Mongolia and Buryatia will unite. On the Great Tea Road. "the significance of the tea route in the history of Russia" The Great Tea Route today

BURYAT STUDIES

T. S. Dorzhieva

The tea route on the territory of Buryatia: history and toponymy

The Great Tea Route (mid-18th - early 19th centuries), which played a huge role in the formation of Buryatia as a fully developed region of Russia, is considered as an important factor in the expansion and change of the toponymic system of the region. Some data obtained as a result of a study of the toponymy of the territory of Buryatia adjacent to the Tea Route are presented, and conclusions are drawn about the influence of the events of that era on the formation of the toponymy of the region.

Key words: toponymy, tea route, development of trade, settlement, expansion of toponymy.

Tea Way on the territory of Buryatia: history and toponymy

The article is devoted to the toponymical investigation of the Tea Way’s area in the Buryat region. The Tea Way (XVII-XIX cent.) played a grate role in the formation of Buryatia as a developed region of Russia. Undoubtedly, it had an influence on the toponymical system of the republic. Just this trace is reflected in the article.

Key words: toponymy, Tea Way, development of trade, inhabitation, widening of toponymy.

The tea route, which since the mid-18th century. until the beginning of the 19th century. ensured Russian-Chinese trade relations, it is no coincidence that historians call it “great.” This is a path that played a huge role in the formation of Buryatia as a culturally, industrially, politically and socially developed region of Russia. It was with the formation of the Tea Route that trade relations between three countries - Russia, Mongolia and China - began to actively develop. This was the first and only road at that time along which Russian-Chinese-Mongolian trade was carried out.

Currently, the Tea Route is of great interest to researchers in various fields of science and art. A project to develop international tourism on the Tea Route is being actively implemented (representatives of the Russian Federation, the USA, China, and Mongolia are participating in it). The presentation of this project was presented at the First International Festival “The Tea Road - the Path of Ethnocultural Contacts” in July 2007 in Kyakhta. The festival was attended by a Chinese delegation led by the eminent production director Wang Xin Ming, who intends to film a 100-episode television play “The Tea Way”.

In Buryatia, tourist excursions to the city of Kyakhta, through which the Tea Route passed, are periodically organized. On June 17, 2005, an exhibition called “The Tea Road” was opened at the Museum of the History of Buryatia. Articles and monographs on the history of the Tea Route and the city of Kyakhta have been published (I.P. Krivokurtseva, E.E. Popova, V.V. Ptitsyn, A. Subbotin, V.P. Shpaltakov, T.V. Shuman and others .). It should be noted that onomastic studies of such a relevant object can form the basis for organizing new tourism projects or complement existing ones.

It is well known that history and toponymy are two sciences that complement each other: historical facts reveal the mysteries of toponymy, and toponyms help restore fragments of history. From this point of view, the toponymy of the Tea Route on the territory of Buryatia is undoubtedly worthy of the attention of researchers, since it has significant information potential.

Let us consider the influence of the Tea Route on the toponymy of the adjacent territory within the Buryat region in the light of historical events of that era. The historical component in toponymy, as is known, is obligatory and important as a fact of the history of the language. Not a single historical event is reflected directly in language. Traces of it can be found in individual words, since language is a fairly autonomous system, hardly subject to external influences, but constantly changing according to its own laws.

The history of the Tea Route begins with the founding of the trading settlement of Kyakhta. In 1727, Russian diplomats, headed by Ambassador Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary S.L. Vladislavich-Raguzinsky, were obliged to achieve recognition of the Russians’ right to have “free trade” with both the Chinese and the Mongols and to find out what goods were brought from there and how much they were are standing. However, the Qing authorities made the solution to these problems directly dependent on the recognition of the new borders of the empire. Only the conclusion of the Treaty of Burin (August 1727), establishing the Russian-Chinese border, moved the negotiations forward.

Approximate route of the Tea Route on the territory of Buryatia (fragment of the administrative map of the Republic of Buryatia, 1998)

Scale 1: 1,250,000

The Treaty of Kyakhta, signed on October 21, 1727, determined the location for the construction of a future trading settlement for Russian-Chinese trade: between the Kyakhta River and Mount Orogota. June 15, 1728 S. L. Vladislavich-Raguzinsky in a solemn ceremony in the presence of representatives

The lei of both sides laid the first stone in the foundation of the trading settlement of Kyakhta, which became one of the largest centers of Russian-Chinese-Mongolian trade. Two years later, the settlement was completely rebuilt and on August 29, 1729 it was officially announced that “trading was open in Kyakhta.” Thus began the history of the Kyakhta trade, which played a role in the 18th-19th centuries. an important role in Russia's relations with Qing China and Mongolia. At the same time, the city of Troitskosavsk was founded, which in the second half of the 19th century. became one of the largest cultural centers in Transbaikalia. The city was built on the basis of the Novotroitsk fortress according to the design of Raguzinsky in 1727 on both banks of the Kyakhta River at the confluence of the Gryaznukha stream. The name of the city is a combination of the name of the fortress and the name of Count Savva Raguzinsky.

As a result of the expansion of Troitskosavsk, Kyakhta becomes one of its villages. Since during this period the trading settlement was of international importance, and also due to the socio-political factor (toponymy of the Soviet period was not characterized by the use of the names of tsarist officials and religious names in geographical names), the oikonym Kyakhta replaced the name Troitskosavsk, and the geographical term settlement is now used to designate the environs of the former Kyakhta (Sloboda). The name of Savva Raguzinsky, according to toponymic dictionaries, remained forever imprinted in the name of a tributary of the Selenga, the small river Sava in the Kyakhta region. The name Kyakhta, which has survived to this day, comes from the Buryat kyaagta, which means ‘wheatgrass place’ (khyaag - ‘wheatgrass’).

Since its inception, Kyakhta trade has been one of the most important articles of Russian foreign trade. For a long time, Kyakhta was the only point through which Russia could maintain commercial and even diplomatic ties with China. This trade served as an important means of strengthening the well-being of the Siberian region, although it was primarily of a transit nature for Siberia. Tea trade through Kyakhta began to fade at the beginning of the 19th century. in connection with the emergence of a more convenient and faster method of delivering goods to Russian markets along the Trans-Siberian Railway.

The exact route of the Tea Route is quite difficult to establish, since it could vary depending on the time of year (in winter - on ice, in summer - by land), and the method of transportation (by oxen or camels). In historical sources that describe the route, the names of the Chinese settlements Kalgan and Maimachen are most often mentioned, in Russia - Kyakhta, Udinsky fort, Irkutsk, Tobolsk, Nizhny Novgorod. According to A. Subbotin, the length of the Tea Road was more than 10 thousand miles, almost a third of the globe. In Buryatia, the Tea Route ran from the city of Kyakhta to Lake. Baikal along the Selenga River, the length of this section is approximately 435 km.

As you know, roads, especially the first communication routes in the region, are one of the important factors in expansion, as well as changes in the toponymic system. As the study shows, the Tea Route is no exception. The functioning of the Tea Road had a significant impact on the oikonymic system of the entire region, especially the territory adjacent to the road. It should be noted that the studied area is the most densely populated in the territory of Buryatia. The vicinity of the Tea Road as a route of communication was, of course, a very convenient place for people to settle, taking into account the fact that the road followed the river. People have long settled in river valleys, finding here the most favorable conditions for life and farming.

