Heixiazi island opens to Chinese tourists

A wetland park on Heixiazi Island on July 18, 2011. The Sino-Russian border island will open to tourists from July 20. China and Russia unveiled boundary markers on the island in 2008. The two nations' premiers agreed for their countries to jointly develop the island in November 2010. [Photo/Xinhua]

Heixiazi island, Heilongjiang Province -- One hundred and fifty Chinese tourists landed on the Chinese part of the Heixiazi, a Sino-Russian border island in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Wednesday morning. The western half of the 335-square-km island of Heixiazi now belongs to China, while the other half belongs to Russia, according to an agreement between China and Russia to settle border issues.