(Source: http://www.pionnier.gorod.tomsk.ru/index-1355916900.php)

When summer begins the residents of Western Siberia – from the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Tomsk, Kemerovo, go to Shirinsky district, as if it were tropical resort.

The population of the village of Zhemchuzhny standing on the shore of the Shira Lake grows four times during the vacation season (its permanent residents are the staff of the resort). Even street names in Zhemchuzhny sound like those of medications: “Sanatornaya” (“Health Resort”), “Aptechnaya” (“Pharmacy”). The cathedral which is being built at the entrance to the village will be dedicated to the healer Panteleimon. The boulevard is different from promenades of luxury resorts only in its modest size, and the rest is in due order. People in bathing suits and straw hats carrying inflatable mattresses and masks for swimming walk along the souvenir stalls. The stalls offer the “gentleman’s set” of a vacationer: sunglasses, captain caps, towels with names, flip-flops.

The most popular delicacies in local cafes are boiled crawfish, milkshakes with honey and chocolate, blackberries and currants in plastic cups. You can find a hotel, a health resort, a tourist centre or a private accommodation for every taste and purse in Zhemchuzhny. Prices begin from three hundred roubles - for a tiny shed with facilities in the courtyard. An “elite” version is the vacation hotel “Begushchaya po Volnam” (“A Girl Running on the Waves”) surrounded by greenery and flowers. The windows of these luxury apartments offer a view to the green-yellow beach and the water glaring in the sun. You can admire alpine gardens, sculptures and illuminated fountains from the balconies of usual rooms. Those who come to improve their health can use the massage room, salt cave and infrared sauna.