In this small settlement, there are only 303 residents.
The village is situated at the foot of the mountains, just 9 kilometers from the Bishkek—Chaldybar highway and on the border with Kazakhstan. The main activity of the local population is livestock farming.
The name "Cholok-Aryk" has several explanations passed down among the local people.
According to Bolotbek Chegebaev, a designer-artist from the Kyrgyz National University named after J. Balasagyn, the village has an interesting history.
"Cholok-Aryk is my small homeland. Although the village is small, its nature is beautiful, and the air is clean. Many famous personalities were born here, including Osmonkul Aliev (03.20.1903–11.05.1938), the first editor of the newspaper 'Erkin-Too,' who was also a native of our village. His father, Egembay, was one of the first settlers. The locals built canals for irrigating fields, but some were left unfinished, and people began to say: 'The canal remained unfinished (cholok bolup kaldy).' I believe that this is where the name Cholok-Aryk came from," he noted.
According to other sources, the village was once part of the Great Silk Road, and there was a large mill here due to the abundance of water resources. Canals were used for irrigating fields and as a source of drinking water from the Ashmara River.
There is also a legend about the origin of the village's name:
"Once, a guest came to our village. Not being well-oriented, he stumbled and fell into a canal, injuring his leg. After that, limping, he went around neighboring villages, such as the Jaiyl and Moscow districts. When asked about the reason for his limp, he replied: 'I fell into a canal in a small village on the border.' Thus, according to the stories of the old-timers, this place came to be called 'Cholok-Aryk' — which translates to 'cut-off canal.'
Gallery: The history of the village of Cholok-Aryk located on the border in Chui
In July of this year, a meeting was held to discuss the issues of the village of Cholok-Aryk with the participation of local authorities and district leadership.
Among the issues discussed was the need for repairs to internal roads and the opening of a medical and obstetric point. Given that the village is located at the foot of the mountains, there is also a task of cleaning the channels to prevent mudflows, as well as repairing and updating old water pipes that were laid during the Soviet Union.
As a result of the discussion, it was decided to allocate 1 million soms from the local budget for the repair of 2 kilometers of road in the village.
