Inside an Old Teahouse in Kashgar
9 Video Views·May 28, 2025
Two thousand years ago, silk merchants made Kashgar in southern Xinjiang a major hub on the trade route between Central Asia and Europe. One of the most popular products traded along what became known as the Silk Road was tea.
Today in the old city of Kashgar, teahouses are still popular meeting places. It's common for the elderly to bring their own nang bread, buy a three-yuan pot of tea, and stay for many hours. Ubul is a daily visitor to his local teahouse, where chatting with people is a way of escaping loneliness.
Mehmet Osman is brewing the first pot of tea of the day.
It's been his ritual for more years than he can remember.
Ubu Mehmet lives in Awati Township, 20 kilometers outside Kashgar.
Despite the distance, the elderly Uyghur makes the journey to the old teahouse every day.
Liu Yongqiang is also going to the teahouse.
He hopes to find someone who can teach him to play the rawap.
Kashgar in southern Xinjiang is China's westernmost city.
2,000 years ago, silk merchants made Kashgar a major hub on the trade route between Central Asia and Europe.
Tea was another popular product traded along the Silk Road.
Mehmet uses Fu brick tea from Hunan province.
Uyghur cuisine relies heavily on mutton and beef.
The tea helps digest the oily meat while adding some much-needed vitamins to the Uyghur diet.
Tea drinking is a way of life in the ancient city of Kashgar.
The old men bring their own nang bread, buy a 3 yuan pot of tea and stay for most of a day.
Ubu has to change to a city bus to get to the teahouse.
Despite his age, he doesn't mind the inconvenience.
Liu Yongqiang has found a young Uyghur to teach him the rawap.
They don't speak each other's language, so they rely on gestures to communicate.
However, his teacher soon loses himself in the rhythms and forgets all about Liu.
The old teahouse, as a legacy of the Silk Road, passes on its history to visitors.