Birobidzhan is a small city of about 80,000 people located in far east
Russia, just a little north of the border with China (see map). Birobidzhan is the capital of the Jewish Autonomous Region of Russia. You
can learn more about it here. It's
a difficult place to get to; we flew 10 hours overnight from NYC to Moscow
and had a 12 hour lay over before we caught another 8.5 hour overnight
flight to Khabarovsk. It's a 2.5 hour car ride from there to Birobidzhan.
For both trips, we flew Delta to and from Moscow, Aeroflot from Moscow to
Khabarovsk, and Davalia from Khabarovsk back to Moscow. We were pleasantly
surprised by Aeroflot. The planes were older (Ilushyn 62s
), but the service and leg room were very good.
There isn't much too see in the city. Most of the architecture
shows
the results of the years of communist rule; its kind of drab and all of it
looks the same. There is only one hotel in Birobidzhan and we were advised it was not a
good place to stay. If visiting for an adoption, you would most likely
stay with a host family in one of these apartments like we did. Nancy and
I took a walk the first night we were there but
we were afraid to lose sight of the apartment building we were staying in
because we couldn't tell it apart from all the others. They all look
pretty much like the one in this picture.
One of the nicest places to visit in Birobidzhan is the Biro river
which runs
right through the middle of town. It's a wide, shallow river that looks
beautiful in the light of sunset. The banks have nice paths where
you can take long walks, and there are plenty of nice flat stones to skip.
Here are some photos we took while we walked along the river.
For couples traveling to Birobidzhan for adoption, or any reason for
that matter, we recommend picking up a book that describes the Jewish
Autonomous Region. Its has text in both English and Russian and is
available in the bookstore in Birobidzhan. It would make a nice keepsake
for your child to look back at and see where they came from.
We were pleasantly surprised to find internet access available in the
post office. This allowed us to keep in touch with everyone back home and
let them know of our progress.
Here are some other pictures of various sights around town.
These pictures are of the streets around Victory Square, a central feature
of the town. Victory square was built in remembrance of the Russian
victory over the Germans in WWII. It is a pretty area with nice, wide,
tree lined sidewalks. Most of the trees are in the Birch family, and since
we visited in early May, we were treated to the leaves opening up for
spring.
We were told that the white paint on the bark of the trees is a chemical
used to prevent insects from bothering the trees. I think it gives them a
nice look!
This picture was taken in Victory square and shows the Hammer and Cicle
symbol of the former Soviet Regime.
Here I am with our translator Dennis. This street is more typical of
what you will find in the rest of the city.
There isn't much too see in the city. Most of the architecture
shows
the results of the years of communist rule; its kind of drab and all of it
looks the same. There is only one hotel in Birobidzhan and we were advised it was not a
good place to stay. If visiting for an adoption, you would most likely
stay with a host family in one of these apartments like we did. Nancy and
I took a walk the first night we were there but
we were afraid to lose sight of the apartment building we were staying in
because we couldn't tell it apart from all the others. They all look
pretty much like the one in this picture.
These pictures are of the streets around Victory Square, a central feature
of the town. Victory square was built in remembrance of the Russian
victory over the Germans in WWII. It is a pretty area with nice, wide,
tree lined sidewalks. Most of the trees are in the Birch family, and since
we visited in early May, we were treated to the leaves opening up for
spring.
We were told that the white paint on the bark of the trees is a chemical
used to prevent insects from bothering the trees. I think it gives them a
nice look!
This picture was taken in Victory square and shows the Hammer and Cicle
symbol of the former Soviet Regime.
Here I am with our translator Dennis. This street is more typical of
what you will find in the rest of the city.