In the second half of the 18th century. The tsarist government is taking measures to populate the Trans-Baikal outskirts. One of the main goals of the colonization of Transbaikalia, along with the creation of a food base and a working reserve for the Nerchinsk silver-lead mines and smelters, was to secure the border strip and ensure Kyakhta trade. The settlement of Transbaikalia proceeded much more slowly than in areas located to the west of Lake Baikal. Colonization of the Baikal region began in the middle of the 17th century; the tsarist government pursued a relatively cautious policy towards Transbaikalia due to fear of unrest and migrations to Mongolia.

Undoubtedly, the settlement process was accompanied by the formation of new settlements. Before the development of trade along the Tea Route and colonization, there were relatively few populated areas in Buryatia, which is explained by the nomadic lifestyle of the local population. Several forts and winter quarters were not so developed and were of little importance. In the “Drawing Book of Siberia”, compiled by the Tobolsk boyar’s son Semyon Remezov in 1703 (partially published in F.A. Kudryavtsev’s book “The History of the Buryat-Mongolian People”), few settlements are recorded.

Russian peasants were the conductors of agricultural culture and sedentary life, which also leads to the expansion of the oikonymy of the region. Transitioning to a sedentary lifestyle, the Buryats mainly settled along the Selenga River, in the valley of which they roamed. The booming trade attracted the local population closer to the roadway, where furs and other products of their life could be sold. Most of the population of Buryatia was engaged in servicing trade. Russian settlers, as already noted, were sent to Transbaikalia precisely for this purpose.

With the growth of colonization, the development of trade, the emergence of industry, the old forts, formerly

What were once temporary fortified points become more durable trade and administrative centers, cities and urban-type settlements arise. A.P. Okladnikov provides the following data: “In Verkhneudinsk district in 1791, there were 252 settlements, including two cities: Verkhneudinsk and Selenginsk, three forts (Kabansky, Ilimsky, Itantsinsky), three fortresses (Troitskosavskaya with the Kyakhtinsky outpost (Kyakhta trading settlement), Petropavlovskaya and Kudarinskaya), thirteen Cossack guards, then settlements and villages."

Thus, based on historical facts, it seems possible to conclude that the formation of the Tea Route led, first of all, to the enrichment of the oikonymy of the studied area, as well as Buryatia as a whole. The toponymy of the Tea Route on the territory of Buryatia, according to modern cartographic data, confirms what has been said. Oikonyms constitute the largest group of named geographical objects of the area under consideration - 128 (56.4% of the total number of toponyms of the Tea Route in the territory of Buryatia), of which 71 are Russian, 38 are Buryat.

Slavic-language toponyms form an impressive layer of toponymy both on the Tea Route and the entire region. There are currently about 300 names of settlements in the Russian language throughout the republic, which accounts for more than 30% of the total number of oikonyms in Buryatia. The vast majority of Slavic-language oikonyms are named after the first or last name of the first settler: Arsentyevo, Barykino, Dubinino, Zhilino, Ivanovka, Ilyinka, Inkino, Meteshikha, Treskovo, Shergino, etc. This fact emphasizes the spontaneous nature of the nomination process, due to the intensive settlement of the region.

In connection with the development of trade along the Tea Route, traffic intensified, which entailed, due to practical necessity, the expansion of not only the oikonymic, but also the oronymic, hydronymic and other onymic systems of the area. A fairly large number of oronyms and hydronyms on a Russian basis suggests that the enrichment occurred to a greater extent due to Russian names. Indeed, an analysis of the stratigraphic layers of the toponymy of the Tea Route on the territory of Buryatia revealed that the Slavic-speaking and Mongol-speaking layers are the most numerous. This is explained by the fact that Russian and Buryat languages ​​have been dominant in this territory over the past four centuries and continue to be productive in the formation of toponyms. The approximate relationship of stratigraphic layers of toponymy is reflected in Table 1.

Table 1

Stratigraphic layers of toponymy of the Tea Route on the territory of Buryatia

Language affiliation Number % Examples

Mongolian (Buryat) 64 28.2 Bayan-Gol

Russians 115 50.7 Bolshoy Lug

Turkic 9 4 Zagan ridge

Tunguska 13 5.7 Selenga

Paleoasian 5 22 Kunals

Hybrid 15 6.6 Ust-Kyakhta

Others 6 2.6 Rusks

Total 227,100

Along with the formation of the Russian toponymy of the area under consideration, there is a process of adaptation (phonetic and morphological) of already existing foreign geographical names in the Russian language, including those formed on the Buryat language basis. Names with a two-component structure arise, the core words of which are lexemes with a Buryat or other substratum language base, and the definition is represented by the base in Russian, i.e. hybrid toponyms (for example, Ust-Kyakhta from Russian mouth and Bur. kyaagta ‘wheatgrass place’). A significant role in the formation of Russian toponyms is played by tracing from the Buryat language (for example, Galuuta Nuur - Goose Lake, Ekhe Nuga - Big Meadow, Shabarta - Gryaznukha, Khuzhir - Solontsy).

The formation of the Tea Route implied a more active use of toponymic names, both existing and newly formed. Since Buryatia occupied a key position in the developing tea trade between China and Russia, it was certainly the focus of attention of historians, geographers, cartographers, travelers, etc., which means that the geographical names of the region became known far beyond its borders as both within Russia and abroad. They were probably recorded more often and in more detail on maps and in documents, which is of no small importance for toponymic studies of the region (Table 2).

The historical situation of the Tea Road era, characterized by the mutual influence of the Russian and local populations, was also reflected in the peculiarities of the terminological system of toponymy in Buryatia. The first Russian explorers, subsequently Russian settlers of Siberia in a new natural environment

Under new economic conditions, they did not find the necessary words in their natural vocabulary to denote some phenomena that were new to them; in this case, they borrowed the necessary words from the local residents and introduced them into everyday use. Widely used local geographical terms of Buryat origin include: taiga, bom, ubur, daban, arshan, bayts, baisanites, gorkhon, gudzhir, khuzhir, sardyk, gobi, obo, utug.

Let us give interpretations of some of them. Ulus is the name adopted by Russians for Buryat settlements, corresponding to a village or village. Arshan, arshaan is a mineral or warm spring that has healing properties. In the past, Buddhists in Buryatia attributed the properties of arshan to some fresh springs, so the Buryats, especially in the Alar region, began to call springs with cold, fresh, clean water arshan, giving them healing significance. The term arshan is widespread in Mongolia, Western China, Central Asia, Altai and Eastern Siberia. Its origin is associated with the Sanskrit Rashiani - “nectar, drink of the gods.” The term arshan was brought to Buryatia in connection with the spread of Buddhism (Lamaism). Daban - in Mongolian languages ​​dabaa, dabaan - mountain pass, saddle in a ridge, rise. The term is derived from the verb dabaha - to climb a mountain, to cross a pass.

