The formation of the border between the Romanov and Qing Empires in the seventeenth century involved the contrastive identification of persons as subjects of one state or another. Integral in this process was the differentiation of political and economic loyalties and the social and cultural identities that various communities in the borderland-to-be claimed. Qing authorities assessed evidence of material customs to evaluate which groups were at risk of defection to Romanov territory. However, the Qing state's knowledge of "foreign" practices like Orthodox Christianity developed gradually, and there were substantive variations in how the concepts of "Russian-ness" and "Orthodoxy" were associated with each other. This study thus explores how what is now commonly known as "Eastern Orthodox (Christianity)" (Dongzhengjiao) and its roots as a religion of the "Russians" (Luocha, and later Eluosi). This research builds upon the extensive previous research on Russian Orthodox Christianity in China by focusing upon areas that have not been considered hubs of the faith, like Beijing and Harbin, and probing the broad range of perceptions about Orthodox Christianity as a component of Russian cultural identity rather than as an instrument of political domination.