Its open face was that of Russia's San Francisco -- a rollicking, cosmopolitan seaport that was the childhood home of Yul Brynner. Its unfriendly face began in the 's with its name, which means ''To Rule the East. But now Vladivostok, a neighbor of China, Japan and the Korean Peninsula, is regaining its natural worldliness, opening its doors to tourists and investors. Korean Air flies here four times a week from Seoul.
Gorchakov, the region's vice governor for economy, said in his office overlooking city docks where United States Navy ships now routinely make good will port calls. Vladivostok's new openness can be seen up and down the hilly streets overlooking Golden Horn Bay. At night, the neon and twinkling lights signal new shopping centers and a lively night life, transporting the city far from the terrible power shortages of the late 's.
By day, English-speaking guides lead tourists, largely Chinese, Japanese and Korean, through once-closed coastal artillery emplacements and into long-secret networks of catacomb defenses. Above ground, on shopping streets, where new boutiques sprout from Soviet decay, A. Bilingual English-Russian menus are increasingly the norm at restaurants like Nostalgia and Del Mar, which specialize in Pacific seafood cooked with New Russian flair.
Now that tourism is in vogue, restorers have worked their magic on the railroad station, the stately terminus of the Trans-Siberian Railroad, whose line stretches 5, miles to Moscow. Two blocks away, at the Beaux-Arts Hotel Versailles, glossy brochures proudly boast of ''our English-spoken waitress.
In a parklike setting halfway between Vladivostok's airport and the city, the inn has become a favorite for American couples who come here to adopt Russian babies. This year, three international cruise ships docked. American eco-tourism companies have started to take groups to explore the mountains, forests and nearly empty Pacific beaches of the Primorye region, which has the population density of Maine but is twice the size. While still in its infancy, Primorye's tourism industry ''is gaining strong support from the U.