table 2

Oikonymy city 3 1.3

village 50 22

village 72 31.7

station 1 0.4

Microoikonyms non-residential buildings 2 0.9

Total 128 56.4

Hydronyms river 39 17.2

stream 17 7.5

lake 6 2.6

bay 1 0.4

Total 65 28.6

Oronyms mountain 8 3.5

rock 3 1.3

tract 3 1.3

cave 2 0.9

cut 2 0.9

ridge 6 2.6

pass (Daban) 2 0.9

valley 1 0.4

hill 1 0.4

elevation 1 0.4

landslide 1 0.4

Total 33 14.5

Drimonim forest area 1 0.4

Total 227 100%

In the semantics of toponyms of the area under consideration, the influence of the events of the era of the Great Tea Road can be traced. At first glance, the Tea Route did not play a significant role in the process of nominating geographical objects of the adjacent territory, since the practical material did not directly reflect the events of those times (only one name was recorded - Sava - a stream, a tributary of the Selenga above Ust-Kyakhta, the etymology of which has already been discussed ). However, being a way of carrying out trade between different countries, as well as a means of communication within the region, the Tea Route contributed to the interaction of various linguistic societies. The population of Buryatia came into the most frequent and close contacts with the Mongols and Chinese, being on the border with Mongolia, through which tea was transported to Russia. These contacts had a mutual influence on the culture, way of life, and worldview of the peoples in contact, and affected the choice of motives for the nomination of geographical objects. In this regard, it is appropriate to cite the opinion of A.V. Superanskaya that “proper names, like common nouns, have or had their own motivation. All of them are social and historical, since they reflect not only public tastes, but also the characteristic worldviews of people, their social relationships.

ideas, ideology, and, finally, social traditions." In addition, the consolidation of the Russian-Chinese and Russian-Mongolian border, the growth of colonization, the development of trade and commercial capital, crafts, and the emergence of industry affected the socio-economic and political life of the Buryat population in the 18th century, and also brought changes to agriculture (growth haymaking, agriculture, the spread of firearms for plowing, etc.) and everyday life, strengthened the connection of the Buryat economy with the market.

Thus, it is fair to conclude that the era of the Great Tea Route is not only a bright page in history, but also evidence of the history of the formation of the toponymic system of Buryatia.

Literature

1. Chimitdorzhiev Sh.B. Russia and Mongolia. - M., 1987.

2. Shagdarov L.D. The rapprochement of the Buryat language with other languages ​​of the peoples of the USSR // Mutual influence of languages ​​in Buryatia. - Ulan-Ude, 1978.

3. Popova E.E. Kyakhta: historical and cultural monuments. - M., 1990.

4. Melkheev M.N. Toponymy of Buryatia. History, system and origin of geographical names. -Ulan-Ude: Buryats. book publishing house, 1969.

5. Balabanov V.F. In the jungle of names. - Irkutsk, 1977.

6. Toponymic dictionary of ethnic Buryatia / comp. I.A. Dambuev, Yu.F. Manzhueva, A.V. Rinchinova. -Ulan-Ude: IPK FGOU VPO VSGAKI, 2007.

7. Shpaltakov V.P. Trade between Russia and China in Kyakhta in the first half of the 19th century. // Russia and the East: a view from Siberia. - Irkutsk, 1998. T. 2.

8. Subbotin A. “Kyakhtinsky” tea // Kyakhtinskaya antiquity: almanac. - Kyakhta, 2003.

9. Okladnikov A.P. History of the Buryat-Mongolian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. - Ulan-Ude, 1951. T. I.

10. Kudryavtsev F.A. History of the Buryat-Mongol people. - M.; L., 1940.

11. Shulunova L.V. Onomastics of the Baikal region. - Ulan-Ude, 1995.

12. Dorzhieva T.S. Stratigraphic layers of toponymy of the Tea Route on the territory of Buryatia // Kulagin readings: materials of the VII All-Russian. scientific-practical conf. - Chita: Chita. State University, 2007. Part II.

13. Dorzhieva T.S. Hybrid toponyms of the Tea Route on the territory of Buryatia // Eastern society: integration and disintegration factors in the geopolitical space of the Asia-Pacific region: materials of the international. scientific-practical conf. - Ulan-Ude, 2007.

14. Dorzhieva T.S. The role of geographical terms in the formation of toponyms (based on the toponyms of the Tea Route on the territory of Buryatia // Problems of linguistic local history: materials of the All-Russian scientific and practical conference - Perm, 2007.

15. Superanskaya A.V. General theory of proper names. - M.: Nauka, 1973.

1. Chimitdorjiev, Sh.B. Russia and Mongolia. - Moscow, 1987.

2. Shagdarov L.D. Approach of buryat language with other languages ​​of USSR nations // Vzaimovliyanie yazikov v Buryatii. - Ulan-Ude, 1978.

3. Popova E.E. Kyahta: memorials of history and culture. Moscow, 1990.

4. Melheev M.N. Toponymy of Buryatia. History, system and origin of geographical names. - Ulan-Ude, 1969.

Veliky Ustyug.
Painting by V. Berezin, 1795

Veliky Ustyug: historical ties with China

The ancient Russian city of Veliky Ustyug, located in the northeast of the Vologda region, 600 km from Vologda, was founded in 1147. It is famous for its centuries-old history. This is a city-reserve, seemingly untouched by time, with entire streets of houses built in the 18th–19th centuries that have survived to this day, i.e. in those days when Veliky Ustyug was one of the significant points of the Great Tea Route and Veliky Ustyug merchants actively participated in trade with China.
The Great Tea Route began in China, crossed the territory of present-day Mongolia and went through Russia to Europe. It was divided into several land and water routes, had many roads, portages, waterways along rivers and seas. The most significant points on the land route: Tianmen, Yuekou, Jingzhou, Shayan, Taigu, Xinxian, Shanying, Datong, Kalgan (now Zhangjiangkou), Beijing, Zhangbei, Underhaan, Muren, Hohhot, Ulan-Hua, Zamyn-Uula, Erdene, Urgen, Airag, Choir, Bayan, Nalaikh, Urga (now Ulaanbaatar), Darkhan, Maimachen (now Altan-Bulak), Troitskosavsk (now Kyakhta), Novoselenginsk, Gusinoozersk, Verkhneudinsk (now Ulan-Ude), Kabansk, Mysovaya ( now Babushkin), Slyudyanka, Irkutsk, Nizhneudinsk, Ilimsk, Yeniseisk, Kansk, Krasnoyarsk, Novosibirsk, Ishim, Omsk, Tomsk, Tobolsk, Tyumen, Turinsk, Verkhoturye, Yekaterinburg, Kungur, Solikamsk, Irbit, Nizhny Novgorod, Veliky Ustyug, Vologda, Kostroma, Yaroslavl, Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, Moscow, St. Petersburg. From Moscow, radial routes went to the south, north and west of the country.
The water-land route followed the Yangtze River to Shanghai, then through Huangshi, Jujiang, Chizhou, Renjiang, Port Arthur (now Lushun), Tianjing, Wafangdian, Gaizhou, Dashiqiao, Haicheng, Liaoyang, Mukden (now Shenyang), Telin, Siping, Changchun, Khprbin, Zhaodong, Daqing, Longjiang, Hailar, Manchuria, Nerchinsk.
In Verkhneudinsk (Ulan-Ude) both routes were connected. From Irkutsk along the Lena River, through Yakutsk, the largest branch of the route to Alaska went.


