Under the China's Han Dynasty (202 BC - AD 220), caravans on camels and horses, mostly Parthian, carried silk, ceramics, bronze, lacquer and iron from China's Xian to India, Persia, Mesopotamia, Rome and Egypt, through a bundle of paths in the mountains and Gobi desert known as the Silk Road. Meanwhile, gold, spices, ivory, precious stones and exotic animals entered into China from the opposite direction. It is said that horses from central Asia transformed China's cavalry of that time. To Roman, China was 'Seres' meaning silk. Despite the Senate's several times edicts to prohibit wearing silk for moral and economic reasons, silk considered the symbol of wealth and elegance was very popular in Rome and caused a huge outflow of gold. In addition to commodities, religions and technologies were also transmitted through the Silk Road to the East and the West. Buddhism was introduced to China through central Asia around 1st century BC, and then Islam took control of central Asia. Meanwhile printing, gunpowder, the astrolabe, and the compass were transmitted from China to the west. Art works and cultural exchange flourished along the Silk Road. Many murals, Buddhist statues and relics of ancient cities are discovered today on the Silk Road sites, along with numerous silk, stone, wooden and metal artistic works. Christianity also filtered into China at the beginning of 14 century. The Silk Road reached its peak in China's Tang Dynasty (618 - 907), with many Arabs, Turks and Persians living in Xian engaging in trade, and many fortresses being set up by Tang Dynasty along the route to protect trade and merchants. During Yuan Dynasty (1279 -1368), however, trade on the route started to decline. There were several seasons. Islam's control over the central Asia discouraged the West from trading with China through land. The Black Death which wiped out at least one thirds of European population deterred people from traveling long distance. The following Ming Dynasty of China adopted isolation policies on international trade. Bandits, harsh weather of Gobi desert and constant wars of religious and tribal conflicts eventually turned merchants back to the west. By that time, technology of ship building had advanced. Shipping through the sea was no longer impossible. Eventually, the sea route replaced the land route for trade between the West and East. The land route stopped serving as a trading route around 1400. Four hundred years later, interest in the Silk Road reemerged among western explorers. Sven Hedin of Sweden, Aurel Stein of Britain and Albert von Le Coq of Germany traveled through the land route taking away as many archaeological excavations as they could. The Russians French and Japanese quickly followed the pursuit. The treasures of the ancient Silk Road are now scattered in the museums of about a dozen countries. In 1990, the Silk Road revived with opening of a railroad connecting China's inner lands to Kazakhsta and the former Soviet railway system. Along with trade, tourism has been steadily rising in Xinjiang. To tourists, murals, clothing and mummies found in ancient graves in this region give a clue of custom, culture and religions of that time. There are thirteen different races living in the region including Uygur, Mongolians, Tajik, Kazakhs and Uzbeks. All have kept their languages, customs, costumes and ways of living. Some cities around the Taklamakan desert like Kashgar and Hetian, still display the spirit of the Silk Road, with people of different nationalities trading everything from spices and livestock to delicate handicrafts in the open market called Bazaars. The Silk Road played an important role in the development of civilizations in Asia and Europe. It is said that the disuse of the route stimulated the Europeans to reach the prosperous Chinese empire by the sea. In 1492, Christopher Columbus reportelly wished to create another Silk Route to China but found America instead.This website, crafted from three picture books about Xinjiang, is dedicated to the Gobi desert and high-mountains part of the Silk Road. It is the most dangerous but also culturally richest part of the land route. This region, now in Xinjiang of China, display a splendid historical canvas telling you about wars, religions, arts, lasting human desires for trade and civilizations in the past two thousand years of central Asia. It is also an exhibit of spectacular landscape featured by vast Gobi desert, majestic peaks and beautiful green mountains that stretches thousands of kilometers. Xinjaing's Turfan basin famous for grapes and relics of ancient cities is155 metres below sea level - the lowest point in China. Its ancient Karez (undergroud irrigation system) is still in use today to water the osis of two thousand years. Xinjiang's highest peak, K2, is 8611 metres above sea level, the second highest mountain on earth. And today's Taklamakan desert is no longer the sea of death. A highway was built cross the desert so people can make use of oil newly found in the desert and enjoy the scene inside the desert. As China opened her door for international trade again, let's wish the land with dazzling beauty and vivid history will shine again.
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