Silk Road is a term that the majority of people associate with the images of remote Asia. Travel through Silk Road of China today still provides wonderful understanding of the experience of medieval traveler that moved along these remote areas crossing harsh landscapes.
If you will need to experience China, opt for a trip from west to east, along the traditional Silk Road of China, from Kashgar or to Turfan and all the way to Xian.
The words Silk Road at once connotes visuals of enormous distances up and down Asia, of faraway and amazing nationalities deep within the interior of Central Asia, of deserts and steppes, and naturally of China.
It was Marco Polo who brought to us the mystery of amazing Asia, of confrontations with extreme places, crude tribes and of the wealth that were harbored behind the Great Wall of China.
Even though his writing gave us the pictures of the road along which silk was introduced from China, and some thousand years have passed since the well-known road began to be used by vendors and adventurers alike, the ancient Silk Road is nonetheless incredibly much worth the trip today.
Today political boundaries split civilizations along the length of this artery that began within the city states of Rome and Venice. The ancient trade road entered Asia via Constantinople, continued by way of Damascus, then onto Baghdad, across Persia to Herat of later Afghanistan, onto Tashkent, entering one of its most tough segments to navigate at Kashgar, the gateway to the harsh Takhlamakan Dessert.
Although on account to endless turbulence along this journey from Europe to China full crossing of the route these days is very a lot difficult, one can still encounter the best of it right now in China.
When past the extreme desert the caravans were welcomed in the market town oasis of Turfan on the northern boundry of the Takhlamakan.
Beyond Turfan further east the venturing got little a lot easier, though there had been much more caravanserai inns to rest at but dry surroundings went on. The subsequent big oasis stop was Dunhuang, City of Sands.
Known for the nearby Caves of the Thousand Buddhas, aka Dunhuang Caves, along with the Buddhist Baizikeli Thousand Buddha Cave near Turfan as well as the Bingling Thousand Buddha Caves close to Lanzhou, these amazing sites represent not merely the best-preserved monuments of Buddhist cave art in China but above all stand as testimonial to fervor and devotion of medieval Buddhists.
And even today, close to Lanzhou, the teachings of Buddha are preserved by the monks of the Labrang Monastery.
From Turfan to Lanzhou there is certainly no lack of miraculous landscapes.
Most prominent are the Flaming Mountain in the nearby Turfan plus the Echoing Sand Dune and also the Crescent Lake in Dunhuang. Sunsets are the time when the most impressive of desert colors create essentially the most exciting expose of unreal images not to be missed.
However it was not just the teachings of Buddha that spread along the Silk Road. Ideas of Mohammed echo to this day from Kashgar to Xian, and there are outstanding mosques to praise, from the Sugong Pagoda in Turfan, the Dagongbei Mosque on the way from Lanzhou to Xiahe, to the Small Goose Pagoda in Xian.
Beyond Dunhuang the traveler stood in front of the western gate of the empire at Jiayuguan, the western-most outpost of the Great Wall. Skirting south of the great Gobi, passing Wuwe and Lanzhou the caravans headed towards the splendid Xian and it must also be the pinnacle of your own journey should you select to start on such a trip.
Even though the popular terracotta warriors of Xian will likely be the highlight for many who tour along the ancient Silk Road of China, it is most effective to decide to keep this most important archeological site for the end of the journey instead of the the front end.
Thus the the direction to travel the Silk Road of China is usually to fly to Urumchi or to Kashgar and begin your journey heading east from there as opposed to the other way around.