In 1727, the Burin Treaty was signed between Russia and China, and then, on its basis, the Kyakhta Treaty, which determined political and trade relations between Russia and China. The Treaty of Kyakhta established the border between the states, construction of the city of Troitskosavsk began (the city in Buryatia, on the border of Russia and Mongolia, in the mid-1930s was merged with the trading settlement of Kyakhta and began to be called by the name of this settlement). At a distance of three miles from it, the Russian trading settlement of Kyakhta and the Chinese trading city of Maimachen were formed. Since that time, Kyakhta has become the main center of Russian-Chinese trade. In the middle of the 18th century, 67% of Russia’s trade turnover with Asian countries passed through Kyakhta. In 1762, Catherine II proclaimed complete freedom of trade in Kyakhta, including fur trade. By this time, furs accounted for about 85% of Russian exports to China. Subsequently, its share decreased, but it still significantly exceeded the volume of trade in metals, textiles, livestock, leather and other goods. Tea, silk and cotton fabrics, porcelain, gold, silver, pearls, and precious stones were imported from China to Russia. The Veliky Ustyug State Museum-Reserve houses a number of things brought from China in those days - primarily Chinese dishes and fabrics.
The movement of trade caravans in one direction took one year. The sale of Russian goods and the purchase of Chinese goods took several months.
In 1800, rules for trade with China were adopted. The rules established fixed prices for goods; only barter transactions were allowed. Prices were set by a “general agreement” of Russian merchants trading in Kyakhta. Buying and selling for money, as well as credit transactions, are prohibited. Trade with China was very profitable and aroused great interest in Russian government and trade circles. Many famous Russian and Chinese merchants created the largest fortunes of that time on it.
As an example, we can cite the activities of representatives of the Zakharov merchant family. Grigory Fedorovich Zakharov (b. 1713) appeared in Veliky Ustyug in the middle of the 18th century. He had a large family: three sons (Lev, Ivan, Peter) and daughters Maria and Anna. G. F. Zakharov, his sons and grandsons were engaged in trade, traveled to Siberia, traded furs and “exchange” Chinese goods. These long journeys across endless Siberia and to the Chinese border were not safe and risky, but trade with China at that time brought significant profits to the Ustyug merchants.
The wealthy Veliky Ustyug merchants were actively engaged in construction in their hometown. One of the most generous benefactors were the already mentioned merchants Zakharovs. In 1781, G.F. Zakharov contributed 6,000 rubles in silver coin to the Vologda order of public charity, so that interest on this capital would be used in favor of the poor and disadvantaged people in Ustyug. In 1787–1788 The Zakharovs built at their own expense a two-story stone educational house on the Embankment, known in the past in Ustyug as the Zakharovskaya almshouse (the former surgical department of the hospital). They contributed 17,200 rubles to the orphanage for the maintenance of the almshouse. Over the years, members of the Zakharov family contributed 40,200 rubles to the Vologda public charity order and the local orphanage court. In 1812, when the Fatherland was attacked by the French, Grigory Lvovich was one of the first to donate 1000 rubles to the militia. When in April 1817 there was another big flood in Ustyug, he “soaked and calmed” a significant number of people affected by the flood for two days.
Members of the Zakharov merchant family were active in public life. It is no coincidence that at the end of the 18th century. Grigory Fedorovich, and at the beginning of the 19th century. Lev Grigorievich was elected to the post of mayor of Veliky Ustyug.
The merchant of the first guild, Lev Grigorievich (1738–1809), lived with his family in a stone house that has survived to this day on Bolshaya Sloboda Street with eight warm chambers (now the building of a children's art school). The Veliky Ustyug State Museum-Reserve houses his portrait, painted at the beginning of the 19th century, on the back of which there is the inscription: “Velikoustyug merchant of the first guild Lev Grigoriev son Zakharov. Born February 15, 1738. He died on March 27, 1809, having donated twelve thousand rubles to the local orphanage court for the maintenance of the poor.”
There were several trade fairs along the Great Tea Route. The most famous were the Kyakhta, Verkhneudinsk, Irkutsk, Yenisei, Nerchinsk, Mangazeya, Tarsk, Surgut, Turukhansk, Irbitsk, Makaryevsk (Nizhny Novgorod), Moscow fairs. Irbitskaya, Makaryevskaya (Nizhny Novgorod), Moscow fairs. There were 20 fairs with a large trade turnover, and 5 with an average turnover. The bulk were small fairs – 96.
The clerk of the Russian-American Company, the first director of which was the Ustyug merchant Mikhail Matveevich Buldakov, Ustyug resident Nikolai Ivanovich Korobitsyn in his “Notes” writes about a trip from Ustyug to the Makaryevskaya fair, about the exchange of furs in Kyakhta for Chinese goods (teas, fabrics), about the sale of these goods at the Makaryevskaya Fair and their delivery to Moscow. When Korobitsyn was sent by the Russian-American Company as a clerk on the first Russian round-the-world voyage of 1803–1806, he wrote about the following order given to him by the company: “The goods received as cargo on the Neva ship should be in my charge, which upon safe arrival in America hand it over to the company's office located there, and upon departure from there on a return voyage, as directed by the Main Company Board, receiving it under its jurisdiction from the local office, loading it into the ship; and on the way back, if circumstances allow, to call at the Chinese port of Canton, then, depending on the circumstances, to the benefit of the company, exchange for Chinese goods.”
Having reached its apogee by the middle of the 19th century, trade in Kyakhta entered a period of crisis. The reason for this was the use of the sea route between Russia and China through the ports of Shanghai, Guangzhou, Vladivostok, Odessa, which made transporting tea cheaper. Kyakhta's monopoly in trade with China ended. A new St. Petersburg Treaty was concluded between Russia and China, as a result of which trade volumes in general increased significantly, but trade turnover in Kyakhta began to decline. After the construction of the Suez Canal, which made shipping tea to Europe cheaper, and with the start of tea production in India and Ceylon, the Tea Route gradually lost its importance. In 1903, construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway was completed, which put an end to the caravan trade. The opening of the Suez Canal and the Trans-Siberian Railway left Kyakhta aside. Since then, thanks to the speed of delivery, tea in Russia has become significantly cheaper, and its consumption has become widespread.
The Great Tea Road had a huge impact on the socio-economic and cultural development of Russia, Mongolia and China and played an important role in bringing peoples closer together. Along the way, cities and towns, postal stations and inns, churches and schools, factories and factories, fairs and tea drinking establishments were built. Significant funds from the state treasury and large capitals of merchants were invested in the construction of roads and cities, in education and culture, in the construction of churches and in the development of new lands. The route had a beneficial effect on the pace of development of Siberia and the Russian Far East. It was used to exchange not only goods, but also production technologies, as well as knowledge.
By the beginning of the 19th century, Russia was already the most “tea-consuming” country in the world. In all major Russian cities, the elite of society (nobles-aristocrats) copied the English tea tradition with minor distortions. Such “English” tea drinking was popular in St. Petersburg and Moscow salons, living rooms, etc. This “secular tea” was not so much a drink consumed as an occasion for socializing. In addition, there was a merchant-landowner culture of tea drinking. Indispensable attributes were a samovar, a large amount of sweets and food; sugar, honey, all kinds of preserves, sweets, pies, kulebyaki, gingerbread, bagels and other flour products were especially popular. Alcohol was often added to tea - strong tinctures and balms. Tea drinking was most often a family affair and was equated to one of the meals - lunch or dinner. In any provincial town there were a dozen teahouses where ordinary people could indulge in aromatic tea. Tea warehouses and shops were opened in many Russian cities. Tea gave rise to samovar production and gave impetus to the expansion of tableware, porcelain, sugar and bakery production. Tea has become the favorite drink of every Russian family. The residents of Veliky Ustyug were no exception. Here, as in other Russian cities, the samovar became an indispensable attribute of family life. This is evidenced by the remarkable collection of samovars stored in the Veliky Ustyug State Museum-Reserve.
The history of the Tea Route has provided rich material for the development of cultural tourism and the creation of the world's largest transcontinental international tourist route. The tourism project “Great Tea Road” has been developed since 1992 with the support of more than 50 organizations from three countries: Russia, Mongolia and China. The goal of the project is to develop a major international tourist destination using the historical and cultural heritage and the “Great Tea Road” brand. The ideological basis of the project was the rich historical and cultural heritage of the Tea Route trade route, which developed at the beginning of the 18th century. This is the longest overland tourist route existing today, which allows you to cross Eurasia and get acquainted with the unique culture of many countries and peoples. The international tourism project “The Great Tea Road” included Omsk, Sverdlovsk, Irkutsk, Kirov regions, Perm Territory, the republics of Buryatia, Tyva, Khakassia and Tatarstan. The Great Tea Route is becoming a popular tourism brand and attracting more and more travelers. The Vologda region could also become a participant in this project - it has significant potential for this.
To develop mutual cooperation with China, the Veliky Ustyug Hotel, Gostiny Dvor LLC proposes to open a representative office of China in Veliky Ustyug in the Neledin merchant mansion (18th century, Krasnaya St., 76), located on the territory of the hotel complex.

