RUSSIANS IN CHINA

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Russians are one of the smallest ethnic minorities in China, They look European and have retained many aspects of their customs, culture and ideology. They began arriving in China in the 18th century. Most are descendants of White Russians who fled the Bolshevik Revolution. There are also a few colonies of descendants of white Russians who fled the Russian Civil War in the 1920s. Russian in China look European, unless they are products or multiple intermarriages. Many have white skin, brown or blue eyes, and soft and curly hair. According to Chinese sources, compared to Chinese they have "long nose, thin lips, tall and big stature, and “medium hair (beard, armpit hair, etc).” [Source: Chinatravel.com]

Chinese Russians mainly live scattered around in Yili (Ili), Tacheng, Aletai (Altay), Urumqi and other places in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Some can also be found scattered in the northern part of Heilongjiang province and the eastern part of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. [Source: Liu Jun, Museum of Nationalities, Central University for Nationalities, Science of China, China virtual museums, Computer Network Information Center of Chinese Academy of Sciences]

The Russians in China still speak Russian, an Eastern Slav language branch in the Indo-European family of languages, and use the Cyrillic alphabet. Most also worship at the Russian Orthodox Church, the traditional Russian church. But because of the close contact and intermarriage with other nationalities, their religious beliefs have become more varied and the Russian Orthodox Church is less influential than it once was. Many of the Russians living in towns are intellectuals, teachers, doctors, engineers, technical workers and cadres. Russians that live in rural areas are mostly knowledge type farmers. They are generally good at raising poultry and livestock and beekeeping.

Russians are the ninth smallest minority out of 55 in China. They numbered 15,393 in 2010 and made up 0.0012 percent of the total population of China in 2010 according to the 2010 Chinese census. Russian population in China in the past: 15,631 in 2000 according to the 2000 Chinese census; 13,504 in 1990 according to the 1990 Chinese census. A total of 22,656 were counted in 1953; 1326 were counted in 1964; and 2,830 were, in 1982. [Sources: People’s Republic of China censuses, Wikipedia]

History of Russians in China

The first Russians began moving to China from Tsarist Russia in the 18th century. More entered various parts of Xinjiang in the 19th century, and continued coming after the October Revolution in 1917. At the beginning, they were mainly made up of prisoners of war, fugitive soldiers, farmers seeking a better life and the missionaries of the Orthodox Eastern Church.

Russian Road to China 1910

In the early 20th century, around the time of the October Revolution, more Russians entered and trickled in until the 1930s. At that time, they were called the "Guichun nationality". After the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, they became Chinese citizens and were formally renamed Russians.

Before the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, the Russians living in towns were mostly employed in various repairing businesses, transport, handicrafts, horticulture, animal husbandry and bee-keeping. In rural areas, groups of about 10 Russian families lived together in small villages. They reclaimed and cultivated the wasteland on the banks of the Ili and Tekes rivers. According to the Chinese government: “They had achieved a fairly high level of development in production and culture. But under reactionary rule, they were exploited and oppressed. The Russians living in urban areas now work mainly in industry, transport, finance, trade and medicine. Although the Russian ethnic group in China has a small population, it has deputies to the National People's Congress and the regional People's Congress. They take an active part in running state and regional affairs.” [Source: China.org]

Because Chinese Russians were relatively recent arrivals they still had families and friends in the countries of the former Soviet Union. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 and an agreement was made between the governments of China and Soviet Union, many of them returned to their own countries and reunited with their family. In addition, some Russians moved to countries such as Australia and Canada, where they had family. Therefore, the Russian ethnic minority has a much smaller population than it once had. [Source: Chinatravel.com ]

Chinese Russian Festivals

The traditional festivals of the Russian ethnic minority are closely related to their religion. On January 7 every year, they celebrate their Christmas and commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ. On this day, they will get together with their family after praying at the church. On March 21 every year, Easter Day comes, which is the day of Resurrection after three days when Jesus Christ was nailed to the cross. Forty days before Easter Day, the disciples will abstain from meat and wine, and eat only vegetarian diet. Grand commemorative activities are held on Easter Day. Fifty days after the Easter Day is Whitsunday, a festival in celebration of the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Disciples of Christ. The main festivals for Russian minority are mainly Easter Day, Christmas, Qingming Festival and Pentecost. [Source: Chinatravel.com]

Most of the traditional festivals of Russians are related with the Orthodox Eastern Church. There are more than ten of these, including "Christmas" and "Easter". The "Paska Festival" is another name for "Easter", a celebration memorializing the "revival of Jesus Christ". The date of the Paska Festival is fixed according to Orthodox calendar. Generally, it is held on the first Sunday after the Spring Equinox with the full moon, which usually falls in late March or April. [Source: Liu Jun, Museum of Nationalities, Central University for Nationalities, Science of China, China virtual museums]

