about me

my first encounter with China

in 2009, I move from Amursk to Khabarovsk to study. China is 20 km away, so over the next six years I travel around its main northern provinces: Heilongjiang, Liaoning, and Jilin

organizing and hosting events

over eight years (2012–2019), I go on to run around 500 events — from Khabarovsk and Vladivostok to Sakhalin and Magadan

first trip to Guangzhou

before opening my own clothing store in Khabarovsk, I fly to Guangzhou for my first buying trip and discover the local clothing markets

launching the Hype clothing store

the launch cost 1.3 million rubles: renovation, purchasing and a trip to China. Of that, 500,000 came from my own funds and 800,000 from investment. Thanks to marketing, the full investment was recovered within three months

first business tour to the Canton Fair

at the time, the Canton Fair felt like something entirely new. For entrepreneurs from the Russian Far East, China’s proximity made it especially relevant

first trips to a less familiar China

I organize my first trips to a less familiar China: the Avatar mountains in Zhangjiajie 张家界, the Rainbow Mountains in Zhangye 张掖, Yangshuo and Guilin, Dunhuang 敦煌, Guangzhou 广州, and Beijing 北京

I later run three more tours like these, in addition to my own travels across 17 Chinese provinces

moving to Guangzhou and launching XBRAND

I move to Guangzhou permanently and focus on manufacturing clothing for my own brand

setting up a company in China

I open my own company in China

relaunching the Hype store

I relaunch the Hype clothing store

launching a YouTube channel and podcasts with expats

one of the strangest feelings after moving to China is loneliness. To find people I connect with and expand my circle, I launch a podcast series with expats

launching textile business tours

I start running business tours for brands and entrepreneurs, visiting markets, factories, production facilities, and China's main textile clusters

launching the Faktura project

together with a partner I met at a business breakfast, we launch a clothing manufacturing project for brands and online sellers

we rent a 280 m² office near Zhongda, Guangzhou’s largest fabric market, and over the course of our work visit China’s main manufacturing provinces and textile clusters: Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang and Jiangsu

launching business breakfasts with expats

after starting the blog, I wanted to meet more Russian speakers in person. That led to regular meetups and business breakfasts, including events with invited guests Ivan Melnikov and Kirill Levin

launching fabric sourcing tours for brands and wholesalers

together with Eduardo Pederneira, we run two tours in Zhejiang province, to Keqiao 柯桥, one of China's main centers for fabric manufacturing and trade

personally visited 150 factories in Guangdong

after leaving Faktura, I decided to bring to life an idea I had been considering since 2023: a database of verified factories where brands and entrepreneurs can place orders directly with vetted manufacturers

over 2.5 months, I travelled through the region’s key manufacturing clusters, personally visited and checked more than 150 production facilities, and researched over 1,000 factories

after building up the factory database, I move to Dalang 大朗, a town specialising in knitwear. My aim is to digitise one category first, then bring all factories in Guangdong together on one platform

about the bigger goal

launching Beyond 99 with a focus on knitwear

my long-term goal is to build a platform that makes it easier for brands to work with factories in China and makes the production process predictable and clear

at the same time, I move to Dalang 大朗, a town in China specialising in knitwear, and focus on this category