Chinese items of the 18th – 19th centuries from the collection of the Veliky Ustyug Museum-Reserve
Fabric from the late 17th century. China from the collection of the Veliky Ustyug Museum-Reserve A 17th-century chasuble from the collection of the Veliky Ustyug Museum-Reserve

- a caravan route that ran between Asia and Europe in the 16th-19th centuries. In terms of trade turnover, it was second only to the Great Silk Road. The Great Tea Road, which covered the territories of China, Mongolia, Russia and operated for more than 200 years, had a huge impact on the socio-economic and cultural development of Russia, Mongolia and China and played an important role in bringing peoples closer together, in the development of the economy and culture.

“Tea pyramids during the Irbit Fair” photo from the archives of the Irbit Historical and Ethnographic Museum

Along the way, cities and towns, postal stations and inns, churches and schools, factories and factories, fairs and tea drinking establishments were built. The total length of the route was about 10 thousand kilometers. Along with such routes as jade, silk, salt, cinnamon, tin, wine, slave, the Great Tea Route played a huge role in the history of human development and the establishment of trade, economic, diplomatic and cultural ties between peoples. Significant funds from the state treasury and large capitals of merchants were invested in the construction of roads and cities, in education and culture, in the construction of churches and in the development of new lands.

The history of the Tea Route is a continuation of the history of the development of diplomatic, trade and cultural ties between the peoples of Eurasia in the Middle Ages. The first jade trade route in the history of Eurasia developed in the Stone Age; during the era of the great nomadic civilizations in Central Asia, all the main routes connecting the East and West of the continent were formed. During the reign of the Han and Xiongnu states, the Great Silk Road appeared and the routes were laid on which the Great Tea Road appeared in the 16th-19th centuries.

Tsibik— this was the name of the box for overland transportation of tea. According to one version, its name comes from the Mongolian “weave”, since the box was woven with reeds in two or three layers. According to another, it originates from the Greek “”, “” (cube, cubic) and the Latin “cubicus”. Tsibiki were one-and-a-half and square and could hold from 25 to 35 kg of tea. Later, the meaning of the word became broader and even gray. XX century This could be the name for any pack of tea.

The tea route changed life in many provinces and provincial cities, and residents had the opportunity not only to buy and exchange goods, but also to work along the route. Thanks to the tea trade, a number of professions appeared that did not exist before. The route had a beneficial effect on the pace of development of Siberia and the Russian Far East. It was used to exchange not only goods, but also production technologies, as well as knowledge. The tea trade turned out to be a very profitable enterprise. Many famous Russian and Chinese merchants created the largest fortunes of that time on it and often financed urban development projects, various charitable programs, and also lent money for government needs. Merchant patrons provided great assistance in the development of science and education, education of youth, and support of culture and art. The national culture of tea drinking brought from China to Russia and European countries gave rise to original national cultures.

The Tea Route began in the city of Wuhan and was divided into several land and water routes that passed through more than 150 cities. The movement of caravans from Russia to China and from China to Russia followed the following route: Moscow, Pereslavl-Zalessky, Yaroslavl, Kostroma, Vologda, Ustyug Veliky, Nizhny Novgorod, Irbit, Solikamsk, Yekaterinburg, Verkhoturye, Turinsk, Tyumen, Tobolsk, Tomsk, Omsk, Ishim, Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk, Kansk, Yeniseisk, Ilimsk, Nizhneudinsk, Irkutsk, Verkhneudinsk, Selenginsk, Kyakhta, Sayshana, Urga, Ern-Khoto, Kalgan, Beijing and other cities and towns. A Russian merchant trading post operated in Beijing, which played a major role in the development of trade.

In many sections of the road there were complex and expensive engineering structures. The route had many land roads, portages, waterways, and branches went off from it to different Russian provinces. There were several trade fairs along the route, with 20 fairs with a large trade turnover and 5 with an average trade turnover. The bulk were small fairs, there were 96 of them. The most famous were Kyakhtinskaya, Verkhneudinskaya, Irkutskaya, Yeniseiskaya, Nerchinskaya, Mangazeya, Tarskaya, Surgutskaya, Turukhanskaya, Irbitskaya, Makaryevskaya (Nizhny Novgorod), Moscow fairs.


In the Baikal region there were land routes through the Khamar-Daban Ridge (Udunginsky, Ivanovsky, Khamar-Dabansky, Igumnovsky tracts, Circum-Baikal Route), as well as waterways through Baikal and along the Selenga. The villages of Kabansk and Mysovaya (now the town of Babushkin) were built neither of them. At the end of the 17th - beginning of the 18th century, this route went along the Angara, Baikal, Selenga to the city of Verkhneudinsk, then along the Uda to the Eravninsky lakes, and from there along the Chitinka and Shilka rivers to the city of Nerchinsk, which became the main center of trade with China. Trade and diplomatic relations between Russia and China were conducted this way for a long time. In addition, the road to Mongolia passed through Verkhneudinsk along the Selenga River, where auctions were held in the city of Urga (now the city of Ulaanbaatar - the capital of Mongolia). Large government caravans moved along these two routes; many service people traveled, as well as merchants who conducted private trade.

In 1666, the first trade caravan was sent from Moscow to China, headed by the boyar's son Ivan Perev and the Bukhara merchant Sektula Ablin. Bukhara merchants often served as intermediaries in trade relations between Russia and the countries of the East. Despite the losses and high trade costs, the overall result of Ablin's trade in China turned out to be very profitable for the Russian treasury. The profit from trading in Beijing was almost 100%. Chinese goods brought to Russia yielded a profit of more than 300%. This aroused exceptional interest in trade with China in Russian government and trade circles. At the same time, serious difficulties stood in the way of its development - the long distance of the route through the Kalmyk and Mongolian lands, predatory raids on nomadic caravans. Forts, the construction of which began in Siberia and Transbaikalia, became strongholds that provided protection for caravans and at the same time served as trading centers. The Irkutsk fort, the Udinsky fort (later the city of Verkhneudinsk, now the city of Ulan-Ude - the capital of Buryatia) and the Nerchinsky fort (now the city of Nerchinsk in the Chita region) began to play a special role. The first Russian trade caravans began to pass through the Udinsky fort in 1680, and after the Russian Ambassador Fedor Golovin signed the “Nerchinsk Treaty” on the establishment of free trade between Russia and China in 1689, the Udinsky fort began to protect the Uda River valley from attacks by nomads from the South and West, along which the main route to the Nerchinsk region ran.

