[Photo provided to China Daily]

People in Heihe city of Heilongjiang province and in the neighboring Russian city of Blagoveshchensk celebrated the Chinese New Year with singing and dancing on Feb 10.

The celebrations were held at the biggest shopping plaza of Blagoveshchensk. The colorful Chinese cultural exhibition provided the Russians with the authentic atmosphere of a Chinese New Year. The wonderful charms of the Chinese cultural elements were set against the backdrop of Russia's European architecture.

The two cities have hosted cultural exchanges on different themes in recent years. They have promoted exchanges and cooperation in various fields and become a model for civic exchange and cooperation on the Sino-Russian frontier.