗斯人感到宾至如归，当地人开设了知名莫斯科餐厅的山寨版，比如融合中亚与斯拉夫菜肴的知名中高端连锁餐厅Chaihona No. 1在这里的山寨版本叫Chaihona No. 9。
随着地缘政治紧张局势和签证限制削弱了俄罗斯人前往欧洲的旅行选择，海南已成为俄罗斯人度假的新选择——在这里，他们能享受宾至如归的热带度假体验。
来自俄罗斯和哈萨克斯坦的游客在三亚附近雨林上方的玻璃栈道上穿行。
“Our countries have a lot in common,” said a Russian-speaking Chinese guide, who gave his name as Piotr, leading a group of Russians on a visit to a rainforest near the city of Sanya, a popular Hainan beach resort and also the site of a huge naval base for Chinese nuclear submarines.
“我们两个国家有很多共同之处，”一位会说俄语的中国导游说，他自称彼得，正带领一群俄罗斯游客参观三亚附近的热带雨林。三亚是海南热门的海滨度假胜地，同时也是一个庞大的中国核潜艇海军基地所在地。
Invoking a Chinese stereotype of Russians, he apologized that there would only be beer and no vodka at lunch.
他提到了中国对俄罗斯人的一个刻板印象，为午餐只有啤酒而没有伏特加道歉。
The cultural affinity described by the guide is good for business. At his grocery store in Sanya, Dimitry Garifullin, a businessman from the Russian town of Ufa, sells the comforts of home to a growing clientele. But Mr. Garifullin said he has been struck by a different kind of affinity: the local reverence for his own country’s leader, Vladimir V. Putin. Not a fan himself, he said: “Most Chinese like Putin. They see him as a very strong politician.”
这位导游所描述的这种文化亲近感对生意大有裨益。在三亚经营杂货店的俄罗斯商人德米特里·加里富林向日益增长的客群出售令人倍感亲切的家乡商品。但加里富林坦言，他注意到另一种不同的亲近感：当地人对自己国家领导人普京的推崇。并非普京粉丝的他说：“大多数中国人喜欢普京。他们认为他是非常有魄力的政治家。”
But it is Russia, he said, that should learn from China. “Everyone can learn from China,” he added, pointing to economic growth that, even though now far slower than when he first arrived in 2005, still puts Russia’s sickly economy to shame.
但他说，应该是俄罗斯向中国学习。“每个人都能向中国学习，”他补充道，指的是中国的经济增长，尽管现在远不如他2005年初到中国时那么快，但仍令俄罗斯疲弱的经济相形见绌。
His store, stocked with black bread, pickles, cheese, frozen fish, sausages and shelf after shelf of alcohol, did a roaring trade over the New Year holiday.
他的商店里陈列着黑面包、泡菜、奶酪、冷冻鱼、香肠和玲琅满目的酒类，在新年假期期间生意火爆。
三亚日光浴。俄罗斯游客喜欢尽情享受阳光，比如这位来自叶卡捷琳堡的比基尼女郎；而中国游客则倾向于遮挡身体以避免晒黑。
左图为迪米特里·加里富林在三亚的杂货店。店内陈列着黑面包、奶酪和酒类，为远离乌克兰战火数千公里的游客提供了一丝日常生活的慰藉。
Asked whether his business had benefited from the war in Ukraine, which has turbocharged Hainan’s Russian tourist boom, he said he did not like the idea of profiting from the suffering of others. He added: “The country that has made the most profit off the war is China.”
当被问及自己的生意是否因俄乌战争获益——这场战争极大推动了海南俄罗斯游客数量的激增——他表示，自己不喜欢从他人的苦难中牟利。他还说：“在这场战争中获利最多的国家是中国。”
His store is in Dadonghai, a resort area near the naval base that has so many Russian visitors that restaurant menus, official notices and shop signs nearly all come with translations in Russian instead of English, the usual lingua franca of mass tourism. Chinese hotel staff in the area greet foreign guests with “ZDRAST-vooy-tye” rather than “hello” or “ni hao.”
他的店铺开在大东海，这个临近海军基地的度假区涌入大量俄罗斯游客，以至于餐厅菜单、官方公告和商铺招牌几乎都附有俄语翻译，而非大众旅游中通用的英语。当地酒店的中国工作人员问候外国客人时，说的是俄语的“ZDRAST-vooy-tye”（你好），而非英语的“hello”或中文的“你好”。
Loudspeakers controlled by the local government along the beach at Dadonghai blare the folk classic “Kalinka,” and other Russian favorites.
