Silk Road : fantasy and reality

Travellers have a lot of fantasies on the Silk Road.  They can read many interesting stories on the great travels of Faxian, Xuan Zang, Marco Polo, Aurel Stein and Sven Hedin. The Silk Road covers great distances, diverse civilizations and long history.  Yet, it is not an easy road to travel.  Weather conditions can be harsh and travel can be dangerous.

(Caravan for tourists)

The Silk Road is not a single road.  It is composed of a network of routes linking Europe, Central Asia and China, as well as countries in between. Silk from China was brought to Europe by trade caravans through these routes early in the pre-Christ time.   Not only for silk, these trade routes were conduits for economic exchanges between peoples along the road.  

The Silk Road provided significant economic benefits to the peoples and cities involved in the exchanges.  Traders facilitated as the middlemen of these economic exchanges.  They also took up the hard work in moving their goods across the long, and sometimes dangerous, trade routes.  The Sodgians, Persians, Indians and Arabs were parts of the ancient traders in the Silk Road. 

The Silk Road was also critical to the spread of cultures and religions.  Over the centuries, different religions, including Buddhism, Nestorianism, Manichaeism and Islam, developed and advanced along the Silk Road.  Sometimes, this also induced conflicts, violence and wars. For those who are interested to learn more about these stories can read Boulnois, Luce. Silk road - monks, warriors and merchants on the silk road. Hong Kong: Odyssey Books & Guides, 2004.

My first travel to the Silk Road was made when I just finished my university study.  This summer, my wife and I made our trip again.
We shall cover what we saw in the next few posts.