Vladivostok - Владивосток

[Millaa]

formula 1 

[Millaa]

old cars...

[Millaa]

btw ... all this paintings were made by young girls 

[Millaa]

...

[Muzh_1]

formula 1 

Hi oxu.

That is formula something but not Formula 1. They look like a lot more fun though.

[Millaa]

formula 1 

Hi oxu.

That is formula something but not Formula 1. They look like a lot more fun though.

Almost the same    (watching it since 2005)

[Muzh_1]

formula 1 

Hi oxu.

That is formula something but not Formula 1. They look like a lot more fun though.

Almost the same    (watching it since 2005)

I went to the Canadian Grand Prix quite a few times when I was single. A friend who was with the press would get me press passes and BOY, that was fun!!!

[ECR844]

A recent CNN piece on the fishing industry in Vladivostok
http://edition.cnn.com/video/?hpt=ieu_bn1#/video/business/2011/08/30/gateway.vladivostok.fish.cnn

[Millaa]

A recent CNN piece on the fishing industry in Vladivostok
http://edition.cnn.com/video/?hpt=ieu_bn1#/video/business/2011/08/30/gateway.vladivostok.fish.cnn

Better to use past tense speaking about the fishing industry... as well as about any other industry in Vladivostok...

[Millaa]

Quote from: WestCoast on Yesterday at 03:28:16 AM
Milliaa do you speak Mandarin?  Hard language to learn.  As the saying goes 'if you want to learn a language take a lover who speaks that language'.  My Mandarin really improved when my ex and I were together.  Sometimes when she came home from work all stressed out she wouldn't speak English for a couple of days.  I ended up learning whether I wanted to or not.   

Are there any good job opportunities in Vladivostok for a Chinese speaking Russian?  I've several articles over the last couple of years that says the Russian government fears a take over of its eastern territories by China so has limited the number of Chinese in the area and expelled the illegal Chinese in Vladivostok. 

The one interesting fact I know about Vladivostok is that it has a large number of legal and illegal Japanese cars.  About ten years ago I met a couple of Russian women in Japan, they made their living, buying used Japanese cars in Japan and shipping them to Vladivostok where they sold them to the locals. 

According to these ladies it is a very popular occupation as many Japanese cars are shipped to Vladivostok and not all of the cars were bought legally.  The ladies said that Russian built cars were cr*p, so Russians were willing to pay more for quality built Japanese products.    

I'll try to answer ur questions here, as its a thread about Vladivostok...
As for me Itried to learn Mandarin - even twice  its a great training against altzgamer ... but seems not succeed in it ... may be one day being a pensionar I'll become tired of english speaking forums and be back to this...
About Chinese in here ... Russian government seems may sleep well - soon all russians living at Far East will relocate to China    Better they'll think about numerious uzbeks and kirgizs who are relocating in Vladivostok in last years - its really undercontrol process... We have many chinese students studing there, it was one of the reasons I'll try to learn this language ... they dont know russian well enouth ... but last years  chineses prefer to teach their studs at home or send to Canada or AU ... So its ur government should bother about chinese invasion - Russia is not so attractive anymore 
As for japan cars ... our government made all the best to destroy that business ,,, The only guy I know who have bought the russian car was an american living here  (he wanted russian jeep, he got it, but most of time spent repairing his damn car). Putin tried to manufacture cars here, but it turned out even more expensive then foreign...
I'll try to write more about living at Far East later... Soon I'll have a lot of free time - promice u'll be sick of me   

[Millaa]

As it was a question about used japan cars In Vladivostok I can put a short review what is selling and how much it costs 

right hand:
SUZUKI Sport SX4, 2007, 17000$

[Millaa]

MAZDA Demio, 2007, 10800$

[Millaa]

left hand:
TOYOTA FG Crueser, 2007, 48000$

[Millaa]

CHEVROLET Spark LT, 2011, 14570$

[Millaa]

and nothing made in Russia 

[Millaa]

Everything here is in russian way...  The terrible fire began on the bridge constructed for the APEC summit yesterday. A day before I was thinking of making picture of it  - looked like a very nice construction... waiting for the dawn in horror now. Still firing...

[Millaa]

extinguished 

[Millaa]

and how it looked like day ago...

