Zabaykalsky Krai.

History

People lived here as long as 35,000 to 150,000 years ago; historically the land is known as Transbaikalia, or Dauria. Chita was founded in 1653 by the Cossacks of Pyotr Beketov. From 1827 Decembrist exiles were sent here, and the Trans-Siberian Railway reached the city in 1897. From October 1920 to November 1922 Chita was the capital of the Far Eastern Republic. The present krai was created on 1 March 2008 by merging Chita Oblast with the Agin-Buryat Autonomous Okrug.

Culture & traditions

Most residents are Russian, and Buryats make up about 7 percent; both Orthodox Christianity and Buddhism are practised. Buryat culture is most visible in the Agin district around the town of Aginskoye, home to the well-known Aginsky Datsan. The Decembrist era lives on in Chita's Church of the Decembrists museum. The city also keeps old merchant houses, such as the Shumov family mansion, and the Kazan Cathedral.

Nature

In the southeast lie the Daurian forest steppe and the Torey Lakes, protected by the Daursky Reserve and the Valley of the Dzeren refuge, named after the Mongolian gazelle. Together with Mongolian sites they form the UNESCO-listed Landscapes of Dauria. In the far north, in Kalarsky District, Kodar National Park has low-lying glaciers and Pik BAM, 3,072 metres high. Nearby, in the Chara River valley, the Chara Sands form a true desert of about 10 by 5 kilometres surrounded by taiga. West of Chita lies the Ivan-Arakhley lake system.

Sport

The region's main football club is FC Chita. For mountain trips there is the Kodar range, topped by Pik BAM (3,072 m), and for summer days on the water the Ivan-Arakhley lakes near Chita.

Food & drink

The region's best-known dish comes from Buryat cooking: buuza, or pozy, large steamed dumplings filled with minced mutton or beef, onion and garlic, sometimes spiced with caraway. They are eaten all year round, but above all during the Lunar New Year festival, Sagaalgan. Modern versions sometimes add rice, vegetables and herbs to the filling.

Practical information

The main gateway is Kadala Airport, 15 km west of Chita; the Trans-Siberian Railway runs through Chita, and the Baikal–Amur Mainline crosses the north. Local time is Moscow plus 6 hours (UTC+9). The climate is sharply continental: Chita has recorded lows of −49.6 °C and highs of +40.6 °C, yet gets about 2,470 hours of sunshine a year. Summer and early autumn are the best time to visit.

What to see

• Chara Sands — a desert of dunes in the middle of the northern taiga
• Kodar National Park — glaciers and Pik BAM, the range's highest summit
• Daursky Reserve — steppe, the Torey Lakes and Mongolian gazelles
• Church of the Decembrists museum in Chita — the story of the Decembrist exiles
• Aginsky Datsan — a centre of Buryat Buddhist culture in the region
• Ivan-Arakhley lakes — summer getaway close to Chita

Cities on the map

• Chita 337,063