Abstract
Introduction. Ethnic Russians who settled within the exclusion zone of the Chinese Eastern Railway (CER) since the late nineteenth century would retain their traditional lifestyles, vivid material and spiritual culture, and Christian faith ― only to create a unique community based on cultural and ethnic identity. Goals. The article shall introduce into scientific circulation the memoirs of Svetlana Yurievna Muravskaya about the life of her ancestors in China. Results. S. Muravskaya’s memoirs are a valuable source for understanding the peculiarities of the life and everyday practices of Russian migrants in Harbin. Having moved to China due to an internal family conflict, the Romanchenko-Railyan joined the group of Soviet immigrants in China. Professionally, most family members were in various ways connected with the railway (builders, cashiers, workers), and would also become engaged in trade, entrepreneurship, fishing, handicrafts, gardening, and animal husbandry. The preservation of their native language and traditional lifestyle, participation in the cultural life of the migrant community, and education within the framework of cultural and religious traditions contributed to the preservation of national and cultural identity, helped them avoid assimilation among the indigenous population, and would pave a return way toward the historical homeland.