Forty days before the Paska festival, people stop all the entertainment activities and go on a "fast"— abstaining from meat and only eating vegetable dishes. On the day of the festival, the fast ends. All men and women, old and young, dress in their holiday best. Sumptuous foods are carefully prepared, and relatives, friends and neighbors visit and greet each other, expressing their joyful feeling about the revival of Jesus Christ. Traditional food include homemade "Biqieni" (cakes) and red, yellow, blue, white, orange, green and purple Easter eggs—symbolizing life and prosperity. When visiting guests enter the party room, the host gives them a colored egg to express his good wishes. Sometimes everybody plays a game of bumping eggs. People enjoy all kinds of cakes, rich food and drinks. Often the featured dessert is tower-shaped round bread called a "Gulicha", which is made from flour, oil, sugar, egg and milk. The top is painted with colored cream and granulated sugar grains. The hosts cut the bread into slices for the guests to eat. Russians believe that eating this kind of bread brings happiness. Sometimes there is an outdoor party, with dancing, singing and accordion and guitar playing. These parties often feature Russian folk songs accompanied by dance with quick-tempo rhythms.

Chinese Marriage Customs

Russians view marriage as one of the most important experiences in their life, and attaches a lot of importance to it. People must abide by many rules. First, they strictly forbid the intermarriage of close relatives, including cousins. They can marry people of other ethnic groups, but because of the barrier of religious belief, their intermarriages with the Muslim are relatively scarce. Most freely choose their marriage partners, but generally they must first get the agreement of their parents. [Source: Liu Jun, Museum of Nationalities, Central University for Nationalities, Science of China, China virtual museums ~]

Traditionally, before getting married, a couple had to be formally introduced by a matchmaker and go through the necessary engagement procedures. After the boy and girl have fallen in love for a certain time, the family of the boy can ask the matchmaker to go to the girl's home and make an offer of marriage. The mode is they entrust the matchmaker to send a piece of bread scattered with salt. If the girl does not accept the bread, it means she has rejected him; if the girl accepts the bread, and personally cut it into pieces for all the people to taste, it means she has agreed. Once the girl agrees to the marriage, the parents of the couple commonly hold a simple engagement ceremony, negotiate the wedding date and make preparations for the wedding. Russian are not particular about wedding gifts. The bridegroom’s family can just prepare the necessities for marriage. But the dowries expected of the bride family are particular and very abundant. ~

In traditional Russian families, father is the boss of the family, in charge of the finances. After the children grow up and get married, they start their own lives. When parents die, inheritance is shared by the children. The Orthodox Church forbids divorce, so people of Russian ethnic minority who are mainly influenced by this religion seldom divorce.

Chinese Russian Wedding

The wedding day festivities are first held at the bride’s home, where guests dine, sing, dance and have fun. Then the escorting team, consisting of the groom and his relatives and friends, go to the bride’s home to escort her to the groom’s home. When the escort team approach the gate of the bride’s home, relatives and friends of the bride will close the gate and send a bunch of children to ask for opening-door money. After giving the money, the groom is allowed to enter the house. According to traditional customs, the bride and groom also need to go to a church to for marriage ceremony. The bride wears a white gown and veil and stands together with the groom in front of the altar. A priest asks them if agree to marry each other. After replying affirmatively, the bride and groom exchange love tokens. The priest says specified prayers and offers blessings to new couple. After the ceremony, the groom’s family holds a banquet and dancing party to entertain relatives and friends. In the evening, they are some teasing games. [Source: Chinatravel.com]

The ceremony on the wedding day is solemn and warm. The wedding day festivities start at the home of the bride. Guests arrive and offer congratulations and share a meal. After that, they sometimes dance and wait for the bridegroom’s entourage to escort the bride. The bridegroom's entourage is made up of carriages, sleds, tractors and cars decorated with red silk. The bridegroom, his groomsman and his relatives and friends arrive at the bride's home sitting on the car, playing the accordion and singing. According to tradition, after he arrives the bride’s family does not open the door at once, but assign a group little boys and girls to block the entourage. Only after the bridegroom distributes red paper envelops (presents for opening the door) to the little friends allow him to enter. Then, the relatives and friends of couple sing and dance, welcoming the bridegroom and bride to take their seats. Everyone has a little tea and pastries before seeing off the bride. Before leaving, the bride kneels on a fur-lined jacket on the ground to accept her parents' blessing. [Source: Liu Jun, Museum of Nationalities, Central University for Nationalities, Science of China, China virtual museums~]

