Teahouses

Central and West Asia

In Central Asia, the term "teahouse" refers to several variations on teahouses found in different countries; these include the shayhana in Kazakhstan, chaykhana in Kyrgyzstan and choyxona in Uzbekistan, all of which translate as "a tea room". In Tajikistan, the largest teahouses are the Orient Teahouse, Chinese Teahouse, and Orom Teahouse in the city of Isfara. On the 15th anniversary of the independence of Tajikistan, the people of Isfara presented the Isfara Teahouse to the city of Kulyab for its 2,700th anniversary in September 2006. Teahouses are present in other parts of West Asia, notably in Iran, Azerbaijan and also Turkey. Such teahouses may be referred to, in Persian, as چایخانه, chaikhaneh, in Azerbaijani, as çayxana, or in Turkish, çayhane – literally, the "tea house". These teahouses usually serve several other beverages and shisha in addition to tea.