The author investigates features of the way of life and culture of the Tuvans living in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China. The majority of Tuvans live in Russia, where they have a recognized position and territory - the Republic Tuva. In the territory of China, Tuvans are national minorities and do not have national-territorial status. However the Chinese Tuvans still keep their native language, ethnic consciousness and traditional lines of the culture. This article focuses on elements ranging from “historical baggage” to the language and cultural situation of this community, to relations with host societies, and to the interaction between these factors. In this paper, the author introduced material that was gathered about the Tuvans in China. Her studies are based on the results of her field-work in 1993 and 2012 and the research of Russian scholars. The academic value of this paper is that it displays features of historical and cultural communications of the Tuvans with other peoples - Mongols, Kazakhs, Chinese, and representatives of other ethnic groups; illuminates the problem of the influences of surrounding peoples on the economic way of life and culture of the Tuvans; identifies the main tendencies in the functioning of language, ethnic consciousness, ethno-demographic and ethnocultural development of the Chinese Tuvans; discloses the nature of their interaction with the center in China; and reflects on specifics of the adaptation of Tuvans to conditions of Chinese statehood. Consideration of the above-mentioned topics was carried out in a number of specific directions, most of which had not been studied earlier. For example, an attempt was made to reveal problems in the development of patrimonial, ethnic and language identity among Chinese Tuvans.