Russian Road to China 1910

Saying goodbye to the bride's family, the bridegroom and bride go to the church to hold the wedding ceremony. The bride wears white silk on her body and laurel leaves on the head. The bridegroom holds a bunch of flowers and a candle in his hands. The couple stands before the photo of God and are asked questions by a priest: Do you want to marry each other? Can you be loyal and love each other forever? After the bride and bridegroom make the affirmative answer, they exchange rings. After the priest finishes praying, the bride and bridegroom kneel and salute to photo of God, and kiss each other, and the ceremony is ended. Then, the wedding party clusters around the bride and bridegroom and escorts them to the home of the bridegroom for a party with food, drinking, dancing, singing and teasing the newlyweds. Three days after the wedding, the bride will visit her parents with her husband, and entertain the relatives and friends again at her parents' home. When the bride goes back to her husband's home again, the wedding ritual is finished. ~

Russian celebrate wedding anniversaries. The names are unique and have special meanings: green anniversary, print anniversary, wood anniversary, copper anniversary, tinplate anniversary, rose anniversary, silver anniversary, gold anniversary, diamond anniversary, happiness anniversary and royal crown anniversary. The green anniversary refers to the couple’s wedding day. At that time, the newlyweds should plant a small tree in their yard, symbolizing they are looking forward to the tree of love blossoming and bearing fruits. The print anniversary is the couple’s first anniversary. On this day, the husband and wife present printed handkerchiefs to each other, symbolizing their life from that day forward will be like flowers and brocade. Wood marks the 5th anniversary. At that time, relatives and friends present various kinds of mementos made of wood to the husband and wife, symbolizing that marriage is like a forest grown from seedlings and that their love will be as firm and steady as trees. Russian people pay special attention to the silver anniversary, gold anniversary, diamond anniversary and royal crown anniversary. ~

Chinese Russian Customs

Russians in China are known for attaching importance to ceremony and propriety. It is regarded as significant in China that Russians have the habit of saying hello when meeting each other. Russian people are regarded as warm-hearted and hospitable, having the custom of entertaining guests with bread and jam, and tea with milk, with a variety of snacks. [Source: Liu Jun, Museum of Nationalities, Central University for Nationalities, Science of China, China virtual museums ~]

Russians have strict contact customs. When strangers come to visit, they must first knock at the door, and can only enter after getting the permission of the host. Before entering the room, they must rub and clean their shoes. After entering the room, they should take off their hata, and sit on the seats offered by the hosts, and absolutely cannot sit on the bed. If the guests want to smoke, they must first get the agreement of the hosts. When offering cigarettes, they must not just offer a cigarette, but to hand over the whole cigarette box. When lighting cigarettes, they cannot use a match to light the cigarettes of three persons, but lend the match or lighter to other persons. A lighted cigarettes cannot light the cigarettes of another person. When meeting for the first time and talking, people should not ask each other the life details, such as the age and salary. Russians think to ask such things is bad manners. When talking, people cannot sneeze or pick their nose. When some person sneezes, the surrounding people should wish him/her to be healthy, and this person should express his or her thanks to the wishes of all the people. ~

Russian Road to China 1910

Russian people attach great importance to friendship. When meeting again after a long time of separation, relatives or good friends have the habit of warm embrace and kissing each other's face. When the members of the elder generation meet the younger generation, generally the elder generation kiss the face of the younger generation three times, from right to left and then from left to right, to show their affection. Some people only kiss the forehead of the younger generation. When the younger generations show their respect to their elder generation, generally they kiss the elder generation's left face and right face respectively once. When the female relatives and friends meet, they not only embrace but also kiss each other. When men met, they only embrace each other. ~

Russian have the traditional habit that the males should give precedence to females. In public occasions, the male always gives ways, positions and seats to the female. When buying products at shops, it is up to the ladies to make choices first. When holding dances or in other entertainment places, men should first salute before inviting the ladies to dance, and should express their thanks when the dance is over. When well-acquainted people meet, the male party should first open his mouth and extend greetings to show his respect to female, such virtues have been passed on from generation to generation. ~

Chinese Russian Taboos

According to Chinatravel.com: “It is forbidden to send yellow gifts because the people of Russian minority consider yellow as disloyalty while blue as friendship. In social circumstances, the etiquette of kissing is popular, but there are some taboos. For friends, kissing cheeks is allowed. Men are not allowed to kiss the hand of an unmarried girl, but they can kiss the back of the hand of married women. Only the seniors can kiss the forehead of young people. When walking together with an elderly, young people should not walk in the front. When a man and a woman walk together, the man cannot walk in the front. In banquets, men should not sit down before women are seated. Men should not shake hands with gloves on, when they meet an elderly or a woman; the man should firstly make a bow and wait till the other one to stretch out their hands to shake hands. [Source: Chinatravel.com \=/]

