The Kyakhta Museum’s collection of rare books houses the magnum opus of the Russian writer, ethnographer, historian, and publisher Mikhail Chulkov. The edition consists of seven volumes, including 21 books. The work is called “History of Russian Commerce at all Ports and Borders from Ancient Times to the Present Day, and All the Trade Laws of the Sovereign Emperor Peter the Great and the Reigning Empress Catherine the Great”.

Volume 3, Book 2 is dedicated to “Trade with the Chinese, Mongols, and Kalmyks at the Kyakhta Outpost”. It tells the story of Russia’s political and trade relations with China:

Russian-Chinese trade in Kyakhta had many forms. Its history includes barter trade, state-owned caravans, bans on private trade, smuggling, and free pricing. The range of goods also varied over time.

One of the most important products of Russian export to China through Kyakhta was fur. Furs of squirrel, stoat, sable, fox, Arctic fox, otter, beaver, and lynx were exported. Russia also supplied products of animal husbandry — merlushka (lamb skin), the skin and fur of young and adult sheep, and rabbits. The Chinese mostly supplied products of manufactories, mainly ones made of cotton and silk.

Tea was a major import from China, but it had not yet acquired the importance that it would have in the 19th century. This volume details the first fifty years in the history of the Kyakhta trade — the period preceding the development of the Great Tea Road and foreshadowing the Golden Age of Kyakhta.