First Chinese Tourists Go on Organized Sightseeing Tour of Russia’s Crimea

Chinese tourists have arrived in Crimea for an organized tour of this southern holiday destination for the first time since its reunification with Russia, a senior Crimean official said Saturday.

SIMFEROPOL (Sputnik) — The group travelled to the Black Sea region without visas under an arrangement between China and Russia on visa liberalization.

"The first official group of tourists from China arrived yesterday evening at the Simferopol airport, with the main purpose of… getting to know the peninsula," Alexei Chernyak, head of a Crimean parliamentary committee in charge of local resorts, told RIA Novosti.

The tourists will see some of the local highlights: the centuries-old Livadia and Vorontsov palaces and the residence of the last Khans, the Genoese fortress in Sudak, the ancient Greek ruins of Chersonesus, taste prized Crimean wines at the Massandra Winery, and visit a sprawling Safari park.