Chita
Russia · Europe
About Chita
Chita is a city and the administrative center of Zabaykalsky Krai, Russia, located on the Trans-Siberian Railway route, roughly 1,100 kilometers (680 mi) east of Irkutsk and roughly 2,100 kilometers (1,300 mi) west of Khabarovsk. As of the 2021 census, the population is 334,427.
Pyotr Beketov's Cossacks founded Chita in 1653.
The name of the settlement came from the local River Chita.
Following the Decembrist revolt of 1825, from 1827 several of the Decembrists suffered exile to Chita.
According to George Kennan, who visited the area in the 1880s, "Among the exiles in Chita were some of the brightest, most cultivated, most sympathetic men and women that we had met in Eastern Siberia."
When Richard Maack visited the city in 1855, he saw a wooden town, with one church, also wooden. He estimated Chita's population at under 1,000, but predicted that the city would soon experience fast growth, due to the upcoming annexation of the Amur valley by Russia.
By 1885, Chita's population had reached 5,728, and by 1897 it increased to 11,500. In 1897 the Trans-Siberian Railway reached Chita; rail traffic from 1899 rapidly made Chita the transport hub...
Chita travel guide
Understand
Many travellers bypass Chita if they leave Russia via Irkutsk and Ulan Ude to travel on to Mongolia and China. However, Chita is worth a look. Westerners will often be treated as an object of curiosity as they are rare, but Siberians pride themselves on their hospitality; just a little time spent getting to know any of the locals will be richly rewarded.
Getting there
By train Chita is served by the Trans-Siberian Railway.
1 Chita railway station (Чита II, Chita 2). (updated May 2019)
By bus A service operates to Ulan Ude, but the frequency depends on the season.
By plane There are airlines from Moscow-Ural Airlines and S7 (Siberian) have regular flights. Direct flights to/from Ekaterinburg are possible. For Moscow, everyone in Chita tends to take a train to Irkutsk and fly from there as to do so is much cheaper. There is also a twice a week hap-hazard service to Beijing via Hailer on Air China, but it is regularly cut short, requiring you to take the train. The civilian airport (Kadala) is a few kilometres from the town centre, but rather than taking an expensive taxi to or from the city, hop onto a 'marshrutka' taxibus. In the city, these go from the large concourse between the train station and the cathedral; any marked 'аэропорт' (airport) will go there. The airport has very few facilities so bring food and drink if you plan to wait for a while (you will probably have to wait 24 hr or so anyway due to delayed flights, fuelling problems and drunken crew).
Getting around
The public transport system is well developed, with trolleybus journeys at 30 руб and any taxibus ('marshrutka') journey at 40 руб.
If you need a taxi, walk beyond the cabs waiting at the station and into a nearby street, the price magically falls with distance from the station. Agree the price with the driver up front and he will stick to it.
See
Kazansky Orthodox Cathedral (Казанский кафедральный собор), Butina str., 6 (Railway Square). Vladimir-Suzdal architectural style. Museum Church of Decembrists (Музей Церковь декабристов), Dekabristov str., 3 (take a trolley №1,3 from the Railway Square to the Магазин Весна). Chita's datsan (Читинский дацан), Bogomyakova str., 72. Big Buddhist temple.
Sleep
The central Zabaikalye and MontBlanc Hotels have Western prices and semi-Western standards, whilst cheaper hotels such as one on the junction of Osipenko/Petrov streets will offer a basic room for 1000 руб per night. Panama City complex is another more expensive option, far out in the suburbs, and Hotel Turist on Babushkina is home to myriad nomadic market traders and rampant prostitution. There are no Western-style hostels in Chita.
Overview adapted from Wikipedia, travel guide fromWikivoyage (CC BY-SA)。Photography via Wikimedia Commons.