Pinyin can be a challenge for us foreigners, but please correct above because it looks a bit jarring to me. The correct version is "Haishenwei" - which has quite a different meaning in Chinese. And it is quite a picturesque meaning.
(Hǎishēnwǎi, "sea-cucumber cliffs")
There is a nice little writeup here on Wikipedia:
On Chinese maps from the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368), Vladivostok is called Yongmingcheng (永明城 [Yǒngmíngchéng], "city of eternal light"). During the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) it was under Ming rule as part of the Nurgan Regional Military Commission. It was visited by Chinese expeditions under Haixi Jurchen eunuch Yishiha, and a relic of that time, the Ming Yongning Temple Stele is displayed in the local museum. The 1689 Treaty of Nerchinsk defined the area as part of China under the Manchu Qing dynasty. Later, as the Manchus banned non-banner Han Chinese from most of Manchuria (including the Vladivostok region), it was only visited by shēnzéi (參賊, ginseng or sea cucumber thieves) who illegally entered the area seeking ginseng or sea cucumbers (ambiguous, since both words use the Chinese 參, shēn). From this comes the current Chinese name for the city, 海參崴 – (Hǎishēnwǎi, "sea-cucumber cliffs").
Pinyin can be a challenge for us foreigners, but please correct above because it looks a bit jarring to me. The correct version is "Haishenwei" - which has quite a different meaning in Chinese. And it is quite a picturesque meaning.
(Hǎishēnwǎi, "sea-cucumber cliffs")
There is a nice little writeup here on Wikipedia:
On Chinese maps from the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368), Vladivostok is called Yongmingcheng (永明城 [Yǒngmíngchéng], "city of eternal light"). During the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) it was under Ming rule as part of the Nurgan Regional Military Commission. It was visited by Chinese expeditions under Haixi Jurchen eunuch Yishiha, and a relic of that time, the Ming Yongning Temple Stele is displayed in the local museum. The 1689 Treaty of Nerchinsk defined the area as part of China under the Manchu Qing dynasty. Later, as the Manchus banned non-banner Han Chinese from most of Manchuria (including the Vladivostok region), it was only visited by shēnzéi (參賊, ginseng or sea cucumber thieves) who illegally entered the area seeking ginseng or sea cucumbers (ambiguous, since both words use the Chinese 參, shēn). From this comes the current Chinese name for the city, 海參崴 – (Hǎishēnwǎi, "sea-cucumber cliffs").