The Scarred History of China’s Ethnic Russians

[Randy W]

In the early 20th century, thousands of Russians crossed the Chinese border, most of them refugees fleeing war and revolution. Yet few found the peace and security they were seeking.
War and revolution pursued them: World War II, the Chinese Civil War, then years of political campaigns. Relations between China and Russia fractured. The Cultural Revolution erupted. Each time, the Russian diaspora suffered.
The community reacted by striving to assimilate into Chinese society. Many married Han Chinese. The others stopped speaking Russian and kept their heads down. Few maintained ties with relations in Russia, and their children often grew up knowing little about their own heritage.

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Blood Brothers: The Scarred History of China’s Ethnic Russians
During the early 20th century, thousands of Russian refugees fleeing war and revolution crossed the freezing Amur River into northeast China. Today, the community is still trying to reconcile its identity — and process its collective trauma.

Dong Desheng with his wife and children, 2022. From @彼得洛夫董德升 on Weibo
 

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In the early 20th century, thousands of Russians crossed the Chinese border, most of them refugees fleeing war and revolution. Yet few found the peace and security they were seeking.

War and revolution pursued them: World War II, the Chinese Civil War, then years of political campaigns. Relations between China and Russia fractured. The Cultural Revolution erupted. Each time, the Russian diaspora suffered.

The community reacted by striving to assimilate into Chinese society. Many married Han Chinese. The others stopped speaking Russian and kept their heads down. Few maintained ties with relations in Russia, and their children often grew up knowing little about their own heritage.

 . . .

Officially, there are just over 16,000 ethnic Russians registered in China today, clustered mainly in the northern territories of Heilongjiang province, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The real number is likely greater, as many ethnic Russians are registered as Han Chinese.