Trade in Nerchinsk did not acquire the expected scope, the supply of goods from both sides was not systematic, trade was interrupted due to frequent clashes with the local population, in addition, it was opposed by the Manchu authorities. In this regard, in 1719 an embassy was sent to Beijing, headed by the minister, captain of the guard Lev Izmailov. He was accompanied by secretary Lorenz Lang, who, as a result of the trip, collected interesting material on the history of Russian-Chinese relations and Siberia, and also wrote the work “Description of the Chinese State.” A new, more detailed map of the route was also compiled. In Beijing, Izmailov was greeted with great honors, had 12 audiences with the emperor, presented gifts, but, apart from permission to leave Lang as a trading agent and the resumption of trade, he achieved nothing. This state of affairs did not suit the Russian government. In 1727, Empress Catherine I sent Ambassador Savva Lukich Vladislavich-Raguzinsky to China. After lengthy negotiations near the Bura River, he concluded a new treaty with China, the ratification of which, in a slightly modified form, was completed in 1728 on the Kyakhta River. The Kyakhta Treaty established the border between the states, and construction of the city of Troitskosavsk began. At a distance of three miles from it, the Russian trading settlement of Kyakhta and the Chinese trading city of Maimachen were formed. Since that time, Kyakhta has become the main center of Russian-Chinese trade.


“Symbol of the cross-border project “Great Tea Road” in the Irbit Museum of Folk Life” photo from the archive of M.I. Smerdova

After the construction of Kyakhta, the importance of Verkhneudinsk as the main transshipment and distribution center was preserved. Trade duties were levied here and all trade with China and Mongolia was controlled. The famous traveler A. Martos, who traveled along the Khamar-Daban tract in 1823, noted: “At the first glance at this colossal work, you can’t help but feel the greatness of the Russian people, who are not inferior in labor, requiring gigantic strength, to the ancient Romans.”

State-owned caravans sent to China had a rather complex organization. The caravan was headed by a trusted merchant, who was assigned a government commissar, four kissers, a guards officer with a military guard of 100 Cossacks. The total number of administration and guards of the state-owned caravan reached 200 people. Caravans were organized once every three years, their movement in one direction took one year. The sale of Russian goods and the purchase of Chinese goods took several months.

Throughout the 19th century, Moscow continued to remain, although not the only, but the dominant distribution center in the European part of Russia. Tea was brought to the capital of the country, St. Petersburg, from Moscow. Until the middle of the 19th century, there was one tea shop in St. Petersburg, while in Moscow in 1647 there were over 100 specialized tea shops and more than 300 tea drinking establishments.

Having reached its apogee by the middle of the 19th century, trade in Kyakhta entered a period of crisis. The reason for this was the use of the sea route between Russia and China through the ports of Shanghai, Guangzhou, Vladivostok, Odessa, which made transporting tea cheaper. A new St. Petersburg Treaty was concluded between Russia and China, as a result of which trade volumes in general increased significantly, but trade turnover in Kyakhta began to decline. The flourishing of the tea trade using the land route continued until the end of the 19th century. After the construction of the Suez Canal, which made shipping tea to Europe cheaper, and with the start of tea production in India and Ceylon, the Tea Route gradually lost its importance. In 1903, construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway was completed, which put an end to the caravan trade. The opening of the Suez Canal and the Trans-Siberian Railway left Kyakhta aside. Since then, thanks to the speed of delivery, tea in Russia has become significantly cheaper, and its consumption has become widespread. Many Kyakhta and Verkhneudinsk merchants moved to St. Petersburg and Moscow, transferring their capital there. Most of the tea began to be transported by sea. From Wuhan, where tea was brought from the southern provinces of China, it was headed to the city of Hankou. The largest tea market in China operated here. In 1861, Russian merchants built a seaport, from which tea was transported by ship to Europe and Russia.

After England began importing tea from its Indian colonies, sales of Chinese tea in Hankou fell sharply. Thanks to this, the influence of Russia increased, to which control over the tea market was transferred. Russian merchant A.D. Startsev built the first railway in China. From 1863 to 1873, Russian merchants built 8 tea processing plants in Hankou, some of which have survived to this day. The successes of the merchants were highly appreciated by the Russian government. Many of them have received awards. In 1891, the heir to the Russian throne, Tsarevich Nicholas, traveling across Russia to the Far East, visited the Shintei tea factory in the city of Hankou in the year of celebrating the 25th anniversary of the factory.

The tea trade was of great importance for the peoples of Eurasia. K. Ritter wrote: “The consumption of tea, since one century, has opened up a new branch of trade, supporting the constant circulation of caravans through the Gobi. This hot drink, which became a ubiquitous part of daily life, changed the way of life of so many semi- and fully educated, nomadic and sedentary peoples. Over the course of a century, the profits that the neighboring peoples received from the stimulation of their industrial activity and enlightenment are incalculable. The established transit of the main commodity - tea - turned the Gobi steppe into a busy high road, and Urga and Kyakhta for the civilization of peoples, according to the significance they had, are destined to be world-historical cities."

The land route of the Great Tea Route in Russia passed through the cities of Troitskosavsk (Kyakhta), Selenginsk (Novoselenginsk), then the path was divided into several branches that converged in Mysovaya (Babushkin). Right branch: Gusinoozersk, Verkhneudinsk (Ulan-Ude), Kabansk, Mysovaya (Babushkin). Left branch: Udunga, Udunginsky merchant tract through the Khamar-Daban mountains, Mysovaya (Babushkin). Several merchant routes were laid through the Khamar-Daban mountains: Khamar-Dabansky, Igumnovsky, Ivanovsky, Tunkinsky, Udunginsky. From Troitskosavsk (Kyakhta) there was also a land route (Irkutsk tract) and a water route along the river. Selenge to Verkhneudinsk (Ulan-Ude). From Mysovaya (Babushkina) there was a land route through Slyudyanka and a water route through Lake Baikal to Irkutsk. Then the path divided into two branches. The right branch went along the Lena River to Yakutsk, then to Alaska. The left branch passed through Nizhneudinsk, Ilimsk, Yeniseisk, Kansk, Krasnoyarsk, Achinsk, Mariinsk (Anzhero-Sudzhensk), Botogol, Tomsk, Novosibirsk, Kolyvan, Chulym, Barabinsk, Kainsk (Kuibyshev), Tatarsk, Kalachinsk, Omsk, Tara, Ishim, Tyukalinsk, Yalutorovsk, Tobolsk, Tyumen, Turinsk, Verkhoturye, Yekaterinburg, Solikamsk, Irbit, Perm, Kungur, Nizhny Novgorod, Makaryev, Veliky Ustyug, Vologda, Kostroma, Yaroslavl, Pereslavl-Zalessky, Moscow, St. Petersburg. In Omsk, a left branch separated from the route, which led to Kazakhstan and Central Asia. From St. Petersburg, routes led to Western European countries. A water-land route also ran through the territory of Russia: Zabaikalsk, Nerchinsk, Verkhneudinsk (Ulan-Ude).


