The border trade zone in Hunchun reflects the city's role as a trading hub at the intersection of three economies. Russian buyers have come to Hunchun since the early 1990s when the border opening made cross-boundary commerce possible, and the city has built significant wholesale infrastructure to serve this trade. The commercial zone near the main border crossing has Russian signage alongside Chinese and Korean, and the goods on offer — electronics, textiles, food products, hardware — are clearly aimed at Russian buyers.
The experience of walking through a Chinese city that has adapted itself to serve Russian commerce is genuinely unusual. The Russian visitors are mostly traders or people visiting family connections on the Chinese side, not tourists, and the district has the functional energy of working commerce rather than tourist infrastructure. The trilingual signage throughout the city is one of Hunchun's most immediately distinctive characteristics.