We describe the historic Silk Road and the author’s eventful travels along it, exploring the Eastern and Central Silk Road, from Beijing through central Asia to end in Samarkand. There is a rich array of stunning landscapes to drink in, and they seem to change dramatically on a daily basis, from the lush Yellow River valley, to dry dusty plains, and the wind-swept steppes. We explore the Silk Road via snapshots of 8 differing landscapes, towns and cities, including Xian, the capital of the Tang dynasty, which once claimed to be the greatest city in the world; Xiahe, a town set in a scenic mountain valley on the edge of Tibet at an altitude of about 7000ft; and Jiayuguan, a UNESCO world heritage site, where the Great Wall ends.
The idea that the Great Wall would protect merchants from attacking Mongols the whole way from China to the west turns out to be misconstrued – the wall stretches only half way across China to Jiayuguan, where it ends – there is nothing further west. Thus merchants could be attacked for thousands of miles from there to Kashgar as they were defenceless against Mongol attack. The same goes on the stretch from Kashgar across the Steppes to Samarkand. How was travel along the Silk Road possible without protection?
Sad though it is to relate, the romantic story of the Silk Road as a continuous conduit from China to the west, along which the fabulous Chinese ceramics and silk reached Persia and Venice, must be a myth. The Silk Road ended at Jiayuguan. Goods bound for the west must have come by ship, not over land.
Further reading:
The Silk Road:
http://www.silkroutes.net/orient/mapssilkroutestrade.htm
http://www.silkroadfoundation.org/toc/index.html
http://www.silkroadproject.org/tabid/177/defaul.aspx
The Maritime Silk Road: http://www.pasthorizonspr.com/index.php/archives/12/2010/chinas-maritime-silk-road-revealed
