After Moscow and St Petersburg, Vladivostok is perhaps one of the most famous Russian cities. This is partly due to the fact that the city on the Pacific Ocean is the final destination of the world-famous Trans-Siberian Railway. The name of the city translates from the Russian as Lord of the East, a similar structure to Vladikavkaz - the Lord of the Caucasus. The Russian settlement and port was officially founded in 1860. But before this there was a settlement here know in Chinese as Haishenwai, which translates as sea-cucumber cliffs, as the area was often visited to catch sea-cucumbers. 

In 2012 the APEC Summit was held in Vladivostok and as part of the preparations the neighbouring Russky Island was especially developed as a tourist resort. This included the construction of the impressive Russky Bridge, which is the longest cable-stayed bridge in the world and features of the new RUB 2000 note, and an Oceanarium.