Tea trade along the land route continued until 1929. By the beginning of the 19th century, Russia had become the most “tea-consuming” country in the world: in all major Russian cities, the elite of society (aristocratic nobles) copied the English tea tradition with minor distortions. Such “English” tea drinking was popular in St. Petersburg and Moscow salons, living rooms, etc. This “secular tea” was not so much a drink consumed as an occasion for socializing. In addition, there was a merchant-landowner culture of tea drinking. Indispensable attributes were a samovar, a large amount of sweets and food; sugar, honey, all kinds of preserves, sweets, pies, kulebyaki, gingerbread cookies, bagels and other flour products were especially popular. Alcohol was often added to tea - strong tinctures and balms. Tea drinking was most often a family affair and was equated to one of the meals - lunch or dinner. In addition, in any provincial town there were a dozen teahouses where ordinary people could indulge in aromatic tea. Tea warehouses and shops were opened in many Russian cities. Tea gave rise to samovar production and gave impetus to the expansion of tableware, porcelain, sugar and bakery production. Tea has become an indispensable and most favorite drink of every Russian family.

Currently, many sections of the Tea Road have turned into active railways and highways and are part of a common transport network that connects the regions of Asia and Europe. Trade exchanges between Russia, Mongolia and China continue along the Tea Route. The list of historical settlements of the Russian Federation located directly on the Great Tea Route includes: Republic of Buryatia - Ulan-Ude, Babushkin, Kyakhta; Republic of Tyva - Kyzyl; Republic of Khakassia: Abakan; Altai Territory - Biysk; Krasnoyarsk Territory - Krasnoyarsk, Achinsk, Yeniseisk, Kansk; Irkutsk region - Irkutsk, Nizhneudinsk; Kemerovo region - Mariinsk; Novosibirsk region - Kuibyshev, Kolyvan; Omsk region - Omsk, Tara, Tyukalinsk; Tomsk region - Tomsk, Narym; Tyumen region - Tyumen, Ishim, Tobolsk, Yalutorovsk.

The history of the Tea Route has provided rich material for the development of cultural tourism and the creation of the world's largest transcontinental international tourist route. The tourism project “Great Tea Road” has been developed since 1992 with the support of more than 50 organizations from three countries: Russia, Mongolia and China. The goal of the project is to develop a major international tourist destination using the historical and cultural heritage and the “Great Tea Road” brand. The ideological basis of the project was the rich historical and cultural heritage of the Tea Route trade route, which developed at the beginning of the 18th century. This is the longest overland tourist route existing today, which allows you to cross Eurasia and get acquainted with the unique culture of many countries and peoples.

The international tourism project “The Great Tea Road” included Omsk, Sverdlovsk, Irkutsk, Kirov regions, Perm Territory, the republics of Buryatia, Tyva, Khakassia and Tatarstan. The Great Tea Route passed through the cities of the Perm region Solikamsk, Perm, and Kungur, which was once the “tea capital of the Russian Empire.” In the 17th century, the trade route from China to Russia passed through the territory of Tara, the oldest city in the Omsk region. Since the 17th century, Tara merchants have been one of the suppliers of tea to Russia. Thus, in 1659, the Tara boyar’s son Ivan Perfilyev headed one of the first Russian embassies to China and brought from there ten pounds of tea as a gift to the Tsar, which served as the basis for concluding an official contract for the supply of “dried Chinese grass.”

In the Sverdlovsk region, a tour “Tea Roads of the Urals” is being developed, which has the route: Yekaterinburg - Kamyshlov - Irbit - Rechkalovo village - Koptelovo village - Yekaterinburg. For the Sverdlovsk region, the project is interesting because the “tea” route passed along the Great Siberian Highway, and also had a reference point at one of the most famous Russian fairs - Irbitskaya. Talitsa, Pyshma, Kamyshlov, Bogdanovich, Krasnoufimsk and, of course, Irbit, where the fair is being revived as a vibrant event, are participants in a huge international project.

The Great Tea Route is the longest overland tourist route, allowing you to cross Eurasia and visit many countries. Traveling through it provides an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the ancient, unique culture of tea and rediscover much of what has been forgotten. The Great Tea Route is becoming a popular tourism brand and attracting more and more travelers. This is one of those routes that is worth visiting. Along the entire length of the Great Tea Route there are many objects associated with different eras, peoples, and cultures. Many of them attract a lot of attention from travelers. A whole layer of culture is made up of the traditions of preparing and consuming tea, surrounded by folk legends, customs, rites, rituals, beliefs, reflected in folk life and art.

Much is known about the Great Tea Route from the school curriculum. But now anyone can drive through the legendary places. The 3,000 km long “Great Tea Route” has appeared in international guidebooks - a new tourist route served by a special train “Star of Eurasia”. It follows the path of the Trans-Siberian Railway. This initiative became a joint project of the heads of state and tourism industries of Mongolia, Russia and China.

First of all, the “Great Tea Road” route is designed to actively attract tourists from China. They will be able to stop at each train destination for two days.

History of the Great Tea Route

For a long time, tea was not just a drink for China: the secrets of cultivating plantations were kept secret and tea was considered a cure for any ailment. For other peoples, it remained an unknown product for a long time, but in the 16th century everything changed - tea began to be exported outside of China.

Laid between Europe and Asia, the Tea Road was second only to the Silk Road in terms of trade turnover. Its geography was very extensive and covered, in addition to the territories of China itself, Russia and Mongolia. Along with different types of tea, other goods were transported. For many years of its existence, the Tea Road contributed to the economic growth of many countries.

The Tea Road began in Wuhan, China. It was here that tea was brought from Chinese provinces and prepared for shipment. Then the products were sent by three routes: land, water and water-land. Perhaps the main route went through Ulaanbaatar (Urga), Beijing, Ulan-Ude (Verkhneudinsk), Irkutsk, Omsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Yaroslavl, ending in Moscow and St. Petersburg, from where the goods were distributed to the regions of the country or went further , to Europe.

Points of the tourist route

The train departs from Manchuria and heads to Chita. Here tourists will visit the Transbaikal Patterns theater and go to a farm, where they will be greeted with a cultural program with Cossack songs, ancient wedding rituals and treats.

After Chita, tourists will visit Ulan-Ude. This is one of the most interesting points of the program, because the city can surprise you with its originality. In two days, guests of Ulan-Ude will have time to visit city museums and get acquainted with Buryat folklore. The program includes a tour of the historical center, the Ethnographic Museum of the Peoples of Transbaikalia and the datsan of Rinpoche Bagsha. There will be meetings with Old Believers, a visit to the Old Believer church and a convent.

The next point on the route was Irkutsk. Here tourists will learn what place tea occupied in the history of the city, see the collection of the Taltsy Museum of Wooden Architecture and go to the main Siberian pearl - Lake Baikal. There will also be an opportunity to drink a cup of tea in an old merchant's house. In the remaining time, guests of Irkutsk will stroll along its central streets to admire the houses with wooden carvings.

