Attractions in Russia's Far East for a quick trip from Japan and/or China (cost, place)

[OyCrumbler]

I'm looking for something like in the title. I might be in East Asia again for a long-ish haul and figured instead of the usual southeast Asian circuit I do, I'd try northern Asia with South Korea, Mongolia, and the Russian Far East. The one that I know the least about is that part of Russia and especially the logistics of it. Are there any particularly simple and relatively inexpensive cities in the Russian Far East easily accessible from Tianjin, Shanghai, Tokyo, or Seoul? What are the main attractions in these cities? Any specific amenities, festivals, sites, restaurants, etc, in mind?

[Tiger Beer]

Originally Posted by OyCrumbler

I'm looking for something like in the title. I might be in East Asia again for a long-ish haul and figured instead of the usual southeast Asian circuit I do, I'd try northern Asia with South Korea, Mongolia, and the Russian Far East. The one that I know the least about is that part of Russia and especially the logistics of it. Are there any particularly simple and relatively inexpensive cities in the Russian Far East easily accessible from Tianjin, Shanghai, Tokyo, or Seoul? What are the main attractions in these cities? Any specific amenities, festivals, sites, restaurants, etc, in mind?

Vladivostok is the obvious one. There are ferries that go there from Japan, South Korea, and China. You could also go overland from China.

There are some other popular cities just inland from there as well, basically following the Trans-Siberia Railway line. Khaborovsk, etc. However, Russia cities aren't inexpensive.

I think overall you'd be better served by resorting to travel books or wikitravel or other online sources for travel information. Wikitravel would have a ton of festivals, restaurants, lodging and such, that would be much more comprehensive than accumulating one-offs from whatever few posters have been to those places.

(Note: I've been to Vladivostok, Mongolia, Shanghai, Seoul, Tokyo, and Tianjin on your list).

[Tomboy-]

The trips can be inexpensive if you go to Russia by trains or buses from China, or by low cost airlines from South Korea. Northeast China and South Korea are more connected to the Russian Far East than Japan due to better foreign relations with Russia. Tianjin isn't the place with direct transport to Vladivostok. The English spoken in Vladivostok is ok. Summer is a better time.