Kyakhta trade

Historic trade route between Siberia and China Chinese Trader in Kyakhta (Russian painting, 17th century). The Kyakhta Trade (Russian: Кяхтинская торговля, Kyahtinskaya torgovlya, Chinese: 恰克图商路) refers to the trade between Russia and China through the town of Kyakhta on the Mongolian border south of Lake Baikal from 1727. The trade was mostly Siberian furs for Chinese cotton, silk, tobacco and tea. The earlier Nerchinsk trade 1689–1722 Russia and China came into direct contact after Russians made themselves masters of the Siberian forests between 1582 and 1639. In 1689 the Treaty of Nerchinsk delineated the Russo-Chinese border in "Manchuria". This treaty said nothing about Mongolia since this area had not yet come under Chinese/Manchu control. The fifth article of the treaty allowed trade with proper documents but was otherwise vague. Russian merchants began organizing caravans to travel from Nerchinsk (east of Chita) to Beijing (Russian: Пекин, romanized: Pekin), the round trip usually taking 10 to 12 months. In 1692–93 Eberhard Isbrand Ides went on a commercial-diplomatic mission to Beijing. He left Beijing in February 1694 and reached Mosco