CHINA - THE SILK ROAD

For over 2000 years, traders and merchants traveled the deserts of central Asia exchanging goods between the Chinese empire and the civilization of the Mediterranean & Europe. As a result, the oases of the desert sprang up into dynamic cities. A vast network of interconnected caravan routes that stretched for over 6,500 klm,enabled the exchange of products and ideas between China and Europe, Persia, Egypt, India and Mesopotamia. The Silk Road began around 329 BCE, when Alexander the Great conquered all of the known world, built the City of Alexandria Eschate and promoted trade to the east and was expanded around 114 BC by the Han dynasty. The great story of the Silk Road is that Buddhism traveled on it, from India. The dry climate has preserved many ruins while many ethnic groups make their home in this far flung part of China, often still living a lifestyle like that of their great grand fathers. Dedicated to my friend Aldo Matteucci and his deep knowledge for the area.