Vendor’s Chinese lessons at Tashkent flea market become a ‘micro-classroom’
In short
Xinhua and China News Service published a feature on the Chinese “micro-classroom” at the Yangiabad flea market in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. It describes how 57-year-old vendor Rashid learned spoken Chinese from Chinese tourists and how his 10-year-old neighbour Zarina picked up greetings from him. The report cites the China-Uzbekistan visa-free policy and a rise in Chinese visitors, and says both families want formal Chinese classes but the city’s Chinese schools are far from the market.
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Xinhua and China News Service both published a feature under the headline about a “Chinese micro-classroom” in an Uzbek flea market, describing how a 57-year-old vendor named Rashid quotes prices to Chinese visitors in fluent Chinese at the Yangiabad flea market on the eastern outskirts of Tashkent. According to the Xinhua dispatch dated Tashkent, 4 October, his 10-year-old neighbour Zarina steps up to Chinese tourists and says “你好，好久不见！”, to their surprise. [ 1 , 2 ]
“I used to see Chinese tourists and couldn’t say a word, which only made me anxious,” Rashid recalled, according to the report. He began, in his words, with a clumsy method: pointing at his stall’s old Soviet cameras, yellowed postcards and vinyl records and asking visitors in English how to say things in Chinese. Over several years of such exchanges he built up spoken Chinese, the report said, and after meeting visitors who spoke Cantonese he learned that China has many dialects and that the language is more complex and interesting than he had imagined. [ 2 ]
The report ties the Chinese visitors to the visa-free arrangement between China and Uzbekistan and to upgraded cultural and people-to-people exchanges, saying the number of Chinese tourists visiting this representative Central Asian second-hand market has multiplied in recent years. Rashid’s interest spread to Zarina, who said she learns a line each time he teaches her one. Chen, a regular at the stall who has worked for years at a Chinese company’s office in Tashkent, said the self-taught Chinese and the child’s greetings gave him a sense of home abroad and showed people-to-people ties taking root. [ 2 ]
To learn more about China, Rashid has opened accounts on Xiaohongshu and WeChat, the report said. He describes Chinese as a key to the future, telling children at the market that as Chinese companies and projects multiply in Central Asia, Chinese will widen their options. He and Zarina’s family both want the children to attend regular Chinese classes, but Tashkent’s Chinese schools are too far away; Rashid said he would join a class near the market himself. [ 2 ]
Why it matters
As carried by two state outlets, the story presents a market stall as a small sign of China-Uzbekistan people-to-people exchange, set against the visa-free policy and a growing Chinese corporate presence in Central Asia. It frames Chinese-language skills as widening opportunities for young people in the region. The documents report no policy decisions, deals or data beyond the scenes described.
Key facts
- A Xinhua feature dated Tashkent, 4 October, describes a “micro-classroom” of spoken Chinese at the Yangiabad flea market on the eastern outskirts of Tashkent, Uzbekistan. [ 1 , 2 ]
- Rashid, a 57-year-old vendor at the market, learned spoken Chinese by asking Chinese tourists how to say things and uses it to quote prices. [ 2 ]
- Zarina, a 10-year-old neighbour, learned greetings from Rashid and approaches Chinese tourists with “你好，好久不见！”. [ 2 ]
- The report links the Chinese visitors to the China-Uzbekistan visa-free policy and to upgraded people-to-people exchanges, saying Chinese tourists at the market have multiplied in recent years. [ 2 ]
- Rashid has registered Xiaohongshu and WeChat accounts and says Chinese will widen opportunities for local children as Chinese companies and projects increase in Central Asia. [ 2 ]
- Rashid and Zarina’s family want the children to attend formal Chinese classes, but Tashkent’s Chinese schools are too far away; Rashid says he would join a class near the market. [ 2 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- Xinhua and China News Service both published a feature about a spoken-Chinese “micro-classroom” at a flea market in Uzbekistan; the Xinhua dispatch carries a Tashkent dateline of 4 October. [ 1 , 2 ]
- Rashid, a 57-year-old vendor, speaks Chinese with tourists at the Yangiabad flea market in eastern Tashkent and taught himself by asking visitors how to say things. [ 2 ]
- Zarina, a 10-year-old neighbour of Rashid, learned Chinese greetings from him and uses them with Chinese tourists. [ 2 ]
- Rashid has registered accounts on Xiaohongshu and WeChat to follow Chinese users’ posts. [ 2 ]
Still unclear
- Whether a Chinese-language class will be opened near the Yangiabad market. The report says only that the two families want formal classes and that Tashkent’s Chinese schools are too far away; no plan or decision is mentioned.
- When the conversations and scenes described in the market took place. The feature gives no dated events, only that the practice built up over several years, so the timing of the reported scenes is unknown.
- Details of Xinhua’s own version of the report beyond its headline. Document 1 provided only a headline with no article text, so all specifics rest on the single text carried by China News Service.