Looking for recent experience about applying for a private visa, preferably applying in China as foreigner

Private visa you will get tricky. For this you need a private invitation from a resident of Russia, which receive for a very long time and it is not convenient. The invitation and the same visa ideal.

If you have someone who will do an invitation letter for you, then private visa is the best option for you. You'll be able to stay for longer then 30 days.

My girlfriend, actually, will be applying for the Russian private visa next month. My parents did invitation letter for her and it takes 3 to 4 weeks just to do the letter.

I don't know exactly about applying for Russian visa in China but if you have some questions I think you should contact Russian Embassy in China, it's probably the best way: http://www.russia.org.cn/eng/feedback

Keep in mind that you normally need to obtain your Russian visa in your home country, or in a country where you have resident status. If you are simply traveling through country X on a tourist visa then you won't be able to get a Russian visa there. I believe the Russian consulates in China follow this rule.
Like all Russian visa rules, there are exceptions to this. The main one is that it is often possible to obtain a business visa without being a citizen or resident. But a business visa is more expensive and needs more paperwork.

The process to make the invitation letter takes 20 working days, last time it took 3 weeks for me. To make the invitation your contacts in Russia should fill the form for it, write a letter of confirmation that they take the responsibility for your expenses in Russia, pay the fee and provide the copies of passports (yours and the person who applied for invitation).

About applying visa in China. To be a citizen or resident of the country where you are applying for Russian visa is necessary. My friends had a tourist visa in China and tried to apply for Russian private visa at the end of last year and the embassy didn't accept their documents. So you really need to contact the Russian embassy in China about this issue if you don't have a residence permit there.

I will go to immigration office in several days to make the invitation for my bf, so if there are any updates I will let you know.

The Private Visa visa support document can take a while but it depends on the particular FMS office applied in. I've seen it done in less than a week and other times in other offices 20 days.You will need to apply for the visa after getting the visa support original document, in your country of permanent residence. A few consulates permanent-residents to apply but for a longer processing time. London for example requires a 10 day waiting period. I got them in Kiev several years ago but that is not possible now. Also Warsaw but China Russian consulates do not.

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