Skip to main content

Eurasianet

Main Menu

  • Regions
  • Topics
  • Media
  • About
  • Search
  • Newsletter
  • русский
  • Support us
X

Caucasus

Armenia
Azerbaijan
Georgia

Central Asia

Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan
Tajikistan
Turkmenistan
Uzbekistan

Conflict Zones

Abkhazia
Nagorno Karabakh
South Ossetia
Transnistria

Eastern Europe

Belarus
Moldova
Russia
The Baltics
Ukraine

Eurasian Fringe

Afghanistan
China
EU
Iran
Mongolia
Turkey
United Kingdom
United States
X

Arts and Culture

Economy

Politics

Security

Society

Coronavirus
X

Visual Stories

Audio
Interactive
Video

Blogs

Tamada Tales
The Bug Pit

Podcasts

Expert Opinions
The Central Asianist
X
You can search using keywords to narrow down the list.
Tajikistan

Tajikistan: Building the World’s Biggest Teahouse

David Trilling Jul 5, 2013
Rows of scaffolding cover one of the large teahouse reception rooms still under construction. (Photo: David Trilling) Rows of scaffolding cover one of the large teahouse reception rooms still under construction. (Photo: David Trilling)
Woodworkers staple mirrors to the back of a lattice frame. (Photo: David Trilling) Woodworkers staple mirrors to the back of a lattice frame. (Photo: David Trilling)
Western officials estimate the construction of the teahouse at $60 million. (Photo: David Trilling) Western officials estimate the construction of the teahouse at $60 million. (Photo: David Trilling)
Several outside ceilings are being painted. (Photo: David Trilling) Several outside ceilings are being painted. (Photo: David Trilling)
The teahouse is being built on the shore of Komsomol Lake in Dushanbe. (Photo: David Trilling) The teahouse is being built on the shore of Komsomol Lake in Dushanbe. (Photo: David Trilling)
The hand-carved woodwork is done by craftsmen from Tajikistan's northern Sughd Province. (Photo: David Trilling) The hand-carved woodwork is done by craftsmen from Tajikistan's northern Sughd Province. (Photo: David Trilling)
A construction foreman estimated half the 400 workers are Chinese. (Photo: David Trilling) A construction foreman estimated half the 400 workers are Chinese. (Photo: David Trilling)
Details to the walls and ceilings are being finished in  "the president's dining room." (Photo: David Trilling) Details to the walls and ceilings are being finished in "the president's dining room." (Photo: David Trilling)
Behind bathers at Komsomol Lake, the shell of the teahouse undergoes construction in summer 2012. (Photo: David Trilling) Behind bathers at Komsomol Lake, the shell of the teahouse undergoes construction in summer 2012. (Photo: David Trilling)
The teahouse will include a billiard hall and giant plaster waterfall. (Photo: David Trilling) The teahouse will include a billiard hall and giant plaster waterfall. (Photo: David Trilling)
The world’s largest teahouse is expected to be open by Tajikistan’s Independence Day this September. (Photo: David Trilling) The world’s largest teahouse is expected to be open by Tajikistan’s Independence Day this September. (Photo: David Trilling)
A foreman said the quality of the Chinese work is better than anything that can be sourced locally. (Photo: David Trilling) A foreman said the quality of the Chinese work is better than anything that can be sourced locally. (Photo: David Trilling)
prev
next

Step past the giant plaster waterfall taking shape in the foyer, skirt the billiard hall with ornate damask wallpaper, and a splendid ballroom opens up.

“This is the president’s dining room,” a foreman says proudly, pointing out the intricate wood carvings covering each wall.

For the past several years a hulking, multi-domed structure has been rising on the edge of Dushanbe’s Komsomol Lake, wedged between the Ferris wheel and Tajikistan’s poshest hotel, the Hyatt.

Already home to the world’s tallest flagpole and the longest flag, Dushanbe, if all goes to plan, will be home to the world’s largest teahouse by Independence Day this September, breaking (or making) another world record.

For many Tajiks, at least publicly, all these world records are collectively a source of pride.

In adjacent Komsomol Park, where Dushanbintsi can enjoy a swim or a game of billiards before tucking into some shashlik and beer, passersby generally say they think the structure is beautiful, though several expect it will not be open to the public, much like the $300-million Palace of the Nation across the lake, or a storied tea house in Dangara, President Imomali Rahmon’s hometown.

Along with the flagpole, the teahouse will help Dushanbe be “known all over the world,” says a college student.

Rahmon has been on a building spree in recent years, refashioning downtown Dushanbe into a sparkling panorama of palaces and municipal buildings – such as a new national museum and the region’s largest library (largely devoid of books). State television dutifully praises the structures while only a few question the expense.

Western officials estimate the teahouse is costing $60 million – equivalent to about 1 percent of the GDP and 33 percent more than what the US government’s aid agency, USAID, spent in Tajikistan in fiscal year 2012. But the teahouse and other vanity projects in the Tajik capital are said to be financed by the country’s few large companies to curry favor with Rahmon.

Of the 400 or so workers, the foreman said, half are Chinese nationals. That could be a controversial admission in a country as impoverished as Tajikistan. Already, over 1 million people – perhaps half of working-age males – have gone abroad looking for work, mostly to Russia. But the foreman insisted the quality of the Chinese work is better than anything that can be sourced locally. And, at times, it seems there are few Tajiks left to mind.

David Trilling is Eurasianet’s managing editor.

Sign up for Eurasianet's free weekly newsletter. Support Eurasianet: Help keep our journalism open to all, and influenced by none.

Related

Tajikistan’s excess mortality data belie COVID-19 denialism
Statistics show Central Asia underreporting COVID deaths
Russia using crisis in Tajikistan to advance EAEU agenda?

Popular

Pashinyan misfired with insult of Russian missiles
Joshua Kucera
Armed forces call on Armenian PM to step down
Ani Mejlumyan
Kyrgyzstan: Kumtor’s fate uncertain once more  
Chris Rickleton

Eurasianet

  • About
  • Team
  • Contribute
  • Republishing
  • Privacy Policy
  • Corrections
  • Contact
Eurasianet © 2021