“There are many rules for guests in a family of Russian minority. The guest should firstly knock on the door and wait for the host’s permission before he or she can enter the room. The guest should take off hats after entering the room. They shouldn’t be seated on the host’s bed. If they want to smoke, they should firstly get the host’s permission. It is not allowed to light the cigarette with one piece of match for three people. \=/

“Russian people like eating meat, but they do not eat horse meat or donkey meat. It is forbidden to raise the glass using the left hand. A spoon must be used when drinking soup, but it is not allowed to use the left hand to grab the spoon. When attending a family banquet, the guest should arrive 15 minutes late than the scheduled time, but no more than 15 minutes. For Russian people, the number 13 is considered inauspicious.” \=/

Chinese Russian Food, Cakes and Soups

Chinese Russians mainly live on bread which they bake themselves, accompanied by fried dishes. They often have milk and bread with butter for breakfast, bread and dishes for lunch and rice, fried dishes, pilaf and noodles for dinner. Chinese Russians use their traditional cooking methods of frying, stewing, deep-frying and boiling and absorbed some cooking characteristics of Han Chinese and other ethnic groups. Their diet still features traditional Russian dishes, various kinds of bread, cakes and desserts and vegetables such as cucumbers and tomatoes. Their dessert made of milk, eggs, butter and jam, smoked sausages and hams are liked by people of other ethnic groups. Russians like drinking wine and vodka, and are good at making various kinds of foods and beverages. Their bread and beer are very famous. [Source: Chinatravel.com]

Russians calls cakes "Biqieni". It is said these are the local food that Russian women are most proficient at making. A Russian folk rhyme goes: "Tomorrow is Sunday, we will make new 'biqieni'", which means that Russian families often make cakes on that day. "Biqieni" are used to entertain guests and eaten at home every day. [Source: Liu Jun, Museum of Nationalities, Central University for Nationalities, Science of China, China virtual museums]

Russian families produce a great variety of cakes and breads. There are many kinds of biscuits, such as cream biscuits and sandwich biscuits. Among the various types of cakes are cream cakes, jam sandwich cakes and round tower-shape cakes. Bread types include small breads, bread rings, stuffed breads, ordinary breads and dried breads. The making methods of each kind of cake and bread are very particular. Huge multi-layer, tower-shape cakes are a fixtures of large gatherings and celebrations such as a wedding. At such events the cake is placed in the middle of the dining table. Often all kinds of figures and patterns are made on the cake with different colors of frostings and creams.

"Subo" is the name of a kind of traditional Russian soup. Some of Han Chinese also like eating it, and call it "subo soup". To make it: 1) cut the clean beef or mutton into pieces and 2) boil them with cold water and clean the blood traces. 3) When it is nearly boiling, add a small quantity of onion to flavor it. 4) After several seconds, add cut carrots, potato, cabbage, tomato, salt and the dried bay leaves. 5) When the beef or mutton is soft enough, it can be eaten.

Chinese Russian Culture and Clothes

Traditionally-dressed Russian men, wear silk robes and trousers, or white embroidered shirts, bloomers and octagonal caps in summer. In winter, they wear fur coats, cotton-padded coats, leather hats and felt boots. Traditionally-dressed Russian women dress in short coats, one-piece dresses with wide lower hems and embroideries. Some of them also wear collarless embroidered shirts and white long skirts with bright-colored embroidered images. In spring and autumn, they like to wear European-style coats or dresses, bright-colored soft hats with decorative feathers. In winter, they wear skirts, long fur coats and leather boots, with woolen scarves or leather hats on the head. For both male and female, there are embroidered images of flowers on vests, plants or geometrical patterns on the collar, cuffs and, chest. [Source: Chinatravel.com \=/]

Because Russians have mostly inhabited cold places, their sports and entertainment are closely related to their living environment. In winter, when it is freezing and snowy, they go skiing and skating. In summer, they go fishing, while in autumn they go hunting. In the spring, when the weather turns warmer, they like to go outdoors, have picnic and go mushroom hunting. They also enjoy wrestling and soccer. \=/

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons

Text Sources: 1) “ Encyclopedia of World Cultures: Russia and Eurasia/ China “, edited by Paul Friedrich and Norma Diamond (C.K. Hall & Company; 2) Liu Jun, Museum of Nationalities, Central University for Nationalities, Science of China, China virtual museums, Computer Network Information Center of Chinese Academy of Sciences, kepu.net.cn ~; 3) Ethnic China;; 4) Chinatravel.com \=/; 5) China.org, the Chinese government news site china.org | New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Times of London, Lonely Planet Guides, Library of Congress, Chinese government, Compton’s Encyclopedia, The Guardian, National Geographic, Smithsonian magazine, The New Yorker, Time, Newsweek, Reuters, AP, AFP, Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic Monthly, The Economist, Foreign Policy, Wikipedia, BBC, CNN, and various books, websites and other publications.

Last updated October 2022