The purchase and consumption of familiar foods and goods from their homeland is a significant part of the daily life of international students in a foreign country. The Chinese student community in Tomsk represents a clear example of self-organization in this matter, especially in the context of lifting of coronavirus restrictions and the increase in the number of foreign students in Russian regions. The purpose of this study was to identify the social interactions and the formation of economic niches within the Chinese student environment in the informal microeconomic processes of purchasing, exchange and advertising of goods that are important for students as a reminder of their home and familiar life. The main source of ethnographic information was the results of participant observation conducted by the author in 2022–2024 in Tomsk and Irkutsk. The study revealed that students do not just contemplatively fit into the host environment, but create alternative and interactive social spaces in it. Everyday practices, as examples of reflective epistemology and demonstrations of practical knowledge, demonstrate the (trans)locality, agency, and initiative of Chinese students.

Keywords: translocality, provision of goods, informal economy, Chinese students, self-organisation.

 

 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Accepted: 26.02.2025

Article is published: 15.06.2025