From verses to vehicles: China's growing ties with Azerbaijan

BAKU — "Hello, Chinese!" The warm greeting drifts from a roadside teahouse in Ganja, Azerbaijan's second-largest city, where locals pause over their tea and conversation to offer welcoming smiles to Chinese visitors.

Located some 300 kilometers west of the capital, Baku, Ganja is the homeland of the great 12th-century poet Nizami Ganjavi. Renowned for his long narrative poems, his best-known work, Khamsa of Nizami, holds a revered place in Persian literary tradition worldwide. For locals, their first introduction to China often begins not with modern news, but with Nizami's verses — woven into the city's historical memory for over eight centuries.

At the Nizami Mausoleum, Ziniyat, a local primary schoolteacher, led her students on a guided tour. She said that students begin learning the poet's verses in the fourth grade.

Almaz, a local guide, said that the mausoleum draws a steady stream of international admirers alongside Azerbaijani visitors. She was delighted to learn that the poet is remembered in China: in 2012, on the 20th anniversary of diplomatic ties between China and Azerbaijan, a bust of Nizami was unveiled in Beijing, with students reciting his poems in Chinese.

Throughout Ganja, Nizami's presence is tangible. Fresh flowers are frequently laid at the feet of his statues. Inside the Ganja Mall, the city's largest shopping center, the poet's Khamsa occupies a prominent place on bookstore shelves.

Ganja was a vital hub of commerce and craftsmanship on the ancient Silk Road between the 12th and 13th centuries. Historians believe Nizami's depiction of the Chinese princess in Khamsa was inspired by Eastern tales that traveled along the very trade route. Today, the city serves as a key node in Azerbaijan's participation in the Belt and Road Initiative, with the railway of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route — also known as the Middle Corridor — running through it. What was once a distant, intangible connection now manifests itself in real, everyday life.

Chinese-made Yutong buses are a familiar sight on the streets of Ganja. Forming the backbone of Ganja's public transit, they cover more than 20 routes and account for 84 percent of the city's total fleet. In September 2025, 235 vehicles compliant with the Euro 6 standard were delivered to the city, initially serving as official buses for the Commonwealth of Independent States Games.

Chinese people's footprints in Ganja continue to expand across diverse sectors. According to Eljan, a reporter from the Azerbaijan State News Agency, the Western Industrial Park, established in January, has already attracted interest from Chinese enterprises.

This momentum is extending to the service and agricultural sectors: a traditional Chinese medicine clinic and a MINISO store are set to open in April in Ganja, while the Azerbaijan State Agricultural University plans to introduce Chinese mushroom cultivation technology by 2027.

From the China imagined in Nizami's poetry to the China embedded in modern daily life, these cross-temporal echoes resonate throughout Ganja — on its streets, in its classrooms, and across its public spaces. For locals and visitors alike, tracing these Chinese imprints reveals a fresh perspective on the poet's city.

Xinhua