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Abstract: The paper discusses perception of verbal and non-verbal behavior of the Chinese by the Russians. The research is made in the frames of the study of international discourse, which is understood as a complex of different discursive practices, including interaction of people belonging to different cultures. The use of the methods of free and directed associative experiment makes it possible to conclude that the Russians mention the difficulty of the Chinese language and smiles of the Chinese. The negative attitude to the Chinese is reflected in the attitude to the goods they produce and sell. In general, the attitude to their business and personal qualities is rather positive, while the attitude to their appearance is neutral. The analysis of proverbs revealed that the word “Chinese” is a part of three Russian phraseological units: Chinese wall (kitayskaya stena), Chinese ceremonies (kitayskiye tseremonii) and Chinese puzzle (kitayskaya gramota). The authors come to the conclusion that the Russians perceive the Chinese society as closed, having complicated structure of writing and a wide variety of etiquette formulae. In general, the authors believe that complex research of communicative behavior, including the study of the processes of reception will help develop a tolerant person free from xenophobia and ethnophobia in international communication.