Tea tourists may soon have another amazing excursion to quell their wanderlust.

Through a new agreement between Russian President Vladimir Putin, President of China Xi Jinping and President of Mongloia Tsakhiagiyn Elbegdorzh, the “Great Tea Train” should be ready to operate by next year.

The train will travel 3,000 kilometers through portions of what was historically a critical tea trade route, the Great Tea Road. The Eurasian Star train will set off from Beijing and travel across Mongolia into Siberia, ending in Irkutsk. There will be multiple stops at cities along the route for sightseeing including Chita, Ulan and Ude.

Some who have interest in this historical area have opted to ride on the Trans-Siberian train which runs from Beijing through Mongolia all the way to St. Petersburg, a journey of 8,000 miles. The Eurasian Star, however, will have a particular focus, however, on sites important to the tea trade.

The deal was announced at the most recent BRICS Summit in Ufa, Russia, a gathering of representatives from Brazil, the Russian Federation, India, China and South Africa. The leaders of Russia, China and Mongolia have spent the past year discussing ways that their countries can more closely cooperate in politics, the economy, science and cross-border initiatives.

Source: Siberian Times and BRICS report