[Millaa]

I decided to update this thread with some historical info and my photoes...
I have seen a movie about Russky Island recently (pity - its at russian)... about the mysterious things happened here...

http://www.ntv.ru/peredacha/Tainstvennaya_Rossiya/archive/i92360

Few episodes were devoted to the fortress... In my opinion its the most interesting showplace of Vladivostok

[Millaa]

Those, who ever visited Vladivostok, had surely noticed some concrete structures on the hilltops and in the basement of mountains, in the seaside and along local roads. The travelers entering the city by car can also see fortification lines on the hills of the Sedanka River vicinity. All together these structures are called the Fortress of Vladivostok.
The outpost of Vladivostok has instituted the reign of Russia over this maritime territory. From its origin on it protected the Russian possessions in the Far East. The name "Vladivostok" means "to rule the East". Incredible it is, but a foreign cruiser intruded the harbor the same year the outpost was set up.
Therefore, Vladivostok had been fortified from the very first days of its existence. Initial fortifications were built from wood and soil and did not survive, but their remnants are still seen on the hilltops. First batteries were built in 1878. They protected the city from the capes of Goldobin, Egersheld, and Burnii. First all-round defense structures were designed by Colonel P.F. Unterberger in 1879. His plans were used in the eighties of XIX century by naval engineer V.P. Shirokov. In 1889 Vladivostok was officially declared a fortress. By that time the city had been already fortified by coastal batteries along Amur Gulf, on the cape of Goldobin, the Nazimov Peninsula in the northern part of Russky Island, and ground batteries protecting approaches to the main Siberian Flotilla's base.
Besides batteries, the Fortress of Vladivostok included the channel dug in 1889 through the Sapernii Peninsula (Russky Island) and separated Yelena Island.

[Millaa]

In 1897 a new plan was developed by K.S. Chernoknizhnikov. It included forts "South-Estern","Northern", and "North-Western" on the hills south off the Rivers Vtoraya Rechka and Sedanka protecting the city from land, and the construction of fort "Southern" on Russky Island was already in process . Wood-and-soil coastal batteries were changed for concrete buildings. The central route inaccessible to firing from both adjacent gulfs was constructed. Unfortunately, in 1899 by the order of Minister of Defense, General-Major F.N. Kuropatkin the construction of ground forts was stopped due to the budget cuts and reduction of fortress garrison. Defense line was moved closer to the city and the port to occupy the hilltops northwest and southeast off the Pervaya Rechka valley. New fortifications were erected under the command of Colonel K I. Velichko who ranked among the world's best fortification engineers. He came to Vladivostok in 1899. The city was increasingly fortified. The fort was named after Muraviev-Amursky on the Kholodilnik Hill, which is still well seen from the Balyaev Square and Vtoraya Rechka road, and Suvorov in Zelenii Ugol, were added with fortifications 1, 2, and 3, redoubts 4 and 5, several ground batteries, and a continuous obstacle consisting of a trench and a soil barrage (survived only the fortifications in the vicinity of Dneprovskaya Street). The Fort of Russians and temporary fortification 4 consequently developed into the Fort of Pospelov (Russky Island) had been erected together with 23 coastal batteries.

By the beginning of the Russian-Japanese War (1904) the complex, except some coastal batteries, had been nearly completed. Important of Vladivostok Fortress is that all its structures, like the ones in Port-Author, had 0.8 m in the arch, and were invulnerable to 152 m caliber cannons, that prevented Japanese to extend hostilities for Primor'ye. However, in February 1904 Vladivostok was attacked from behind the cape of Basargin by the squadron of Japanese cruisers under the command of Admiral Kamimura. Their fire was not responded, as the coastal batteries along Ussuri Gulf were not completed. The same year this omission had been corrected, coastal batteries were erected along Ussuri Gulf and the Russky Island perimeter. In August 1904 it was decided to move the line of ground defense to not finished fortifications of K.S. Chernoknizhnikov and to extend it for the southern edge of the Sedanka River valley until Amursky Gulf.
After the war a number-one task was the erection of barracks for the growing Vladivostok garrison added with another shooting division and one infantry brigade, three artillery battalions grew into four regiments. In the Russian-Japanese War Russia had lost Port-Author, the Fortress of Vladivostok immediately grew ultimately important, and Russian authorities used all urgent efforts to construct new fortification lines and to mobilize the existing ones.

