evidence: The Chinese call their side of the island Heixiazi (Black Bear Island), and since 2008 they’ve developed it into what is basically a nature reserve. Russian tourists, as it happens, enjoy only limited access to the territory. Travel vouchers are available only in Fuyuan, and vendors frequently refuse to sell tickets to Russian tourists, says Alexander Leonkin, a member of the Russian Geographical Society and a writer in Khabarovsk. [...] The Chinese media describes Heixiazi Island as an environmentally pristine haven, promoting it as the country’s most eastern territory with the easternmost nine-story pagoda. (On clear days, the structure is visible from Khabarovsk.) The pagoda is surrounded by 56 traditionally decorated pillars — one for each of the ethnic groups that live in China. [...] All these facilities comprise a single tourist complex; there’s been almost no residential housing here at all. The Chinese media’s message here is clear: Heixiazi Island’s habitat must remain undisturbed. The only people permanently residing on China’s side of the island are members of the Hezhe ethnic minority (a community closely related to the Nanai people). Heixiazi Island is hardly a lonely place, however. More than 600,000 tourists from mainland China visited the territory in 2016, and crowds are growing by 20-25 percent every year.