Blagoveschensk, one of the oldest cities of the Far East, is the business and administrative center, a large city on the Amur river, the center of gold-mining and agriculture of the Amur Region, the port and the centre of Amursk navigation. The national traditions and the culture were carefully kept and transmited in Blagoveschensk. There are the Regional Museum (1891), the Drama Theatre (1883) in Blagoveschensk. The city lies on a flat riverbank, separated by a kilometer of river from the modern Chinese city of Hei-Hei. The city is strikingly clean; its many ornate 19th century buildings were repaired during its recent 140th anniversary celebration.
