The Amur River is in the Russian Far East and is also called the Black Dragon River. Along much of its waterway, it forms the border between Russia and China. It is 2,744 miles in length and is the sixth-longest river in the world.

I visited the Amur River in 1998 when I traveled to Blagoveshchensk, a large Russian city which is across the Amur River from the Chinese city of Heihe. I traveled to this Amur Region by flying to the city of Khabarovsk from Alaska, then boarding the Trans-Siberian Railroad for an overnight trip (17 hours) to Blagoveshchensk.

My travel group was made up of myself and three other people who were members of the Baker City, Oregon Sister City organization. We were on our way to their sister city, Zeya, which was close to Blagoveshchensk. While on the Amur River in "Blago", I stayed in the Jubilee Hotel. I could see the buildings of the Chinese city from my window. While in Blago, we visited museums, educational institutions, businesses, artists, a Rotary club meeting, and best of all, the Muraviovka Crane Preserve, where we had a wonderful Russian-style barbecue and marveled at the wildlife and the gardens. This crane preserve works closely with its American counterpart based in Wisconsin. I wrote about this preserve when I came back to the US. Click here for detail.