Birobidzhan - town and administrative center of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast in the far east of Russia

Birobidzhan (Russian: Биробиджа́н, bee-ruh-beed-ZHAHN) is the capital of Russia's Jewish Autonomous Oblast. It borders Khabarovsk Krai to the east, Amur Oblast to the west and China to the south. Bira and Bidzhan are two parallel rivers, the former flows by the city's banks.

Get in

Take a train, elektrichka or minibus from Khabarovsk, Russia. There is a daily bus to Komsomolsk-on-Amur (via Khabarovsk).

Get around

See

In spite of its name the number of Jewish inhabitants in the area is rather small. However there are a lot of traces of and new monuments to national characters. Start from the bronze figures sitting on the cart on the railway square and move ahead to Sholem Aleichem statue. You will see some more.

Two synagogues and Orthodox churches are part of the visit programme.

Do

• Regional Center of Folk Art (Областной центр народного творчества), 5, Volochayevskaya St. (College of Culture). Theater and song festivals, concerts.
• Musical Jewish theater.
• Doll theater Kudesnik (Театр кукол Кудесник).
• Theater-studio Kogelet (Театр студия Когелет).

Buy

Vodka "Khasidkaya", "Shabbatnaya", "Rabinovich" and "Jewish happiness" are due to preserve the color and taste of the region in bottled form.

Eat

There is a number of cafes around the marketplace offering borsch, macaroni, shashlyki, but you can also take a meal on the cheap in the eatery "Strela" at the railway station.

Drink

Sleep

• Hotel Central (Vostok), Ulitsa Sholom-Aleykhema, 1, +7 426 224-03-30. Here exists the incongruous opportunity of going swimming in the winter (because they have an indoor pool). $18

Go next

The bus station is next to the railway station on the left (when you exit the station building) and the bus timetable will not get you waiting for ages, whether you take a private minibus or a regular public bus. Elekrichkas to Khabarovsk and Obluchye depart two times a day.