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As part of the “Belts and Roads of Eurasia” cycling expedition project, the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly opens on its website the publication of travel essays and notes written by Maxim Mikhalev during his research trips. The publications highlight certain aspects of the traditional culture of small peoples inhabiting the most diverse regions of the continent.
Maxim Mikhalev - Doctor of Historical Sciences, social anthropologist, writer and traveler, member of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly, member of the Council for Spiritual Culture. His research interests include the history and social anthropology of the interior regions of Eurasia, especially with regard to the role of small peoples in international relations. Maxim lived and worked in China for more than ten years, researching the indigenous people in border areas of this country. He is the organizer and participant of ethnographic expeditions to the eastern regions of Central Asia, Xinjiang, Tibet, Mongolia and South Siberia. Author of numerous scientific and popular science articles on anthropological and geopolitical issues published in Russia, China, Bulgaria, Tajikistan, Germany and Italy, as well as several books in English, Russian and Chinese. Maxim Mikhalev is a UNESCO expert.
In 2019, in cooperation with the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly, he carried out a unique research project for the anthropological study of integration initiatives in Eurasia “Belts and Roads of Eurasia”, having traveled 8,000 kilometers alone on a bicycle from Moscow to Beijing. Currently, he is an assistant professor at the UC of Social Anthropology at the Russian State Humanitarian University, where he teaches several special courses on the history and social anthropology of Asian countries.
We hope that the essays will be of interest to the younger audience, representatives of public organizations, employees of government and commercial structures, those, whose activities are closely related to intercultural contacts, international business and public diplomacy.