Post Tagged with "Central Asia"

Stroll around a Kyrgyz bazaar

Central Asian bazaars are a place to buy all kind of goods from food to clothes, electronics and other household items.

Sons of Hedin invites us to look around Osh bazaar in Bishkek, the capital city of Kyrgyzstan:

“Osh bazaar is the largest of the city’s three markets, and consists of indoor and outdoor sellers. Individuals travel from distant villages selling livestock, local foodstuffs, and fresh vegetables. Fragrant spices and vibrant produce paired with calls of anxious sellers makes Osh Bazaar an unforgettable experience.”

Apricots and other dried fruit

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Praying for peace in Kyrgyzstan

In the current times of turbulence in my country, when you all have chance to watch television news and see all the hostility, I feel like praising it, I feel like speaking up about its beauty and hospitality. About how genuine and beautiful its citizens are.

In other words, I feel like loving this country as I always have for being unique and beautiful, for its flexibility and ability to unite so much diversity and controversy.

And that’s the only way I can feel and the only way I can perceive my country: therefore I am going to talk about positive sides of Kyrgyzstan, and things that surprise and amaze me in my own country. Welcome to Kyrgyzstan, ladies and gentlemen!

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Quick guide to Afghan pop music

Afghanistan pop music’s heyday was during the 1970′s and the country has gone through a lot since that time. But it still has a thriving music scene. Here’s an introduction to some of the classics as well as the most popular new singers.

If you’re curious about languages, it’s also an opportunity to hear what Afghan languages sound like. The main languages spoken in Afghanistan are Dari (Persian/Farsi) and Pashto.

Ahmad Zahir

Ahmad Zahir is one of the most well-known Afghan singers. He died 30 years ago but his music is still popular.

Listen here to his album ‘Afsoos’ on the music site Mastana.

Nashenas

Another classic, Nashenas is considered by many Afghans to be the best Pashto singer.

Listen to his music here.

Shafiq Mureed

Shafiq Mureed is a young singer who studied in India, and it sounds like some Bollywood influences sneaked into his album ‘Ehsas’. It shows in the language too – although most songs are in Dari, some are sung in Hindi.

What do you think? Listen for yourself.

Farhad Darya

A modern Dari-language singer with an innovative and influential style. Find more on Farhad Darya on his official site.

Aris Parwaz

Another modern singer, with a West-meets-East sound. Listen here.

Learn more about Afghan music from National Geographic.

Like these? Do you have any favourites to add? Let us know in the comments.

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Tightrope walkers of Xinjiang

For the Uyghur people who live in Xinjiang province in the far West of China, tightrope walking has been a tradition for thousands of years.

Tightrope walking is called dawaz in the local language. The native language of the Uyghurs is related to the Turkic languages spoken in other countries in Central Asia.

Tradition is still going strong – in April this year 25 year old Samit Ijon broke the world record for his successful attempt at the steepest long-distance dawaz.

The scary-looking sport also features in the award winning film ‘On a Tightrope’, about the lives of a group of Xinjiang orphans.

UPDATE: I have corrected a mistake in the original post. Xinjiang was mistakenly spelled as Xinxiang. Thanks a lot to Ivy for pointing it out in the comments.

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Uzbekistan’s economy – silk, cotton and tourism
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China blogs from Blogs of the World

Doing business, Afghan style

What do you know about Afghanistan? It’s hard not to see the scenes of violence and the tragic stories that regularly make the news. Maybe you have also heard nostalgic tales told by travellers of the 60’s and 70’s when the breathtaking Afghan mountains were a popular backpacking destination and Kabul was known as the Paris of the East. Maybe you have read A Thousand Splendid Suns, and understand some of what the Afghan people have been going through in the last couple of decades, and maybe you caught a glimpse of their resourcefulness, pride and will to rebuild their battered country.

But there’s more to Afghanistan than this. What about the success stories? The thousands of ordinary Afghans who enjoy spending time with their families, starting new businesses, making new friends on Facebook? What about the companies who are working to bring services and goods that people in other countries take for granted?

To find out more I talked to Shainoor Khoja, who works at the Afghan mobile GSM company Roshan, about life and doing business in Afghanistan. She started by telling me Ali Agha’s story (name has been changed).

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Uzbekistan – silk transporter to cotton exporter

Uzbek cities like Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara were important stops on the ancient Silk Road, which transported silk and other goods between West China and Europe.

Today Uzbekistan deals in another kind of cloth – cotton. Uzbekistan is the third largest cotton producer in the world, and so cotton exports are a major source of earnings for the Uzbek people. This is yet another country which will be affected by the global recession as cotton demand drops in 2009.

Tourism is a growing contributor to the Uzbek economy, and will become more of a priority in the coming years. If you’re considering it as a destination, try learning a few words in Uzbek before you go with this handy vocabulary list from F30 blog.

Read more:
Tajikistan suffers from financial crisis as its many migrant workers find jobs harder to come by
Modern day silk roads: culture and business in modern day Uzbek and Kazakh cities