Culture Corner
The Silk Road

The routes
For centuries, the Silk Road was the most important line of communication connecting East and West. Although the Silk Road covered a huge distance linking modern day Xi'an with the Middle East and Europe, today one area in particular is associated most closely with the name of the Silk Road. This area is Xinjiang in Northwest China, through which two major routes of the Silk Road passed on the northern and southern side of the Taklamakan desert.

The name
The Silk Road got its name in the 19th century when a German geographer identified it as the route through which the Romans got their silk from China. However, silk wasn't the only thing that passed along the Silk Road; anything that had buyers was traded along the road.Goods were traded from market to market passing through many hands before they reached their final destinations.