CHAIKHANAS (TEAHOUSES) OF UZBEKISTAN

Isupov Aleksey (1889-1957) Tea-house (Source: Karakalpakstan State Museum of Art named after I.V. Savitsky http://www.museum.kr.uz)

Tea is the staple drink of Central Asia, and chaikhanas (tea houses) can be found almost everywhere in Uzbekistan full of old men chatting the afternoon away with a pot of tea in the shade.

Tea is always served to a guest immediately after he or she comes into a house. It is offered in a small cup called a piala. As a token of respect for the guest the host fills only one - half of the piala, and then, putting the left hand to his heart, with his right hand holds out this piala to the guest. At the same time the fresh flat round bread is served.

According to tradition a tea is poured from the teapot (that has just been filled with boiling water to brew) into the cup (piala) and returned to the teapot at least three times. The first returning is called "loy", the second "moy" and only after the third time it becomes "choy" or tea. Tea should always be drunk while it is hot. Only in this way it is believed that the full aroma and flavor of the tea emerge.

Uzbekistan holds one of the highest levels of tea consumption per capita in the world – 2.65 kg per capita in annually. By comparison, in Japan consumption is 680 grams and in the USA, 430 grams.

The domestic tea market averages some thirty thousand tons annually. Tea is imported with China holding (about 58%) of the market, then Iran (25%) and in third place Sri Lanka (4%). Tea being also imported into Uzbekistan via the UAE, Georgia, Turkmenistan and Russia.

There are more than thirty companies working in the tea market, with most of the main players being based in Tashkent and Samarkand where imported tea is repacked. These companies produce more than 200 types of tea; from low-grade to branded grades. Leading branded teas in Uzbekistan include “Ahmad”(UK), “Alokozay-tea” (UAE), “Beta”(Turkey), "Jambo" (Kenya) “Impra” (Sri Lanka) and “Weston”, "SAM (Samarqand Tea) and “Tashkent” (all 3 packed in Uzbekistan).


Source: Pavel Benkov (Павел Беньков). Chaihana «Чайхана» 1932 from http://teagrad.com

TEA HOUSE

The chaikhana (tea-house) is an institution in Uzbekistan. It is where people come to drink tea, talk with friends and relax. Often the chaikhanas are the towns social centre within small communities. They can be quite simple,  just a small group of table/s under a tree in the shade or have a more elabotrate layout located in picturesque surroundings, shaded with trees or vines spreading their branches over a steel or wooden frame next to an aryk (small irrigation canal) or a cozy khauz (pool) full of water.

In every respectable chaikhana in Central Asia the hot green or black tea is served in a porcelain pot (Chianik). Local tea connoisseurs still debate about the merits of black and green tea, however traditionally aromatic green tea is the more popular.

Source: Uzbekistan Today

Visit Uzbekistan

Photo: Top of a Cupola - Tashkent

Uzbekistan has a long and magnificent history - located between the two great rivers the Amudarya and Syrdarya Rivers and is one of the cradles of world civilization. It is the home of some of the world's oldest sedentary populations and several of its most ancient cities.

Beginning at the height of the Roman Empire, the region was a crossroads on the transcontinental trade routes between China and the West, the most important being the legendary Silk Road.

Subject to constant invasion and to imigration of nomads from the great grasslands to the north, being shaped by each conquests, today Uzbekistan is a land where many peoples with different traditions and customs came, and eventially came together as one.

It has seen endless number of rulers and empires. The famed trio Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan and Tamerlane all ruled these lands. Arabs brought Islam where it prospered. Later on the lands divided into the Khanates of Bukhara, Khiva and Kokand, before being absorbed into Tsarist Russia and then as part of the Soviet Union after the revolution of 1917, before once again becoming an independent state in the year 1991.

The three UNESCO listed ancient cities of Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva, situated along the ancient Silk Road linking China with Europe, fully live up to their reputation of being among of the world's most special places.


Photo:The Registan - Samakand

Samakand with its majestic and colorful architecture is over 2500 years old; it is where Tamerlane (Timur) established the center of his Empire and left a remarkable architectural legacy; magnificent courtyards of Registan and Shahi Zindah, stunning blue, white and gold complexes of 15th century medressehs, mosques and tombs, the town's winding alleys and its chaikhanas (teahouses).

Photo: The Ark - Bukara

Bukhara with its narrow streets, small squares and markets was one of the most important commercial centers on the Great Silk Road has hundreds of monuments from the Middle Ages. Such ensembles as the Ark, Poi - Kalan, Kosh Madras, mausoleum of Ismail Samoni, the minaret of Kalyan fascinate visitors.

Photo: Ichan-Kala

Khiva an ancient walled city (almost intact), is similiarly fascinating. Around the famed Ichan-Kala are minarets, madrassas and residencies little changed from 300 years ago.


Photo: Ayaz Kala

Near by are more than 300 ancient Chorasmian forts lying in the dry lands of the adjacent Karakalpak Republic which has amongst the most interesting ancient monuments in all of Central Asia. There are also many other interesting places to visit include the famed Savitsky Art Museum in the capital Nukus.

Tashkent the capital of the Republic, centre of Government and Finance and its biggest Industrial centre and has a population of 3 million people. It is the largest ancient city in Central Asia (rose in the II century B.C) known in ancient times as Chach and has been a crossroads of traders carrying silver, gold, precious stones, spices, silk and splendid horses to and from Europe the Middle and Far east for almost three thousand years. Despite the earthquake of 1966 it still has a fascinating old city.

Photo - The ruins of Ak-saray - Shakhrisabz

Other very interesting places to visit include Shakhrisabz (near Timur's birthplace), an beautiful mountain town with one of the largest architectural ruins in Cental Asia Ak-saray.

Photo: The palace of XIX century Kokand Khan Khudayarkhan

Kokand, an ancient Silk Road city situated in Fergana Valley in 250 kilometres east of Tashkent once the capital of Kokand khanate and nearby Margilan - is famous for its fabrics and silks.