Initially, the Great Tea Route tourist route was designed for 8 days. But it is already known for sure that other Russian cities have joined it - Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk and Yekaterinburg. In total, the route will unite 20 cities. In Novosibirsk, guests will visit the Opera and Ballet Theater, the Museum of Local Lore and the Monument of Glory, and in Krasnoyarsk - the steamship St. Nicholas, on which Lenin went to his place of exile, and the Stolby nature reserve. In Yekaterinburg, the trip will end with a visit to the Private Museum of Military Equipment.

The development prospects for the Great Tea Route route are more than optimistic. It is planned that the train will carry tourists along it weekly and year-round. Experts have already predicted that the project will become the most popular tourist route in Russia, and regional authorities are ready to provide high-quality service.

Much less known than the Great Silk Road is the Tea Road, along which caravans and convoys traveled from China to the Russian Empire and back, loaded in one direction with tea, and in the other with honey, furs and other riches of Russia. How did it arise and why did it cease to exist?
According to Wikipedia, tea is a drink obtained by brewing, boiling or infusing the leaves of the tea bush, which are previously prepared in a certain way. Yes, you yourself know about it - now it’s difficult to imagine a person who has never drunk this drink. Our people don’t even have such a craving for coffee. It is known that in Rus' they used to drink kvass, sbiten, fruit drinks, infusions and decoctions - but the raw materials for them grew almost underfoot. Tea “came” to us in the first half of the 17th century. I propose to trace his journey to Rus'.

Contrary to popular belief, this drink did not appear under Peter I, but long before him. However, the emperor is credited with many innovations that actually took root much earlier. The same thing happened with tea. There are versions according to which the first batches of tea were delivered to the table of Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov as a gift from Chinese ambassadors. In the 40s of the same century, the Tomsk ambassador Vasily Starkov was offered a little-known “Chinese potion” as a tribute, which the “payers” positioned as an excellent medicine. The Tomsk governor appreciated the curiosity and sent it to the Siberian order, from where it came to Moscow, becoming more widespread. But at that time only green tea was especially popular.

Under Alexei Mikhailovich, the ambassadors again delivered the “potion” to the capital. The court physician doubted for a long time whether it was worth risking his own position (or even his life) and giving the ruler a drink for testing, the raw materials for which were not listed in any of the herbal reference books of that time. Tea began to gain ground in 1665 - it is believed that it was then that the sick king was given a strong infusion, and this contributed to his speedy recovery.

Around the 1670s, the construction of a fortification called “Udinsky fort” began (the territory of Buryatia, the mouth of the Uda at the confluence with the Selenga), and during the same period a string of caravans stretched across all of Russia, carrying valuable cargo to the capital. Construction proceeded quickly, as it was carried out in fairly populated areas, and the “Khan’s road” to Mongolia and China also passed here. This was only a “test of the pen”: active, stable movement on the path will be established only after 10 years. The fort also grew: it was no longer a simple defensive fortification, but a real fortress, since massive walls were erected here in 1678. It is a pity that this did little to save the fort from the Mongol tribes, with whom it was dangerously close. The Buryats, who had lived in the surrounding area since time immemorial and considered these places sacred, regularly acted on the side of the defenders. During the time of Peter I, the Udinsk fortress was significantly strengthened by the order of Fyodor Golovin, who arrived there. A friend of the emperor, he visited Transbaikalia with the aim of concluding the Nerchinsk border treaty (1689) with China.

It was Nerchinsk that later became the center of trade with the Middle Kingdom. Because of the concluded agreement, the border between the countries was moved: thanks to this, the city of Troitskosavsk appeared, later renamed Kyakhta. For almost 60 years, the state controlled the tea trade, but then the monopoly was abolished due to tiny profits. Unprofitability for the treasury became a real holiday for merchants when, from 1762, open trade in tea leaves became available to them. An endless stream of caravans stretched from China through Russia, delivering boxes of the future drink to Western Europe and the countries of the Middle East.

Despite the name “Tea Route,” which suggests one road, its geography was quite extensive. The many branches of which it consisted were portages and land roads, waterways leading to many provinces. More than 120 fairs operating along the route regularly traded imported curiosities, and almost 10 thousand kilometers of the Route connected Irkutsk and Verkhneudinsk, Selenginsk and Troitskosavsk, Urga and Kalgan, and many others. The length of the land route from Moscow to Beijing was, according to some sources, 8332 versts, according to others - 8839 versts, excluding the Irkutsk-Alaska branch.

The tea route started in Kalgan, where “goods” were collected from Chinese tea factories and prepared for shipment to Russia. In front of the gate in the Great Wall of China, on the outskirts, there were representative offices of the largest tea companies in Russia. It was here that future caravans were formed. The packaging was the most careful: the valuable cargo was wrapped in several layers of paper, then laid out in bamboo boxes and wrapped in strong ox hides so that neither weather conditions nor the people themselves could harm it in any way. Surprisingly, it was believed that tea delivered by land would be much tastier and more aromatic than that transported by water. Therefore, land caravans, which took about two years (!) to reach their destination, always found their buyer. From Kalgan - to Urga, through the Gobi, from there - to Troitskosavsk. Divided into two sections, people traveled the Tea Route on camels, horses, bulls and mules, from China to Siberia, from Siberia to the European part of Russia, and the caravans stopped there, often not reaching Moscow. Tea was sold in the bazaars of Novgorod, Tobolsk, Perm and other cities. In China itself, tea was most often transported along rivers, and through Mongolia it was transported loaded on camels. Traders at all times were distinguished by their ingenuity: the Chinese, in addition to tea, packed bales of silk to the caravans, and on the way back (so that the caravans did not go empty) Russian merchants stuffed them with valuable furs, which were quickly bought up in the Middle Kingdom.

It would seem that tea is not so important as to write a whole article about how it was delivered to Russia. But no - this is only at first glance. In fact, the Tea Route played a significant role in the history of the country. The development of new territories, laying out routes, establishing connections with the peoples inhabiting the vast country and its environs are only part of the merits of the caravaners. The volume of trade on the Tea Road could easily be compared with the Great Silk Road, and for almost two centuries huge sums of money from the treasury were spent in this direction: cities and roads, churches were built, and more and more new cultural centers were founded.

The decline in trade began only after the Suez Canal appeared and was “tested,” but the roads were not abandoned. The walking route was replaced by road and rail. Now this direction, which was once famous, has turned into a tourist route: starting from the Chinese Shanxi, travel lovers go to Russia through Mongolia, almost completely repeating the path of the caravans. The “Great Tea Road” operated for 260 years and played a huge role in bringing neighboring peoples closer together, in the development of the economy and culture, kinship, friendship and family ties. In terms of trade turnover, it was second only to the Great Silk Road, but in terms of length and influence on the lives of peoples and countries participating in the tea trade, it is quite comparable to it.

And now along the entire length of the “Great Tea Road” there are many objects associated with different eras, peoples and cultures. Many of them attract a lot of attention from travelers.

Today, the “Great Tea Road” is the longest overland tourist route, allowing you to cross Eurasia from the Baltic Sea to the Yellow Sea. Driving along it you will visit St. Petersburg, Moscow, the cities of the Golden Ring, Siberia, Lake Baikal, the steppes of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar, the Gobi Desert, Beijing and the tea plantations of Southern China. The Great Tea Route is becoming a popular tourism brand and attracting more and more travelers. This is one of those routes that is worth visiting at least once in your life.