VLADIVOSTOK, Russia, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) -- Russian and Chinese college students held a cooking contest on Tuesday, adding flavor to an ongoing cultural exchange program between Russia's Primorsky Territory in the Far East and the neighboring northeastern Chinese province of Heilongjiang.
The Russian participants in the cooking contest held at the Far Eastern Federal University came from the university's biomedicine school. In the rivalry versus Chinese visitors, they cooked and decorated 15 dishes of Asian, European and Russian style food within two hours for the evaluation of teachers and owners of local restaurants.
The contest was part of the provincial cultural program titled "Days of Heilongjiang Province" that features forums, exhibitions and concerts opened Monday in Vladivostok, where Primorsky's administrative center is located.
It was the first time the Far Eastern Federal University held such a culinary competition, said Yuri Khotimchenko, director of the biomedicine school.
"But we are sure it will become annual, and start a close cooperation on science and education between the school and universities and colleges in Heilongjiang," he said.
It is the director's belief that "cuisines and food bring together nations."
Primorsky's trade volume with China exceeds 60 percent of its annual total, and Heilongjiang is a special partner, Primorsky governor Vladimir Miklushevsky said.
For reasons including geographic and historical links, the two border provinces are seeking closer cooperation.