大东海海滩边，由当地政府管控的扬声器里反复播放着俄罗斯民谣经典《卡林卡》，以及其他俄罗斯人喜爱的曲目。
在三亚于晚上10点举杯，以海参崴时间迎来2026年新年。
中国和俄罗斯游客在俯瞰大东海湾的酒店泳池边休憩。
Mr. Poltoushkin said he would have preferred to go to Europe but could not easily get a visa for himself, his wife and young son.
波尔托乌什金表示，他其实更想去欧洲，但自己和妻子、年幼的儿子很难拿到签证。
“I love the south of France but how can I get to Nice or Monaco now?” he asked. “I never thought I would end up here but we don’t have many choices these days,” he added.
“我热爱法国南部，但现在怎么可能去尼斯或摩纳哥呢？”他问。“我从没想过自己会来这里，但如今我们的选择实在太少了，”他还说。
The European Union in November decided to stop issuing Russian tourist visas that allow for multiple visits and mandated tighter scrutiny of all applicants. This further tightened restrictions on entry to Europe by Russian citizens that began after the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
欧盟于去年11月决定停止向俄罗斯人发放多次往返旅游签证，并规定对所有申请人进行更严格审查。这进一步收紧了自2022年2月俄乌冲突全面爆发后，俄罗斯公民进入欧洲的限制。
China moved in the opposite direction, allowing visa-free access for Russians to Hainan since 2024 and to the whole country since November, as it tries to revitalize the economy.
中国则采取了截然相反的举措：为提振经济，中国自2024年起对俄罗斯游客开放海南免签入境政策，并于去年11月将免签范围扩大至全国。
来自莫斯科的IT开发人员安东·波尔托什金首次访华时表示，他曾试图与中国导游谈论台湾问题，但被告知该“过于敏感”。
拉尼娅·特库洛娃（右）与女儿和孙女在大东海湾的餐厅庆祝生日。一次与当地人的争执终结了她对中国的好感。
Raniya Terkulova, a retired doctor from the Russian region of Tatarstan, said she was on her fifth visit to Hainan. Her family has deep connections to China going back to the 1920s, she said, recalling happy Soviet-era memories of Chinese thermos flasks and other knickknacks. She added that she had for a long time “loved and admired China” and been a big believer in traditional Chinese medicine.
来自俄罗斯鞑靼斯坦共和国的退休医生拉尼娅·捷尔库洛娃已是第五次来海南旅游。她说自己的家族与中国的渊源可以追溯到20世纪20年代，还回忆起苏联时期对中国暖水瓶和各类小物件的美好记忆。她还说，自己长期以来一直“热爱并钦佩中国”，也是中医药的坚定信奉者。
This trip, made with her daughter and granddaughter, however, ended the love affair. “I am very disappointed,” she said, recounting an angry clash on a beach with Chinese vacationers who she said had been rude and domineering.
然而，这次和女儿、外孙女一同出行的旅程却终结了她对中国的这份好感。“我太失望了。”她讲述了自己在海滩上与中国游客发生激烈冲突的经历，称对方态度粗鲁且蛮横。
Occasional culture clashes aside, most Russian visitors enjoy their time in Hainan for a simple reason: the weather. “It is now minus 30 degrees (-22 Fahrenheit) and snowing at home and here it plus 30 (86 Fahrenheit) and sunny,” said a cafe owner from the Siberian city of Khabarovsk who gave only her first name, Nataliya.
抛开偶尔发生的文化冲突，大多数俄罗斯游客都很享受在海南的时光，原因很简单：这里的天气。来自西伯利亚城市哈巴罗夫斯克、未透露姓氏的咖啡馆店主娜塔莉亚说：“我的家乡现在零下30摄氏度，大雪纷飞，而这里是零上30摄氏度，阳光明媚。”
She said she used to go to Spain for sun but stopped after Russia seized Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and the attitude of Spaniards toward Russians soured. “If they heard people speaking Russian in the hotel they wouldn’t clean their rooms properly,” she complained.
她表示，自己以前常去西班牙享受阳光，但2014年俄罗斯从乌克兰手中夺取克里米亚后，西班牙人对俄罗斯人的态度变得恶劣，她便不再去了。“要是酒店工作人员听到有人说俄语，就不会好好打扫房间，”她抱怨道。
In China, she added, hotels are cheaper, and people don’t care about geopolitics, the war in Ukraine or other topics that rile many Europeans. “Chinese don’t spit at Russians like Europeans do,” she said.
她还说，在中国，酒店价格更便宜，人们也不会在意地缘政治、俄乌战争这类让许多欧洲人恼火的。“中国人不会像欧洲人那样对俄罗斯人吐口水。”
三亚的俄罗斯游客加入了由扮成中国财神的主持人引领的跨年舞会。当地主办方倾力营造宾至如归的氛围，包括培训员工用俄语问候。
