"If there's someone saying Russian people don't like us, then many Chinese people tend to believe that. You should come here in person to have a look. Things may be different from what you heard."

Zhang added that the two nations and their peoples have many similarities, the most obvious being the look-alike buildings in Moscow and Beijing, which he illustrated by pointing to the boxy residential buildings lining Moscow's streets.

Lu Jiangtao, general director of the Sanya Xinxinrong traditional Chinese medicine health center, gave me another example of such a connection.

"Because of historical reasons, traditional Chinese medicine is especially popular among Russians. They believe in it and like it."

Hainan province, where Lu's health center is based, is a traditional destination for holidaymakers from Russia looking for a tropical paradise. In 2011, some 220,000 Russians visited the resort island, topping the list of foreign visitors to Hainan.

But Cui Chen, a manager for Hainan Airlines, said both sides urgently need to maintain and improve the traditional friendship among their young people.

"Currently, most Chinese visitors to Russia are middle- aged or elderly people brought up before the end of the Soviet era, but since their numbers are falling year by year, it is necessary for the young people to know more about each other and about the great changes over the past decades."

Contact the writer at zhaoshengnan@chinadaily.com.cn

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