In 1910 under the command of General-Lieutenant C.K. Vernander a new plan was developed. It included seven forts (1-7) on the Muraviev-Amursky Peninsula, eight (marked by letters A-K) intermediate strongholds on the southern hills around the Sedanka valley, four forts (9-12) along the south-eastern and southern coasts of Russky Island, reconstruction of the existing coastal batteries and erection of another thirty reinforced concrete batteries, as well as twenty-five coastal cannon-holds. Besides, the plan envisaged an underground meat cold store and 13 tunnel powder magazines. Ground forts were made of 2.5m concrete, outside reinforced by a rock face, inside - by an anti-debris immured armature or a compact shell of steel channels filled with asphalt-concrete. These forts stood up three direct hits of 429mm shells in the same spot.
The amazing thickness of fort structures is justified, as during the war the Port-Author Commander-in-Chief, Kondratenko, was killed together with all staff officers by only one direct hit in the headquarters casemate.
Casemates, trenches, cannon galleries, tunnel and casemate barracks, rear and intermediate strongholds had been connected by underground passages, so called "drafts". Moreover, each fort had a secret home front passage about 800m long. To be protected from mine attacks the forts were provided with anti-mine galleries. Average length of underground structures at each fort made about 1 km, at Fort 2 it was over 3 km.
Unlike pre-war fortifications well seen on the hilltops as horizontal echelones and casemates, the forts designed in 1910 accounted the features of each particular location and did not change its original topography. This hampered distant assessment of fortress characteristics, and created essential difficulties for an enemy in zeroing-in his artillery. The forts of Vladivostok fortress had no analogue in the world. All fortifications were connected with each other and the central structures by radial-circular roads.
Besides numbers, the forts were individually named. Thus the forts of Russky Island were named after the princes of Kiev Russ' and Moscovia, the northern forts 1-7 after the tsars and emperors of the Romanovs.
Post-war fortifications were erected under the command of General-Major A.P. Shoshin, who applied the latest technique and machinery, mechanic perforators, electric concrete mixers, and portable narrow-gauge railways. To deliver tons of cement, gravel and sand on hilltops a cable-way was constructed, it connected the northern sector of the fortress with the railway extended into the Vtoraya Rechka valley, another cable-way was made in Russky Island. Over eight thousand workers were brought to Vladivostok from the central Russia. Chinese workers were not allowed into the fortress.
By 1914 about two thirds of all works had been completed, the garrison grew up to eighty thousands, only coastal batteries had over 200 cannons of 120-280mm caliber. The best were 152mm "Kane" guns and 254 mm cannons of 1895. At that time the Fortress of Vladivostok ranked among the world's best maritime structures.
In 1914 the First World War began, the 4-th Siberian Army Corps was moved to the western front as well as a major part of coastal artillery.
During the Civil War of 1918-1922 the forts and batteries were used in turns by both hostile parties, the Whites and the Reds. In late twenties due to a tense international situation in the region several coastal batteries were restored and attached to the Far Eastern Independent Army.

Some pictures from Fort 7, named after the Tsarevich Alexei, 1910 (more then 2000 sq. m

[Millaa]

Fort 9, named after the Prince Rurik, 1910-1917 ... unfinished. Diggers make tours around - too many dangerous places...

[Millaa]

The most popular Battery № 981 (Voroshylovskaya) n Ryssky Island.
In 1923 Vladivostok Fortress was abandoned. However because of difficult international relations on the Far East in 1932, building divisions of Special Red Banner Far East Army (SRBFEA) equipped on the former fortress artillery positions. In May, 1931 the Revolutionary Military Board of the USSR decided to construct the new coastal artillery batteries on the Far East. The 9-th Artillery Brigade was given to new created Navy Forces of Far East (Aprile, 1932). In this time the strongest on the Pacific Navy the Turret Battery # 981 of People Commissar of Defence Comrade Voroshilov (6 - 305-mm guns of 52 calibre length) was constructed. The turrets mounts for this batteries were taken from the battle ship "Mickhail Frunze" (former "Poltava"). All heavy batteries were located on the closed positions and equipped a lot of underground and concrete constructions of the modern design. It was closed in 1987.

[WestCoast]

MAZDA Demio, 2007, 10800$

Great photos.  Millaa, 7 or 8 years ago my ex and I were visiting Japan and on a train trip we met two women from Vladivostok.  The women spoke excellent English, when I asked them what they did in Vladivostok they said they imported used Japanese cars.  Several times a year they travelled to Japan with a list of desired Japanese cars, trucks and SUVs.  The women shopped for the vehicles around the country, usually purchasing several dozen cars at a time and ferried the cars back to Vladivostok. 

The ladies said that importing Japanese cars is very popular and lucrative in Russia, not only legally but illegally, mainly because Russian cars were crap  .  Russian buyers, the ladies said, were willing to pay a premium for quality Japanese vehicles.   

[cufflinks]

Don't Japanese cars in Japan have the steering wheel on the right like UK OZ NZ and India???

Then the Vladivostok folks are driving right hand cars in a left hand country??   Or is it since so many cars in Japan made for export (North and South America) markets they can get plenty of left hand steering models???

Most kids in the USA only want Japanese cars now too - except for big Chevy, Ford and Dodge trucks - Hummer gone  - out of business and Nissan and Toyota manufacturing big Trucks for the USA market now too...

Most popular luxury cars in the USA now the Lexus, Infiniti and Accura (High end brands by Toyota, Nissan and Honda) Lexus now even higher rated quality than Mercedes and BMW.