Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The "Great Silk Road" with no less probability could be called the "Great Tea Road", - long before our era, the traveler Zhang Qian laid a caravan route from China to Central Asia, and caravans were carried not only silk, porcelain and paper, but also tea.

The tea route began in the ancient city of Chang An (now Xi’an, the capital of Shaanxi), passed through the current Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and the Ferghana Valley - Davan, led to the walls of the "Rome of the East" - Samarkand, and diverged from this great "hub" to the South , North and West.

And the greatest Chinese navigator, naval commander and diplomat of the XIV century Zheng He (1371-1433) established trade between China and distant maritime countries, and his ships carried precious Chinese tea. The ancestors of the Chinese navigator came from ancient Bukhara, which means that the exhibition in Tashkent is deeply symbolic: it draws a historical line on the appearance of the favorite drink of the Uzbek people, and the navigator of Uzbek origin played a great role in this.

Shaanxi entrepreneurs decided to support the initiative of Ms. Zhang Hongping and organized a permanent exhibition in Tashkent called “The Great Tea Road: from Xi’an to Samarkand”. Here visitors will learn about the history of its origin and its hero Zheng He, whose portrait adorns the exhibition.

In the hall there are figures of warriors from the thousandth terracotta army of the Chinese emperor, reproduced in the original size and their miniature copies. There are tea ceremony grounds designed for wealthy and wealthy Chinese, for those close to the court and for the emperor himself.

The tea ceremony at each table is magic: the choice of the type and temperature of water, the sacrament of brewing, treats and drinking from miniature cups are akin to a sacred action.

According to the press service of the khokimiyat of Tashkent, at the Great Tea Road exhibition, the viewer will taste some of the hundreds of varieties of tea from the Shaanxi province and touch the greatest historical secret of antiquity - the Great Tea Road.

The historical exhibition and tea ceremonies in the Shaanxi showroom reflect the new concept of the organizers - before trading, you need to get acquainted with your history and culture, reflected in ancient paper paintings, tea ceremonies, replicas of imperial furniture with armrests with dragon heads. In addition to the history of external attributes, the organizers will talk about the sacred meaning of tea drinking and its life-giving effect on mood.